With a cast of more than 60, a production crew from Miller Davis Studios and CMR Studios spent two weeks taping the program’s three scenarios – a motorcycle race on a rural highway, a collision caused by an inattentive driver, and an attempt by an underage teen to buy beer, which results in a high-speed chase. The production staff turned about 16 hours of footage into a 30-minute program.

“Our Emergency Department sees the end result of situations just like these, so with the help of law enforcement officers, our emergency department physicians and staff, and nursing services staff, we created three situations that occur too often in real life,” said Phil Whitesell, director of corporate communications at Rowan Regional. (“But we also emphasized the consequences that teenagers usually don’t think about when they’re driving. And we used actors of similar age to drive the message home.”)

The production was taped at several locations in Rowan County, including at the medical center, a local school, the old Kannapolis jail, the Rowan County Magistrate’s Office and several roads.

“The Rowan County Sheriff’s Department and Salisbury Police Department, the court system and other public service officials have been a great help in this project,” said Mike Miller, president of Miller Davis Studios. “Not only did they help keep all our locations safe and participate in the production, but they acted as consultants for some scenes to ensure that our depictions of these situations were as realistic as possible.”

In addition to local law enforcement, Miller Davis collaborated with Rowan County Emergency Services, the Rowan County Rescue Squad and the Faith Fire Department.

At Rowan Regional Medical Center, scenes were shot in the Emergency Department and in a critical care unit.

“Between planning, props, actors and camera angles, we made every effort to make this as realistic as possible,” said David Jones, interactive/video manager for Miller Davis.

“In order for this piece to have an impact on our audience, it has to be convincing,” Miller added.

Scott Griswold, a 2005 graduate of South Rowan High School, played Trent, a teenager who gets arrested for underage drinking and attempting to run from the law. Griswold, 18, participated in scenes including a party and a high-speed chase, and in sequences shot at the magistrate’s office and the old Kannapolis jail.

“The jail experience was a lot more dramatic and scary that I thought it would be,” he said. After learning the possible consequences of his character's behavior, Griswold said he has a different perspective now.

“It would definitely make you think a little more,” he said. “Knowing that my family would have to put up property or come up with $1,000 (bond) if I got arrested would make me think twice.”

Rowan County Sheriff’s Deputy Wes Smith played a role in the production and was selected largely because of his experience in law enforcement. Thanks to a federal grant, Smith recently took a position focusing on teenage driving. He spends his weekday mornings and afternoons patrolling traffic around the county high schools. He is also responsible for assisting with driver’s education, as well as child safety seat inspections and education.

Smith said the scenarios in the television production are very realistic. In one of the three chapters, the teenage driver, played by Catawba College student Joey Ryan Yow, is distracted by three passengers in his vehicle, loses control and hits a car head-on when he attempts to bring the car back onto the street.

Smith said running off a road and “over-correcting” is one of the top reasons for teenage accidents. “It all boils down to inexperience in driving,” he said.