Uncommon Productions

You can now cast your vote for 'Cracking the Code' in the 2026 People's Telly Awards! ★★★★★ We hope we can earn your 5 star rating – Public voting is open until April 17.

https://peoples.tellyawards.com/PublicVoting #/2026/peoples-telly/general/film-shorts/cracking-the-code-phil-sharp-and-the-biotech-revolution

Check out at the Beloit International Film Festival this Saturday 3/28. Tickets at bit.ly/ctc-beloit

Cracking The Code, directed by Bill Haney | Filmmaker Introduction Cracking The Code, a documentary feature film will be screening Saturday March 28, 2026 2:30 PM at The Powerhouse, Beloit College, 850 Pleasant Street. Join ...

LIFF Finalists January 2026

Congratulations to Best of Show winner Bill Haney for Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution - Narrated by Oscar-nominee Mark Ruffalo, with exceptional craft, pitch-perfect pacing and storytelling - it chronicles Phil Sharp’s journey from a dirt-floored Kentucky home to the Nobel Prize, overcoming dyslexia, family bankruptcy, and the deadly attention of the Unabomber. Brilliant, fearless, and visionary, this masterfully crafted documentary reveals how humility, imagination, and courage fueled a biotech revolution, transforming medicine and celebrating the extraordinary potential of ordinary people. ImpactDocsAwards.com

Breakthroughs require a strong ecosystem of discovery and implementation

While people like Sharp can often be framed as the sole discoverer of a breakthrough, they often serve as catalysts.

“Science requires an ecosystem,” Haney said, "from the high school teacher who inspires a student to the university that takes a chance on an applicant despite their weaknesses, as the University of Illinois did when Sharp failed three of the four entrance exams in chemistry needed to enroll in its chemistry department for graduate school. Rather than rejecting him, the university told him to take undergraduate senior classes."

3 lessons from the biotech revolution for innovation today Discover the key elements that enabled the biotech boom and how the U.S. can apply these lessons in a new era of global competition.

The findings underscore the still-untapped potential of mRNA technology at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has backed away from funding the area. “I think this data is extraordinary,” says Ryan Sullivan, an oncologist and immunologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who wasn’t involved in the new research. Although the analysis of cancer patient data was retrospective, he notes that the observed association between COVID-19 vaccination and improved survival “is very strong.”

A surprise bonus from COVID-19 vaccines: bolstering cancer treatment Patients who got shots of mRNA before starting a type of cancer immunotherapy lived much longer

NOW AVAILABLE ON PBS INDEPENDENT LENS

Discover the story behind the biotech industry and the man at the center of changing
it forever: Phil Sharp.

Watch Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution’ on Independent Lens | PBS

Watch now!
On YouTube bit.ly/ctc-you-tube
On PBS: bit.ly/cracking-the-code-pbs

Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution | Full Documentary | Independent Lens Official website: https://to.pbs.org/IL_2024 | groundbreaking look at Phil Sharp’s rise from being a rural Kentucky farm boy who battled dysle...

We're just days away from our Independent Lens | PBS broadcast premiere! Check your local listings here: http://pbs.org/tv_schedules/

The film will also be available to stream on the PBS app and PBS YouTube.

Cracking the Code is Coming to PBS Independent Lens October 6 Discover the story behind the biotech industry and the man at the center of changing it forever: Phil Sharp.Watch Cracking The Code: Phil Sharp and the Biote...

Check out this heartening interview with Phil Sharp and Bill Haney on Nerds Rule The World!

CRACKING THE CODE's Bill Haney & Phil Sharp chat with Heather for NRW! A NRW Interview! CRACKING THE CODE: Phil Sharp & the Biotech Revolution's Bill Haney (DIRECTOR) & Phil Sharp (SUBJECT) chat with Heather for NRW! A NRW Interview!CRACKING THE...

Thrilled to announce that will be a part of the 34th Annual Heartland Film Festival next month!
Get your tickets here: bit.ly/ctc-hiff

Exclusive: 'Rental Family' to Open 34th Annual Heartland International Film Festival; 'Nuremberg' to Close - The Contending Brendan Fraser will surely get a warm welcome at this year’s Heartland Film Festival. The Academy Award-winning actor will present his latest film, Hikari’s Rental Family, at this year’s festival, and there will be some more familiar faces in attendance. Earlier this year, I joined for the 8th...

Check out our upcoming in-person screenings over the next 2 months!

UPCOMING SCREENINGS | Uncommon Productions Please join us for an upcoming screening of 'Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution.'