• by Les Luchter , Yesterday

Two years after premiering a 13-minute documentary about three eczema patients, Abbvie has again teamed with branded entertainment firm Passion Point Collective, this time for a 16-minute documentary about three patients living with chronic lymphoma leukemia (CLL).

The new film, titled “Second Winds,” can currently be seen on free ad-supported streaming service Documentary+, as well as on LA Times Studio Short Docs and AbbVie’s YouTube channel.

The title refers to how diagnosis and treatment of CLL can lead to “fulfilling lives,” Matt Skryja, AbbVie’s associate director, public affairs for U.S Oncology, tells Marketing Daily.

The three film subjects are shown happily pursuing such “fulfilling” activities as hiking, cycling, skiing and skateboarding.

As with the previous eczema film, AbbVie won’t say if the subjects are its own patients, although the pharma firm along with Roche’s Genentech has marketed a CLL treatment called Venclexta since 2019.

Officially designated onscreen as “presented by Abbvie,” the new film ends with a graphic directing viewers to visit CLLCancer.com for more information. That page includes a button asking, “Are you ready to learn about a treatment option for your CLL,” which when clicked takes the user to a Venclexta site.

Besides the film, AbbVie’s non-branded awareness efforts for CLL have included “supporting patient education initiatives, collaborating closely with advocacy organizations, and developing resources informed by the real-world experiences of people living with CLL,” Skryja says.

In addition, AbbVie released an “Emotional Impact Report” a year ago, which explored the emotional and psychosocial effects of living with CLL -- including insights showing that Black, Hispanic, and Asian patients have more negative emotional experiences and outlooks,

CLL is said to affect hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S.,with CLLCancer.com noting it’s the most common type of leukemia in adults over 19, although the average age of diagnoses is 65 to75 years. It’s also twice as common in men than women and more common among Caucasians than other groups, with a higher risk for people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Skryja says that “Second Winds” is being promoted “through a mix of earned media, digital partnerships, social channels, and advocacy engagement.,” with the film “intended for a broad audience including people living with CLL, caregivers, advocacy communities, and the general public.”  

The film’s success, he adds, will be measured “through meaningful engagement including how the film resonates with patients, caregivers, advocacy partners, and broader audiences as well as the quality of conversations it sparks about survivorship, community, and awareness of CLL.”

Second Winds was produced by Encompass Films, while the earlier eczema film was done by Redglass Pictures. Marcus Peterzell, CEO of Passion Point Collective, explains that in each case, AbbVie engaged Passion Point “to find the right creative team and production resources to bring these stories to life” and then made the final decision on the production team.

This time around, Encompass and director Dominic Gill were chosen because they “have expertise in character-driven documentaries and outdoor adventure films,” Peterzell says.

Next up for “Second Winds,” which officially premiered with an L.A. screening on Nov. 13, will be film festivals in 2026 and additional streaming options. “Our goal is to always treat these brand -funded films as high caliber independent movies and not branded entertainment, which is why these premium distribution channels are key to the film attracting an audience,” says Peterzell.