Creative Safety Guidance on Hulu’s The Girl from Plainville

AFSP’s creative support of the Hulu miniseries The Girl from Plainville — a dramatization of the real-life Michelle Carter case surrounding a teen who died by suicide and his girlfriend’s conviction for manslaughter – offers a unique case study of how AFSP provides storytelling guidance. Writer, producer and showrunner Liz Hannah (The Post, Longshot, The Dropout) contacted AFSP in the early stages of the creative process, having previously received AFSP’s feedback on her film All the Bright Places.

What followed was a detailed and supportive collaboration through which AFSP supplied evidence-based safe storytelling considerations to the writing team ahead of the writing process; multi-stage script review; and conversations with producers and directors considering tone and aesthetic on specific scenes; as well as meetings with cast members Elle Fanning an Colton Ryan, who were eager to understand more about their characters inner lives.

The result was a miniseries that balanced compelling storytelling with safety for audience members at risk, avoiding the risk of contagion while making creative choices that entertained while responsibly depicting a complex, real-life situation, and helping to raise awareness and understanding in our culture through the entertainment medium. The show received widespread critical praise, along with award nominations including a Critics Choice Award for Best Limited Series. 

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