Our Story

Janet and Laura Greenwald are one of the only mother/daughter writing teams in the entertainment industry. They began their careers in production on network sitcoms at studios including MGM, Lorimar, Warner Bros and Universal. 

But it was the day a jumbo jet crashed right across the street from their home, that taught Janet and Laura more than they wanted to know about the importance of being prepared for unexpected disasters. So did a tornado, the Whittier earthquake and the West Coast blackout. As difficult as those situations were, it was actually a medical emergency that put the mother/daughter screenwriting team on the path to creating the revolutionary disaster preparedness system, Ready In 10

It all began when a fall at home in Chicago, rendered Janet's mother Elaine, unable to speak. Two thousand miles away in LA, her daughter and granddaughter had no idea she'd been injured or hospitalized. Although the hospital had no medical history and no idea what prescription drugs shed been taking, they waited 6 ½ days to notify Jan and Laura of Elaine's hospitalization. Hours later, Elaine died from complications including a massive infection, a completely avoidable drug interaction and the fact that the hospital failed to feed her. She passed away before her daughter and granddaughter could get to her bedside.

After learning that there were no laws regulating next of kin notification, Laura and Jan teamed with legislators to write and enact three Next of Kin Laws in Illinois and California and a federal version introduced into Congress. Shortly after, they founded the Next of Kin Education Project and created "Notify In 7", the first system in the nation to provide hospitals with the tools and techniques they need, to notify and reunite unconscious emergency room patients with their loved ones, their medical history and in some cases, their identity. 

As writers, Janet and Laura knew they had to share their story to keep other families from having to go through the same thing they had, so they turned their story into a screenplay called "Without Consent", which they're currently pitching to production companies. 

 

While watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina especially the horror of families not being able to locate loved ones, and unidentified victims, being treated without vital medical history, Laura and Janet realized that the same basic concepts and tools they had designed for Notify In 7 could give families across America an innovative and effective new way to prepare for disasters. 

The result was Ready In 10. Ready In 10 isn't about stockpiling water and emergency supplies. Its designed to help families get the vital information and items they need, keepsakes they treasure and people they love, through nearly any disaster in one piece, and back to living their normal lives, as quickly and painlessly as possible. The duo has also authored two other disaster readiness guides "Don't Lose All Your Stuff In A Hurricane" & "Don't Lose All Your Stuff At College". Their materials were the only emergency viewer resources chosen for NBC's Miniseries event "10.5 Apocalypse".

With the launch of Ready In 10 and the completion of their screenplay "Without Consent", Laura and Janet are back to their first love, writing and producing movies and television series. Bringing a unique two-generational voice to their work, Janet and Laura have created original one-hour series and features including "Capitol Hill," "Without Consent", "Hidden Agenda," "Anachronism," "Unresolved Acts", "Reach for the Stars" and "The System". 

Laura & Janet Greenwald are the authors of "Don't Lose All Your Stuff in a Hurricane," "The Wealth of Tulips," creators of "Notify In 7," "Ready In 10" & founders of The Next of Kin Education Project.

 

Want To See What "Without Consent" Is All About? Watch The Video Below.

 

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