Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution
Not Rated ‧ 2025 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 38min
Narrated by Mark Ruffalo, Cracking the Code tells the inspiring story of Phil Sharp, whose journey from a Kentucky farm to a Nobel Prize redefined the landscape of molecular biology. His 1977 discovery of RNA splicing sparked a scientific revolution that transformed global healthcare and helped launch a thriving biotech industry.
Official Selection of Flyover Film Festival 2025.
ABOUT
Cracking the Code, narrated by Mark Ruffalo, chronicles Nobel Laureate Phil Sharp's rise from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to revolutionizing medicine. Overcoming obstacles such as childhood dyslexia to threats from the Unabomber, Phil's pioneering work as a scientist and entrepreneur sparked the creation of the biotech industry, launching life-saving medicines that reach billions each year, offering hope to patients with diseases from diabetes and breast cancer to Multiple Sclerosis and the COVID vaccine.
WATCH NOW
See the Kentucky Festival Premiere at the 2025 Flyover Film Festival.
Sunday, July 27, 2:30 pm @ The Speed Cinema
BUY TICKETS
CREDITS
Director
Bill Haney
Writer
Bill Haney
Stars
Mark Ruffalo, Walter Isaacson, Chanda Davetas
Companies
Uncommon Productions, Archival Ninjas, Wheelhouse Creative
DETAILS
Released
2025-04-24
Runtime
1h 38min
Rating
Not Rated
Genres
Documentary
CONTEXT
Countries
USA
Languages
English
Awards
Not Available
Keywords
science, technology, medicine, research, innovation
CAST
MEET THE ARTIST
Bill Haney
An inventor and entrepreneur, Bill Haney started his first company as a college freshman, inventing and building air pollution control systems for power plants. Since then, he has started or helped start more than a dozen technology companies. He is currently Co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech focused on novel NK-cell based immune engagers, and Co-founder & Chairman of Skyhawk Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech focused on small molecule RNA splicing modifiers.
Bill was a founding member of the national environmental advisory board for the US Environmental Protection Agency and the President's Circle for the National Academy of Sciences. He has won a Humanitarian Award from Harvard Medical School, an Achievement Award from the ACLU and serves or has served on boards for Harvard, MIT, State and Federal Government agencies, and the World Resources Institute.
As a writer, director, and producer of documentary films, he has won the Gabriel Prize, Silver Hugo, Earthwatch Award, Marine Conservation Award, Amnesty International Award, Genesis Award, Harvard Medical School Humanitarian Award, and the distinguished Pare Lorentz Award. Bill has been repeatedly nominated for the NAACP Image Awards and shortlisted for an Oscar. He has also written and produced several award-winning narrative films, and has premiered numerous films at Sundance, SXSW, Telluride, and other leading film festivals.
Bill holds a BA from Harvard College and was a Kennedy School Fellow from 1997-2001.
CONNECTION TO KENTUCKY
Phil Sharp, the subject of the film, is a Nobel laureate who hails from Pendleton, Kentucky and parts of the documentary were filmed there.
Audiences will be inspired by Phil Sharp's astounding journey from Kentucky farm boy to Nobel Laureate. His groundbreaking discoveries not only revolutionized molecular biology, but also laid the foundation for modern medicine, which continues to shape our world today.
The film is an official selection of Flyover Film Festival 2025.
