VIDEO: Emmy-Award Winning Producer Educates Teens and Women

Whether being a redhead has anything to do with it is unclear, but Deb Hoch is brimming with energy, passion and dedication. Who better to take on some of today’s toughest issues facing teens and women? Through her own non-profit production company, Megastar Productions, Hoch has produced and directed four educational documentaries that have received notable acclaim.

Over 20 years ago Hoch started work at a local cable television station. She liked it so much she enrolled in production courses and got herself behind the camera. Eventually she started her own cable access show “A Woman’s Outlook,” which Hoch describes as  “a cross between Oprah and Larry King Live.” Being a host came naturally to her as a union background actor. Indeed, you can see Hoch in such movies as ‘27 Dresses’ (as mother of one of the many brides) and ‘Meet Joe Black’ (as a guest at a gala ball.)

In 2006 Hoch was moved to action after hearing of several local drunk-driving crashes involving teenagers.

“I couldn’t figure it out,” she says. “There’s so much information out there about drinking and driving. What weren’t we getting?”

Looking to uncover the teen’s point of view, Hoch visited colleges, high schools and teen hangouts to speak to them about the issue.  She also went to the A.C.I. and interviewed offenders. The resulting short documentary, “The Impact of Your Choice: Underage Drinking and Reckless Driving,” won five Telly Awards and an Emmy. More than 1,000 copies have been distributed to schools around the country.

In 2009 Hoch began work on her second project, “The Impact of Your Choice: Breast Health Awareness,” the focus of which is early detection. During filming of the project, Hoch’s mother, a breast cancer survivor, tested positive for the Brca mutated gene, which is said to be a genetic indicator of significant risk. Hoch’s mother called her daily for weeks until she herself got tested. The results were positive and the doctor ordered follow up tests.

“I’d had a clean mammogram months before so I wasn’t concerned. I was too busy focusing on the getting this project done,” she said.

Ironically, the night before visiting the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation Hoch found out she had breast cancer. Hoch completed the project while undergoing treatment, and in 2010 the Foundation sponsored a premiere of the film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. It has since played on PBS and other notable television networks.

Hoch is now cancer-free and working on parts two and three of the breast health series. She also recently completed a second drunk-driving film “The Impact of Your Choice: Drinking, Driving: Lethal Choice” and has developed a PSA on teen dating violence that she hopes to expand into a larger piece. Down the road she’d like to find “an ultimate sponsor” to support a series about self-esteem, tracking children from first grade to their college years.

 “Self-esteem plays a very big part in everything we do,” Hoch says. “It leads into things as an adult – domestic violence, how we treat other people, how we treat ourselves. Parents often say ‘I’m proud of you,’ but you have to be able to say ‘I’m proud of myself.’”