‘Life is nonlinear and you don’t know anything’
CT producer takes viewers on a journey of aging in PBS documentary
GREENWICH — A new film produced by a Greenwich television pioneer aims to hammer home the realities — good, bad and wrinkly — of aging by making four American families take a walk in the elderly’s shoes.
“Fast-Forward,” an hourlong documentary that debuts nationally on PBS at 10 p.m. Wednesday, follows a group of millennials and baby boomers who agree to don aging suits and spend a week in an “aging bootcamp” of doctor’s visits, driving sessions and proactive conversations about making the golden years just that.
“Most people assume life gets lousy” as you age, said film producer Bill Baker, a longtime Riverside resident and president emeritus of WNET Channel 13. “Life is nonlinear — and you don’t know anything.”
Baker got a front-row seat to aging — and all its legal, emotional and unexpectedly content facets — two years ago when he agreed to serve as guardian to his “Uncle Tiny,” a 6-foot-6 Sun City, Ariz., man who lived to 96. Uncle Tiny, who Baker considered a kind of stepdad, already had a living will and other documents necessary to make his final years as pleasant as possible for himself and his loved ones.
But Baker, whose wife and daughter are medical professionals, realized that not everyone is as organized or as prepared.
In “Fast-Forward,” narrated by actress Rosario Dawson, viewers see the future in a whole new light, thanks to AGNES, the Age Gain Now Empathy System developed at the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The suit mimics the changes that occur naturally as we age by increasing fatigue, reducing joint and muscle flexibility and simulating difficulty with vision and balance.
As if that’s not enough, the documentary’s team also used hair and makeup professionals to age the participants 30 years — providing a mirror-based wakeup call.
Susan, 51, had thought she would like to live in an Airstream trailer behind her daughter’s home during her retirement years. But the pair soon realized the plan was not just unrealistic — it was downright dangerous.
A millennial named Drey began to understand his 65-year-old father’s physical limitations after donning AGNES at an exercise class with a group of 80-somethings.
The film encourages viewers to consider their family members’ health futures and issues such as care-giving and living arrangements, which can come to a head suddenly. Frank and honest talks early on can help families transition more seamlessly and with less guilt, misunderstanding or heartache, Baker said.
Filming the documentary struck a chord with Baker, who is
78. After making his mark in Cleveland and Baltimore, where he launched Oprah Winfrey as a talk show host, Baker served as president of Westinghouse Television and eventually spent 21 years as president of WNET, America’s flagship public broadcaster.
Now a professor at Fordham University and the honorary distinguished professor of media & entertainment at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Baker hasn’t slowed down much. He’s currently working on a pilot featuring religious leaders and other “wisdom keepers” of the world.
With the experiences of his Uncle Tiny as inspiration, Baker has made sure that his end-of-life paperwork is in order — and he said he hopes the film encourages others to follow suit. Baker also concentrates on some of “FastForward’s” hopeful commentary on research that shows many elderly people are significantly happier than their younger counterparts.
“I’m old, too. It’s a subject that’s of some interest to me,” Baker said. “I didn’t realize how great later life can be.”