On Monday. October 12th’s episode of NBC’s Heroes, star Milo Ventimiglia directed and televised his short film promoting social responsibility.  Ventimiglia’s short film features co-star Masi Oka cheerfully engaged in various acts of kindness toward strangers.  And it doesn’t stop there.  NBC partnered with Liberty Mutual to encourage responsibility through a series of 60 second short films directed by popular primetime network stars.  This joint venture is part of  the Liberty Mutual Responsibility Project initiative.

How did the Responsibility Project begin?  Well, back in 2006, Liberty Mutual created a TV commercial about people doing helpful things for strangers.  Liberty Mutual was overwhelmed by thousands of emails and the tremendous positive feedback from viewers.  They took action and decided to help deliver the noble message by partnering with NBC for 5 short films focusing on social responsibility directed by popular primetime TV stars.

Ventimiglia’s short showcased Masi Oka’s affable charm with thankless kind gestures ending with Oka finally getting rewarded for his compassion and thoughtfulness.  In addition to Ventimiglia, wonderful short films were also directed by 4 other NBC network stars:  Connie Britton from Friday Night Lights, Anthony Anderson of Law & Order, Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock and Chuck star Zachary Levi.   You can watch the social responsibility short films directed by each of these stars here, including Ventimiglia’s.

The Liberty Mutual Responsibility Project has several other short films on its website and I would like to point out one in particular that I highly recommend viewing:  The Home Run (watch it here).  With a poignant message, The Home Run short film perfectly encapsulates the purpose of the Responsibility Project.  Directed by Ron Shelton (the same director of one of my all-time favorite movies “Bull Durham“), it’s a 7 minute short about a women’s softball game.  (SPOILER ALERT: I’m going to tell you what happens so skip the next paragraph if you are going to watch it).

It’s the bottom of the final inning and the home team is trailing 2-0 behind the opposing team.  The first 2 players strike out, there’s only 1 out left.  The next batter gets a base hit and the following batter successfully bunts.  The final batter gets 2 strikes on the first 2 pitches, it now the dreaded 2 out, 2 strikes and 0 balls situation.  On the next pitch, she clocks it right out of the park, a home run.  Then, as she rounds first to score her 3-run homer to win the game, she collapses with a serious knee injury.  Her teammates and coach quickly come to her side.  The umpire then walks over and informs them that she has to touch the bases for the runs to count and no offensive player can be assisted by their team member or coach to touch the bases.  What happens?  Two players from the opposing team walk over to her, pick her up off the ground and carry her around to touch each of the bases.  This is sportsmanship at its finest.  The best thing about this story is that it’s true.  On April 26, 2008, this actually happened at a women’s softball game between Western Oregon College and Central Washington University.

Kudos to Liberty Mutual and NBC for organizing and participating in such a worthy endeavor.  I hope everyone finds the Responsibility Project as inspirational as I do.