John,

Over the past six years, the NBC series This Is Us has brought the story of Rebecca Pearson – Mandy Moore's character, who is mother to the show's "Big Three" – and her transition from caregiver to care recipient as her Alzheimer's accelerated over time.

Tens of millions of Americans truly saw themselves though the Pearson family as they worked through the pain of disease and tough care decisions.

Now it’s time for all networks and studios across the entertainment industry to do the same. Tell Hollywood to follow NBC’s lead and ensure more care stories are part of storytelling on film and TV.

I joined Caring Across after more than a decade of working in film and television development, and I’m now mobilizing my network within the industry to make care more visible in the content they produce.

I’ll hand-deliver your petition signature to writers, producers, and executives working for all the broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, FOX, and streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.

I’m so amazed by This Is Us. It covered the range of care issues that aren’t normally talked about like:

• How tough it is to give care without proper support, planning, or financial resources
• How sandwich generation caregivers (like Randall, Kate, and Kevin) had no models for having difficult conversations
• How the “every family out for themselves” American mentality is outdated when it comes to care (and everything else is our society!)

It’s time to change how our culture shows care to help shift how our society values care. One of the first ways is to bring more of care narratives into film and television so families across the U.S. can see themselves in the stories being told.

With hope,

Lydia Storie
Senior Manager, Culture Change
Caring Across Generations

PS: We were so lucky to be able to sit down last week with Mandy Moore, members of the This Is Us cast, special guest Seth Rogen, Lauren Miller Rogen, our very own Ai-jen Poo, and the wonderful organization Hilarity for Charity to discuss how caregiving has touched their own lives and the power of pop culture to help us normalize care planning. Watch the full backyard chat with Mandy Moore and the rest of the This Is Us cast here.