LATEST NEWS

When I was in Detroit over the summer for the Allied Media Conference, I attended a workshop presented by Evan Casper-Futterman, Co-Producer of the film Land of Opportunity. He explained how the film is using Mozilla Foundation’s WebMadeMovies initiative to create an interactive web campaign. Afterwards, I caught up with Evan to find out a bit more about how the interactive videos work and supplement the film. Here’s what he had to say: A key component of the Land of Opportunity documentary project is the production and distribution of interactive web-based videos designed to engage and educate viewers on core urban issues of affordable housing, urban redevelopment/planning, (im)migration and economic displacement. We are building an open-source interactive web player for our video content that provides access to an ever-expanding content-rich environment that amplifies and contextualizes the storylines and issues we explore. The goal is to create a multi-dimensional story space that will increase engagement and inspire action. The interactive nature of these webisodes will allow users to relate the stories of post-Katrina New Orleans to what is happening in their own backyards. We have partnered with the prestigious Mozilla Foundation’s WebMadeMovies initiative to create the Land of Opportunity interactive web player. As they watch a video, users will be presented with "triggers" that appear during key moments. These triggers will enable users to access additional content drawn from a curated “knowledge-base” organized by the filmmakers in conjunction with educational, community and data partners. This additional content will feature video, audio, data, stills, articles, maps, diagrams, scholarly essays, online action campaigns and so forth. While watching the webisodes, users will also be prompted to provide information about themselves (i.e. zip code, age-range, income range etc.) and will then access targeted data that relates the themes and issues in the video content to what’s happening in their own towns and cities (i.e. number of blighted homes in their neighborhood, immigrants rights campaigns in their community, urban planning initiatives in their city etc). In addition, the triggers will allow users to see the latest news and what people are saying in real time about the issues on Google, Facebook and Twitter, etc. Eventually users will also be able to record and upload their own content and triggers. This interface creates a holistic viewing experience that transcends the current limitations of viewing video on the web. It also furthers our goal of inspiring dialogue and analysis that connects the dots between the interrelated core urban issues presented in Land of Opportunity. For students and researchers, the player will be akin to having a dynamic streaming bibliography—video and text can now be used in tandem, rather than as separate resources. All our additional content will be created and organized in collaboration with community, educational and data partners to maximize engagement and impact around our core urban issues. We are currently building a robust demo of the player, which we will use to attract additional funding and strategic partners. The demo will be completed in late September. We then plan to build and launch the player in three phases in 2012 in conjunction with three webisodes each highlighting a core urban issue covered in the feature film: affordable housing, urban planning/redevelopment, and immigration. Each webisode will be launched with an additional level of functionality, which will initially be piloted in six target cities, including New Orleans, Detroit and Atlanta. Our first websiode--a two part piece on affordable housing in New Orleans, Atlanta, and DC, will utilize a prototype of the player and will be released in conjunction with the National Black Programming Consortium and our strategic local and national partners in early 2012 . While developing this player, we will continue to schedule screenings of the feature film Land of Opportunity. Anyone interested in any aspect of our project should check out our website, Facebook page, and Twitter.

Tribeca Film Institute has opened submissions for four of their programs: TFI Documentary Fund, TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund, Tribeca All Access and TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund. Beyond providing grants for non-fiction, narrative and new media filmmakers, these programs also include year-round support like resources and industry connections for the grantees who will participate in events during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. For more information, visit their website. The deadline is October 10th, 2011. Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is now accepting submissions. The festival will be held April 12-15th, 2012 in Durham, NC. Full Frame serves the documentary form and its community by showcasing the contemporary work of established and emerging filmmakers. The festival provides a space that nurtures conversation between artists, students, and the Full Frame audience. Full Frame is committed to enhancing public understanding and appreciation of the art form and its significance, while making films more accessible to a wider audience. The Fledgling Fund supports innovative media projects that can play critical roles in igniting social change. The primary focus of The Fledgling Fund's creative media initiative is outreach and audience engagement. Applicants are encouraged to review their written resources on assessing impact and understanding distribution, outreach/strategic communications and audience engagement prior to applying. The next deadline to apply is September 30th at midnight (EST). Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Mother Wit Human Rights Fund is now accepting applications. Check out their mandate to make sure you qualify before applying. The deadline is September 30th at midnight Pacific Time.

Earlier this year, we posted an opportunity for the konsonant/ Sounding Together Initiative (STi) Fellowship. The fellowship gives free music licenses to independent filmmakers working on socially conscious films. The recipients were announced last month and we are excited to hear that two of the winning filmmakers found out about this opportunity from Working Films! Check out the video below to see the selected film projects.   The 2011 konsonant Fellowship Winners 1st Prize: Singers in the Band by David Goodman 2nd Prize: Unlikely Friends by Leslie Neale 3rd Prize: La Toma by Paola Mendoza 4th Prize: Internal Exposure by Fivel Rothberg 5th Prize: My Brooklyn by Kelly Anderson

Things are heating up at the Working Films’ firehouse this summer – literally, the heat index has hovered around 100 degrees the past month. I recently arrived to Wilmington in June as a 2011 George Stoney Fellow from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. I’m really excited and passionate about my work so far to help racial justice advocates across the country use the new Two Towns of Jasper Education and Outreach DVD. We’ve started partnering with an array of organizations so far, each one looking to host their own distinct event to inspire discussion and action that combats racial bias that continues to appear in our communities today. Early last week, we were invited to brainstorm with chapters of the National Federation for Just Communities (NFCJ), a grassroots social justice organization whose former chapter memberships were known as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). The former NCCJ was a key partner around the original launch of Two Towns of Jasper in 2003 so it was great to reconnect these allies with the project. In our conversation, representatives from eight current NFJC groups in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska and New York each saw potential in either screening the entire film or presenting selected clips from the film to youth and adults in their respective communities. Lana Benatovich, from NFJC of Western New York, brought major energy to the call, reflecting on the powerful impact Two Towns of Jasper had on her region in Buffalo, NY when they used the film for when it was first released. In the special DVD feature Two Towns of Jasper: Move Hearts, Minds and Policy (below), you can see firsthand how the film had the ability to push the Western New York citizens and government officials to consider the visible and all too dangerous “invisible” racial divisions in their area. Proving that Two Towns of Jasper is timeless tool for activists, Lana told us last week that she is eager to host another screening event with the new education and outreach DVD of Two Towns of Jasper. She noted that there is still much work to be done as her city of Buffalo was just named the 6th most segregated city in the U.S. I couldn’t agree more with Lana and everyone on the NFCJ call that the issues the film brings up are just as relevant today as ever. That’s why we are working so hard to get the Two Towns of Jasper DVD into the hands of educators, community organizers and racial justice activists across the country. If you're interested in hosting a screening, you can buy the DVD here. This Education and Outreach DVD includes a host of resources that will help facilitators and audiences work through the essential but often difficult conversations that the film brings up. Two Towns of Jasper covers a city’s reaction to a horrible hate crime. At the same time, it uncovers the racism that can lead to this kind of tragedy. I found it difficult to get my head around. I thought to myself, “Why?”, “How?”, “And could this happen again?” The new resources on this DVD, including the educators guide written by Facing History and Ourselves and the interactive community discussion guide helped me process those questions, and I know they will provide screening hosts which a starting point for individual or group reflection and action. Two Towns of Jasper truly does have limitless audience reach. Once only available on VHS and at film festival screenings, now you can feature Two Towns in:

• local leadership development institutes
• public forums on racial reconciliation
• college campus discussions
• civic response team workshops
• educational film series
• grassroots training sessions
• youth leadership programs
• town hall meetings
• high school classrooms
• diversity and inclusion training sessions

There is no better time than right now to bring Two Towns of Jasper to a community near you. Purchase the DVD and organize a screening today! Christina Bryant is a George Stoney Fellow at Working Films for Summer 2011.

"Being part of this collaboration is saying we can work together to affect a larger issue; to affect change." - Peter Bull, filmmaker of Dirty Business As Judith Helfand states in the video, "There’s no silver bullet that is going to fix climate change." If that was true, An Inconvenient Truth would have stopped climate change. We need many compelling stories from lots of different places to convey a comprehensive picture of the problem and solutions we can pursue. Reel Power films weave together the narratives of the different communities they feature to show the interconnectedness of the issues. Together they give the environmental movement a full picture of our opportunities for a just future. “What the natural gas industry would like to do is split this movement. The natural gas industry would like to drive a wedge straight through environmentalism. Don’t let them fool you! As filmmakers, we have to make sure that we’re working together as one force because the whole point is to move to renewable energy.” - Josh Fox, filmmaker of Gasland This spring Reel Power participated in Power Shift, the nation’s largest youth climate conference, where the films were screened throughout the weekend culminating in a filmmaker panel. A discussion on the ways film screenings can be used to generate action at the grassroots level energized both the crowd and the directors. The Reel Power team left inspired by commitments from some of our country’s brightest youth leaders and are now working with college campus organizers to bring screenings and actions that support the movement for a sustainable and just energy future. Working Films is continuing to build alliances among related issue filmmakers and NGO’s . We are opening up new opportunities and foster stronger communities. Learn more about our thematic field building or connect with Reel Power and learn how to set up screenings on your campus or in your community: https://www.workingfilms.org/reelpower. “What an amazing thing to join forces, and to share our ideas and to share resources and get that message out there.” Jennifer Redfearn, Sun Come Up

The Good Pitch San Francisco starts off with an intensive two-day campaign development workshop led by Working Films for the selected filmmakers September 24-25. A day-long event on September 27 will bring together the filmmakers with NGOs, foundations, philanthropists, brands and other stakeholders to forge coalitions and campaigns that are good for all these allies, good for the films and good for the world. Below are descriptions of the six selected projects and their award-winning directors: American Village (Dir. Mary Posatko, Emily Topper) 1972: a father of thirteen is murdered in Baltimore, Maryland. Three boys are arrested, represented by a famous civil rights attorney, and acquitted. Traumatized and confused, the victim’s family flees, and never looks back. Now, amidst a family crisis, his granddaughter returns - to uncover the era’s brutal history, meet the men involved, and begin to heal her family. Gardens of Paradise (Dir. Bernardo Ruiz) A veteran reporter and his colleagues at an embattled news weekly challenge the drug cartels and corrupt local officials during a wave of unprecedented violence against journalists in Mexico. God Loves Uganda (Dir. Roger Ross Williams ) In a journey that spans two continents, African-American director Roger Williams, son of a Baptist minister, explores the nature of belief – in America, where congregants search for spiritual meaning, and in Uganda, where American missionaries and Ugandan evangelicals struggle for the hearts and souls of a people facing dire poverty and tumultuous social change. How To Survive A Plague (Dir. David France) Using never-before-seen archival footage, How to Survive a Plague is the intense story of how AIDS stopped being a death sentence, and the improbable group of young HIV-positive activists who, though lacking scientific training, infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry to help develop effective, breakthrough medications. They saved millions of lives – including many, though not all, of their own. The Invisible War (Dir. Kirby Dick) The Invisible War is an investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences. Turkey Creek (Dir. Leah Mahan) Turkey Creek tells the story of a group of determined Mississippians who struggle to save their endangered Gulf Coast community in the face of rampant development, industrial pollution and disaster. Bridge the Gulf is a citizen journalism and new media initiative designed to help the Gulf Coast’s most marginalized communities convey their stories and their vision for the future. The Good Pitch was created by Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, in partnership with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. Support for The Good Pitch comes from Chicken & Egg Pictures, The Fledgling Fund, Ford Foundation, Impact Partners, Wyncote Foundation, CrossCurrents Foundation, Amnesty International and anonymous donors. Campaign support for filmmakers is provided by Working Films.

Who better to speak about Reel Change than someone who’s already gone through it? I checked in with a few of the alumni from our first Managing Social Issue Film Campaigns workshop to find out what they gained from the training. Here’s what they had to say: When I attended the 3-day Reel Change workshop last November, in New York City, I expected an intensive crash course in conceptualizing and executing a successful outreach campaign for my documentary, DAMELO TODO. Luckily, I got that and more. I met smart and thoughtful filmmakers who not only had amazing projects, but who also were generous in providing their feedback and sharing their skills and expertise. Coupled with the experience and generosity of the staff at Working Films and Fledgling Fund (co-organizers of the event), the insight I gained on those three days was invaluable. I especially appreciated the immersive element of the workshop -- what a true luxury it was to spend an entire weekend fine-tuning audience-building strategies. Also truly transformative was our conviction that our films could make a difference and -- coupled with grassroots collective organizing -- help to effect change for a just world. Felix Endara Manager of Filmmaker Services, Arts Engine, Inc. Producer, DAMELO TODO (IFP Documentary Rough Cut Labs, 2010) Since taking the Reel Engagement Workshop, I have been able to expand "The Engage Media Project," a resource portal and professional service I founded for filmmakers and other media producers, as well as activists, educators, outreach and engagement coordinators, interested in using media as a tool for social change. I am very proud to say that we will be coordinating the campaign for a Sundance documentary about the criminal case of seven queer women of color who fought back against sexual harassment on the street, resulting in a media firestorm and unjust prison sentences. Our campaign is an ambitious one that includes having the felony convictions overturned and empowering countless others who have loved ones incarcerated due to similar bias and over-sentencing. The workshop was both informative and inspiring, and has galvanized my efforts to use media as a concrete tool for social change. Sabrina S. Gordon Executive Director, The Engage Media Project The Managing Social Issue Film Campaigns workshop was an eye-opening experience. I not only learned the conceptual framework behind community engagement, but was given concrete tools I could take back and use in our engagement efforts. Since taking the workshop, we have fostered vital partnerships with social issue activist groups, overhauled our website to increase audience engagement, and have worked with national advocacy organizations who will use the film as a tool to effect policy change. This training is a must for anyone making or involved with a social issue film. Shira Potash Co-producer and director, Food Stamped Associate producer, Crime After Crime The NYC workshop on social and community engagement helped to guide how we have structured the current Interrupters campaign. We’ve focused on gauging the right partnerships not just to raise public awareness but also to reach and affect audiences that are reflected as subjects in films. The workshop and the tools supplied have helped me and my team frame more finite and intentional goals for the campaign. The NYC seminar also helped build on a foundation and added new tools to implement an impactful campaign…The three day seminar helped me reflect on unused competencies that I could apply in building a successful social engagement campaign. I am positive that there is room to build much stronger and meaningful campaigns using not only documentary films but other forms of media as well. The Working Films’ and Fledging Fund’s Reel Change training is excellent for expanding this important and necessary work. L. Anton Seals Jr Community Engagement Specialist The Interrupters Campaign, Kartemquin Films

We asked our friend Steph Bleyer, founder of Six Foot Chipmunk, about her favorite tech tools that help clients reach and activate new audiences. Here's a peek inside her toolbox: Call2Action – Customizable, sharable widget. It’s like a mini-website. Trumps YouTube for embedding films trailers on Facebook (and every other platform). It’s a must-have for every film engagement campaign. Five stars. Vokle – Want to do your next post-screening Q & A from your living room?  I’ve produced many panels using this call-in/text-in/tweet-in video platform, which works particularly awesome if you have multiple panelists in disparate locations. You can embed the video player on your site and your partners’ sites and folks can call in like they’re on a video-radio-web show.  Big love. Mailchimp – To keep in touch with our audiences, I ditched lame Constant Contact years ago for Mailchimp. The e-newsletter templates are tighter and less non-profity looking, it’s easy to administer and there’s a cartoon monkey that will crack you up. Textmarks – I’ve searched high and low for the best texting tool. I haven’t found it yet. If you want to text your audience an occasional call to action, Textmarks will do the trick (for free, w/ ads). We all want to collect email addresses at every screening without using a clipboard, right? Well the only service I can find that will let you do this with mobile requires that you have a minimum operating budget of $500k. Eventbrite - When organizing a one-off national community screening event, I recommend centralizing RSVP’s using Eventbrite. This will guarantee that you will collect the e-mail addresses from most screening attendees without having to hassle your screening organizers to send you their lists (which they rarely do). Ushahidi – Free, open-sourced crowd-mapping that will show people where your screenings are taking place around the world. Yes, Google Maps can do this but Ushahidi can do it better because your screening organizers/audience members do the work. They can text, email and tweet in screening info. BAVC created this sample. Salsa – Their tagline “ingredients for organizing” is spot on. I used Salsa to register and collect info about people participating in a week-long film engagement project that The Huffington Post co-hosted. Salsa is one-stop shopping (from donation collection to Click2Call) but I can’t vouch for all of the features, just the easy peasy registration function. Just Give – I’ve used this multiple times to collect on-line donations for film campaigns. They skim off 3%. You have to be a 501c3 or have fiscal sponsorship. Can’t remember why I got hooked on them, maybe they’re just cheap and easy. Change.org – I’m no fan of petitions. In fact I hate them. They’re the least creative approach to engagement.  Don’t get me started.  If you really need one, I recommend using Change.org’s free petition tool.

---

Steph Bleyer is the founder of Six Foot Chipmunk. She is currently working with Purpose on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and BBC's Why Poverty? film series,  as well as Eugene Jarecki's upcoming doc about the war on drugs, The Documentary Group's ground-breaking doc 10x10, Rada Film Group's doc, An American Promise, about the black male achievement gap and the lovely Ben Niles on his new flick about music education.