Hollywood calling

A few years ago, Severino got a call from a West Boca High classmate who now works as a movie producer in New York City.

The classmate noticed how Severino had created Fresh Start, a magazine in Palm Beach County for which she wrote articles and sold ads.

Severino focused on drug recovery, a timely topic amid the rise of the drug-rehabilitation industry. Her phone number has been passed around widely among those on the street and in recovery groups, which keeps her phone vibrating constantly.

“She was covering all the questions we had: what to look for when you go to rehab, what questions you should ask,” said the West Boca classmate, Jaime Manheimer, 28, an executive producer for the show. “So we asked, ‘What do you think about doing this?’”

The camera followed Severino around for three years. And during filming that lasted through this spring, she had encounters with hundreds of people. Four times she administered Narcan, the antidote that reverses opioid overdoses.

“It’s scary,” she said. “Here are these L.A. film people, are they going to exploit these people? I’m being vulnerable because they are following me with cameras 13 hours a day.”

At one point, Boynton Beach revoked the production’s film permit because they were filming at a time and place they had not filed a permit for, according to Chuck Elderd, commissioner with the Palm Beach County Film Commission.

McGee said he still thinks about how they were filming one day and heard about someone in distress.

“When we got there, Allie administered CPR, chest compressions and worked with 911 and essentially brought him back to life,” he said. “It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever been a part of.”