Bill Haney on Film, Biotech, and the Phil Sharp Revolution

September 23, 2025 / Sounds of Film with Nom Needham Listen on Spotify.com

On this week’s Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with award-winning filmmaker and biotech entrepreneur Bill Haney, director of Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp and the Biotech Revolution.

Narrated by Mark Ruffalo, the documentary traces the extraordinary journey of Phil Sharp, a Kentucky farm boy born in a one-room, dirt-floor house who overcame severe dyslexia to win the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking discovery of RNA splicing. Sharp went on to co-found biotech giants like Biogen and Alnylam, helping to spark a revolution in medicine that today touches billions of lives.

More than a biography, Cracking the Code is both a celebration of Sharp’s achievements and a call to imagine the future of science, innovation, and the American Dream. The conversation explores Sharp’s roots, his scientific discoveries, the birth of the biotech industry, and the broader cultural themes of resilience, entrepreneurship, and the importance of supporting scientific research.

Bill Haney is an award-winning filmmaker, inventor, and entrepreneur whose work has earned honors including the Gabriel Prize, Amnesty International Award, and the Pare Lorentz Award. He has founded or helped launch more than a dozen companies and is currently CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics and Skyhawk Therapeutics, developing innovative drugs for cancer, autoimmune, and neurological diseases.

Audiences will also have a chance to experience Cracking the Code on the big screen at the Port Jefferson Documentary Film Series, where it will open the season on Thursday , September 25th at 7:00 PM. The screening promises to be an inspiring evening highlighting one of America’s most influential scientists and innovators.