Hollywood & Sleep Initiative

Project Sleep’s Partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society for Accurate Sleep Disorder Depictions on TV

In September 2024, Project Sleep launched the Hollywood & Sleep Initiative, a partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S), a program of USC’s Norman Lear Center, working with TV writers and producers to revolutionize portrayals of sleep health and sleep disorders in television.

This groundbreaking collaboration seeks to ensure that sleep-related storylines on television are accurate, engaging, and reflective of real-life experiences. With the majority of the 50 to 70 million Americans affected by chronic sleep conditions currently undiagnosed, authentic and impactful media representation is more than just important—it’s essential.

Why Hollywood Matters

All too often, TV and movies offer misleading depictions of sleep disorders, referring to sleep disorders as a punchline or put down, and failing to align with current medical knowledge or real-life experiences. These misrepresentations can have real consequences, leaving millions of people unaware that they could be living with sleep disorders because their symptoms don’t match the exaggerated or inaccurate portrayals they’ve seen on screen.

Hollywood, Health & Society has been a trusted resource for the entertainment industry for nearly 25 years, providing research and expert consultations to enhance the accuracy of TV storytelling. From breast cancer storylines on Superman & Lois to narratives about aging and caregiving on This Is Us, HH&S continues to influence media portrayals that inform and inspire.

Please watch this space! Project Sleep is thrilled to work with HH&S, TV writers, and producers to advance storylines about sleep health and sleep disorders that are accurate, informative and entertaining.

About Hollywood, Health & Society

Hollywood, Health & Society is a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center that provides entertainment industry professionals with free expert information on all aspects of health, safety, and security, through expert consultations and briefings, panel discussions, tip sheets, and more. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other funders, the program recognizes the profound impact that entertainment has on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Learn more at hollywoodhealthandsociety.org.

This Hollywood & Sleep partnership is generously funded by donors like you and by sponsors including:

Sleep Disorders in Film & TV Database

In June 2021, Project Sleep launched a new Sleep Disorders in Film & TV Database to track cinematic portrayals of sleep conditions and help support future research. There is currently no published research addressing media depictions of narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, as exists for other conditions like epilepsy¹⁻³, multiple sclerosis⁴, autism⁵, and Tourette’s syndrome⁶. If you are aware of film or TV examples not already listed on our narcolepsy graphic or other sleep disorder portrayals, please fill out the Sleep Disorders in Film & TV Database form.

Hollywood’s Depictions of Sleep Disorders

For many people, Hollywood’s depictions of a sleep disorder may be their only exposure to the condition’s symptoms and impacts on daily life. Thus, medical professionals, sleep advocates, and patient-driven organizations like Project Sleep must be aware of cinematic representations and join the conversation as much as possible.

Your Role in Progress

In an effort to collect information and help with future research, Project Sleep has created this platform for community members to submit examples of sleep disorder depictions in movies and TV shows. This is a simple action toward holding the entertainment industry accountable for representations of narcolepsy, sleep apnea, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, and other sleep disorders. Huge thanks to our community members who contribute to the database.

Go To Form

Other Topics You Might Like

Sept. 2024 Announcement: Hollywood, Health & Society announces new partnership with Project Sleep to work with TV writers and producers to encourage storylines about sleep health and sleep disorders that are accurate, informative, and entertaining.

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Everything you need to know about Prime Video’s The Boys’ Black Noir having narcolepsy, how it compares to real-life narcolepsy, and whether Black Noir actor, Nathan Mitchell, has narcolepsy himself (to be clear, he is not diagnosed).

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On June 25, 2021, the Disney+ Series The Mysterious Benedict Society premiered with a main character portrayal of type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy. Read our President & CEO, Julie Flygare’s review as a person living with type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy.

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On August 9, 2019, the feature film Ode to Joy was released in select theaters and via video on demand to rent at home in the United States. The film features a main character portrayal of narcolepsy with cataplexy, a neurological condition affecting 1 in 2,000 people worldwide.

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Project Sleep proudly partnered with IFC Films and Ode to Joy Director, Jason Winer, to create a narcolepsy with cataplexy PSA. Please share with friends and family to raise critical awareness of narcolepsy today!

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It seems that Hollywood has a surprisingly large percentage of cases of narcolepsy, a disorder affecting 1 in 2,000 people worldwide. Here’s Project Sleep’s graph charting major film & TV portrayals of narcolepsy over the years.

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Narcolepsy Goes to Hollywood Videos: Is all awareness good awareness? Watch our interview with The Simpsons’ Executive Producer, Al Jean, about The Simpsons’ narcolepsy episode and Anna Marr, an actor and writer living with narcolepsy.

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Narcolepsy Goes to Hollywood Toolkit: Download this toolkit for key insights on past Hollywood depictions of narcolepsy and action steps for building a brighter future!

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Research References

Kerson, J. F., Kerson, T. S., & Kerson, L. A. (1999). The depiction of seizures in film. Epilepsia, 40(8), 1163-1167.
Baxendale, S. (2003). Epilepsy at the movies: possession to presidential assassination. The Lancet Neurology, 2(12), 764-770.
Moeller, A. D., Moeller, J. J., Rahey, S. R., & Sadler, R. M. (2011). Depiction of seizure first aid management in medical television dramas. Canadian journal of neurological sciences, 38(5), 723-727.
Zoller, H. M., & Worrell, T. (2006). Television illness depictions, identity, and social experience: Responses to multiple sclerosis on The West Wing among people with MS. Health communication, 20(1), 69-79.
Draaisma, D. (2009). Stereotypes of autism. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1475-1480.
Calder-Sprackman, S., Sutherland, S., & Doja, A. (2014). The portrayal of Tourette syndrome in film and television. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 41(2), 226-232.