SEEKONK - The impact of her choice was more than expected. Just three years ago, Deborah Hoch put together a team of people to make Megastar Productions, Inc. Megastar Productions specializes in daily life and health issues. Ms. Hoch came up with this idea after reading article after article about drunk driving. It seemed that the message wasn’t getting out to teens.

“After talking to people, it became clear that teenagers identified more with the offender rather than the victim(s) of drunk driving. I wanted to make things clearer, since more people these days are visual learners.”

This year, Megastar Productions was awarded an Emmy for their video on “The IMPACT of Your Choice: Underage Drinking and Reckless Driving.” The Emmy was awarded in the category of “Best Societal Concerns Program.” The documentary featured four different families and victims from different points of view.

The video began with a young man, Charlie, who had lost his life because he got behind the wheel after a night of drinking. Three of his friends tried to get the keys away from him, but all their attempts failed. Charlie was only eighteen and a college student.

The second victim was a young lady named Erica, who claimed she was sleeping over at a friend’s house. Her father always told her that he never wanted to get that call. That night, Erica’s father got the call that Erica was a passenger in a car accident. The driver was drunk and Erica was partially ejected from the car. She died on the scene.

The third young man was a drunk driver, but he survived. However, two of his friends died. Justin, who was just 17, was one of those victims. Brendan, the driver, is serving a 22-year prison sentence, 12 of those years spent at the ACI. He has to deal with the guilt that he killed two of his friends and spend over two decades in a prison cell for one poor choice he made.

The documentary ended with Jason, who is dealing with the consequences in a different way. He drove drunk, and didn’t hurt anyone but himself. Jason was not wearing a seatbelt and he hit a sand-tire curb on an exit ramp, which threw Jason to the roof of his car. He is permanently paralyzed and is dependent on nurses to dress and feed him for the rest of his life.

Surprise

Ms. Hoch didn’t think she would win. She was just excited even getting nominated for an Emmy.

“It was just a great feeling knowing that other film makers, who have been in the business longer than me, are watching and feeling the impact of the film.” That film also won four Telly Awards in the categories of Education, Social Issues, Documentary and Education (for academic use).

Ms. Hoch was also working on a video “The IMPACT of Your Choice: Breast Health Awareness - When Is Too Young” when a twist of fate of her personal life affected her work. In May 2008, just two days before meeting with the Gemma family, who owns GEM Plumbing, for interviewing, Ms. Hoch was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I just had a mammogram and MRI done, which came back negative. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, so I was aware of my family’s background.” said Ms. Hoch. But her mother called her everyday for a month, telling her to get a BRCA test done.

“I finally gave in” said Ms. Hoch. “That saying that ‘mother knows best’… well, she was right.”

The BRCA test showed an undetected bilateral in her left breast, something that both the mammogram and the MRI missed. The test saved her life. If she had not done that test, she may not have been alive today.

BRCA stands for BReast CAncer, or breast cancer susceptibility. Everyone has BRCA type one or two, but it’s a mutation of that gene that causes cancer. About 5 to 10 percent of women have the gene for breast cancer. It was actually Ms. Hoch’s mother’s father’s side that carried the gene.

A difficult time

While making the documentary with the Gemma family, whose mother died of breast cancer, and soon the youngest daughter was diagnosed, Ms. Hoch was dealing with her own troubles. She was ashamed and worried about what others thought. But with the encouragement of doctors and her husband to pull through, she finally went from surreal to reality.

“It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ or ‘when’, it was now a matter that I had cancer.”

Her cancer was diagnosed within the first four months of research for her breast health film. The breast health film won first prize for Providence Film Festival, and was the finale of the Rhode Island International Film Festival on Aug. 9. The video “is in the process of being finished and reproduced. Her other projects are a continuation of the series in both the drunk driving and breast health, which should be in release within in the next few months.

“The IMPACT of Your Choice” is what Ms. Hoch is going to use in all her series of films because, “your choice has an impact on yourself and everyone around you.”

In the near future, she plans to work on documentaries on domestic violence and abuse. She also wants to find connections between medical and alternative medicine and how it affects people. But for now, she’s working on second part of the drunk driving video, and a few videos on breast health, such as how family and friends can help through the difficult times.

“I’m not out to make anyone look good or bad, rather, I’m more concerned of getting the message out” she said.

Currently, PBS has a contract with Megastar Productions for three years on showing “The IMPACT of Your Choice: Underage Drinking and Reckless Driving.” Ms. Hoch will also have all her videos translated in Spanish and in Portuguese in the near future.

“I’m exploring all ethnic and societal backgrounds and reach as many as I can. Every decision we make in life and health issues has an impact.”

For more information on Deborah Hoch’s work, visit www.megastarproductionsinc.com. Megastar Productions is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.