Vaccine Hunters: Infield Fly Makes Doc on Coronavirus for CBC's The Nature of Things

Dr. Alyson Kelvin working with the coronavirus in a high containment lab at VIDO-InterVac in Saskatoon.

The numbers are staggering: Infield Fly Productions has nearly a dozen crews – all following strict pandemic rules -- embedded for 12 months with seven scientific teams on three continents as these scientists race to create a coronavirus vaccine and try to save hundreds of thousands of lives.

“It’s dramatic and exciting,” says Infield Fly producer Dugald Maudsley. “Never before have so many researchers in so many countries focused on a single scientific quest with such urgency.”

Vaccine Hunters will not only follow the quest to create a vaccine, but will also focus on the amazing way researchers are working together. Many countries may have locked their borders, but Infield Fly is discovering that global collaborations are changing the very nature of scientific discovery.

“This is an historic moment,” says Infield Fly producer Gillian Main. “The stakes are extraordinarily high, the clock is ticking and the journey will be difficult. But success will change the lives of everyone on the planet and that’s the story we’re trying to tell.”

Infield Fly has convinced some of the world’s leading vaccine teams to provide access to their development process - from Canada’s Entos Pharmaceuticals and VIDO-Intervac to Imperial College London.

But access is only the first challenge.

“Because we’re in the midst of a pandemic we can’t send a dedicated crew from our base in Toronto as we would normally do; we need to use local crews,” says Maudsley. “And those crews have to ensure they’re following all of the pandemic rules not only to stay safe but to make sure we don’t bring any kind of infection into the labs where we’re filming.”

The production team also has to function across multiple time zones in multiple locations, all from their base in Canada. To make that happen, Maudsley brought onboard director P.J Naworynski who recently worked on High Arctic Haulers, another CBC project. Based in Victoria, B.C. it’s Naworynski’s job is to keep track of all the crews operating from London, England to San Diego, California.

“P.J”s a master,” says Maudsley. “He helped establish the very specific and dramatic visual look of the show, guided our choice of equipment and he now liaises daily, sometimes hourly, with all of our crews. He’ll even join them in the field via Zoom to look at shot angles and discuss specific scenes.

Working with Maudsley and Main is co-producer and veteran documentary filmmaker, Monika Delmos. Delmos is responsible for coordinating with Maudsley to track the story as it unfolds, gain and maintain access to each team and, along with Naworynski, guide editorial decisions.

“It’s really all hands on deck,” says Maudsley. “We’re definitely driving our production manager, Diane Marcotte, completely crazy.

Vaccine Hunters is slated to air next year on CBC’s The Nature of Things with David Suzuki.