When Boston Legal reaches 10 million people each week, it’s considered a moderate hit. When a public health campaign reaches 100,000 people in a year, it’s considered a tremendous success.

Tapping into that disparity, the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC) encourages the entertainment industry to disseminate accurate portrayals of mental illness, substance abuse, and other health and social issues to its mass audience.

“I think we have a good track record,” said Marie Gallo Dyak, Executive Vice President of the Council, which is neither strictly an advocacy group nor a watchdog, but a non-profit founded 25 years ago from within the entertainment industry. “Nobody wants to hear from angry audience members or angry advertisers if they blow it.”

Working with writers and producers from shows such as Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, Bones, and many more, EIC provides the tools they need to use the appropriate vocabulary, avoid stigmatizing language, and to identify health and social priorities that are most important to their audiences, all from a solid foundation of research. They've also conducted workshops with actors on preparing for a role involving mental illness, and other sessions are planned on topics such as post-traumatic stress, women's health, and foster care, among others.

EIC is perhaps best known as the organization behind the PRISM Awards, which honour the accurate depiction of addiction and mental health issues in the media. At the 2008 ceremony, TV recipients included Grey's Anatomy guest star Ben Vereen plus the episode of the series in which he starred (and for which EIC provided research assistance), as well as ER, The Simpsons, Sally Field and Dave Annable of Brothers and Sisters, and James Denton of Desperate Housewives, whose award was presented by former PRISM nominee and fellow TV drug addict Hugh Laurie of House.

Boston Legal has also been recognized at the PRISM awards, and writer/producer David E. Kelley (Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, The Practice) has a history of inserting social commentary in his shows. “We’re fortunate to have David Kelley in this business,” said Gallo Dyak. "He has a huge research piece in what he does, and it's really responsible."

"When we can sit down and watch a show we choose to watch because we love — or love to hate — the characters, we listen to them and we become more open-minded to conversations that sometimes we didn't have before," she added.