Directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, Off Label' is a riveting and compelling look at the untold stories of Americans who use, abuse, and misuse prescription drugs.
Making its world debut at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, Off Label is the second feature length documentary from the team of Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher of October Country fame. Currently available on VOD and digital platform, Off Label reveals the toll that prospection drugs take on a wide array of Americans ranging from volunteers for human testing, a war veteran suffering PTSD, a mother who lost her son to clinic drug trials and beyond.
Palmieri and Mosher, in this call to reflect film, make abundantly clear that nearly every American is affected by the pharmaceutical industry in some way. Off Label is not an expos . It offers the chance for real people to share their stories of horror, regret, hope, and loss in the face of Big Pharma. We spoke to the duo about their films, their storytelling process and what they think about new filmmaking tools like Vine and Instagram Video.
Tribeca: Off Label celebrated its world premiere at TFF 2012. What was the road after the Festival like?
Michael Palmieri: After Tribeca, we went with the film to festivals like Hot Docs, LA, Sheffield, and all over place. Interestingly enough, we actually used the festival screenings as a mode of fine-tuning the film. There were a number of things we learned halfway through the festival, such as, having to remove a particular piece of music because we couldn't get the rights to it. We had to switch out the song that we had originally wanted to start the film and that really changed the beginning of our movie.
Because of the Festival circuit, we were able to observe how audiences responded to the film, so we ended up doing a lot of re-chewing and reshuffling scenes around. That process really started with our trying to address the music concern, but along the way, we listened to how audiences were responding and tried to dial the film in a little better. We think we ended up with a much better film.
Tribeca: How did you decide to go with a distributor like Oscilloscope?
MP: We still think there's a kind of brick and mortar approach that works really well because when you put a film out theatrically, you garner the sorts of reviews you need to have the film continue on in its digital space. We certainly understand that the majority of people who are going to see this film will most likely be seeing it in some digital form. With Oscilloscope, the plan was to release the film both theatrically and digitally at the same time to take advantage of the press and insure that the film will have a long life digitally.
Tribeca: You first collaboration, October Country, focused on Donal's family and their story. What made you choose the subject of off-label medical test subjects and the repercussions of these tests?
MP: Our Off Label producers, Anish Savjani and Vincent Savio of Film Science, initially approached us right after a rough cut rooftop screening of October Country. They asked us if we were interested in making a film about human guinea pigs. We thought we were certainly interested, so we did some research, got back to them and decided to give it a shot.
We started filming with the express intention of focusing on guinea pigs in the medical industry, but the further we got into the subject; we felt we needed to broaden the scope. The subject naturally extended into the way some of these drugs are marketed after they're tested and ratified. We also followed the process to the end usage of the drugs by people in the culture. However, our focus always remained on the people on the margins of society. It's those people who actually do the drug testing because often times they don't have the means to get any other job. It's a well-paying occupation, although it obviously has its dangers.
It's like Vine and Instagram Video are bringing filmmaking back to the era of super 8 and 8mm filmmaking.
Tribeca: Were you at all daunted by the subject?
MP: The whole thing is daunting. The subject is so enormous that we felt that the best we could do was to leave the viewer asking more questions. This is a very complicated subject to which there is no clear specific answer.
Tribeca: How did you settle on the people that you interviewed?
Donal Mosher: Consistent with our work in general, we tried to focus on people who are a little outside mainstream society. That was definitely one of our criteria for choosing the characters who made it into Off Label. We also didn't want experts or people who were sitting back and thinking about the problem. We wanted people who, in some way, have made marketing or consuming pharmaceuticals an active part of their lives.
Tribeca: What does Off Label say about America and its citizens and Big Pharma? Are you using this documentary as a wakeup call for public?
DM: As filmmakers, we're more interested in life inside the issue than the way the issues play out in a broader wake up call sort of manner. I think a hardcore fact-based film about the pharmaceutical industry should be made and needs to be made, but I think what we hope to do with Off Label is show that there are other implications. There are facts and figures and medical analysis, but we wanted to show the emotional toll.
MP: In one way, we wanted to look at the human dimension of the problem as opposed to examining a specific data set that sets out the problem on a piece of paper.
I actually like to watch films that work in that expos manner, but it is very hard for me to consider making a film like that because when you enter into subject matter as big as pharmaceutical medicine is in this country, you come up against a lot of contradictory information. The topic quickly becomes very gray, much
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, Off Label' is a riveting and compelling look at the untold stories of Americans who use, abuse, and misuse prescription drugs. 
