Pay or Die (MTV Documentary Films photo)
May 31, 2023
MTV Documentary Films has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary feature Pay or Die.
The film will serve as the closing night event at the upcoming Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City on June 8. MTV Documentary Films is planning a theatrical release later this year before the film’s streaming premiere launch on Paramount+.
Directed and produced by award-winning directors Scott Alexander Ruderman and Rachael Dyer, the film explores the fact that there are nearly 2 million Americans living with diabetes being held hostage by the pharmaceutical industry, as many cannot afford insulin and the cost to patients in America soars. Without this life-sustaining drug, they will be dead in days. The film follows families struggling to afford their medications and reveals the harrowing reality of living with a chronic illness in the richest country in the world. From a mother-and-daughter struggling to rebuild their lives after spending their rent money on insulin, to a young adult diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic, to a Minnesota family thrust into the national spotlight when their 26-year-old son dies from rationing his insulin, Pay or Die highlights this devastating struggle to survive while living with diabetes.
“This film, in the tradition of documentaries that nudge the world, exposes the astronomical and unconscionable costs of life saving drugs. The big business of Pharma rules over whether the afflicted will live or die,” said executive producer Sheila Nevins in a statement.
“Pay or Die plays like a horror film that’s both urgent and harrowing; a must see that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats in utter disbelief” said Nina L. Diaz and Liza Burnett Fefferman, co-heads of MTV Documentary Films, in a statement.
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“Knowing that Americans are dying trying to afford the same lifesaving medication that keeps me alive left Rachael and me enraged,” said filmmakers Ruderman and Dyer in a statement. “As filmmakers, we knew we had to highlight this social injustice. Our film, Pay or Die will serve as a cautionary tale for the whole world to understand what happens when healthcare is treated too much like a business and not a public service. We are honored to join forces with MTV Documentary Films to strengthen the voices that need to be heard so change can be made.”