This week on “Q&A,” our guests are Charles Evans, Jr. and Victor DeNoble. Evans is the producer and director of a new documentary entitled Addiction Incorporated featuring DeNoble, a former Philip Morris research scientist.
The film chronicles DeNoble’s unexpected discovery of an ingredient in tobacco which, the data revealed, when coupled with nicotine makes cigarettes more addictive.The research and the company’s attempts to keep it private lead to Congressional testimony before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.The movie details how this public revelation of DeNoble’s findings led journalists, politicians, attorneys, and scientists to join forces against the tobacco industry.
Evans discusses how and why he went about making the film, which began when he first watched Dr. DeNoble’s testimony on C-SPAN in 1994. DeNoble talks about growing up in New York, his early work at the Philip Morris Company and what it was like to testify before Congress on such a controversial subject.
Evans, who also produced the award-winning film “The Aviator,” is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley and the USA Film School and formed his own production company (Acappella Pictures) in 1993. DeNoble, who earned his Doctorate from Adelphi University currently serves as vice president of Hissho Inc., a scientific and medical communications company.
Source: CSPAN Q&A Full Interview