News Release

September 14, 2004

     

DISCOVERY CHANNEL PROJECT FILMED AT PHIPPS & BIRD

       Richmond , VA--   In early April 2004 a BellaSwartz Productions film crew spent a day at the Phipps & Bird manufacturing facility shooting background video for an upcoming Discovery Channel television program.

       The documentary is about artificial hip implants, and investigates the possibility that they may not have been thoroughly cleaned prior to being implanted.  This has resulted in infections and other medical problems in numerous patients who received them. 

        Phipps & Bird did not manufacture the hip joints involved:  The video filmed at the company’s facility simply illustrates some basic manufacturing processes to the viewer.  Most of the footage consists of very tight action shots of a CNC Machining Center and a CNC Lathe at work.  A Phipps & Bird employee provided some on-air commentary and may or may not appear on the program (the show has not yet been previewed).

 The documentary is scheduled to air on November 20th at 9pm on The Discovery Channel.

Close-up of machining operation

 

Lathe shot being framed  

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