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Are you an independent filmmaker who needs free music for your film? konsonant/ Sounding Together initiative (STi) | Indie Fellowship will give free music licenses to indie filmmakers working on socially conscious films. This is the first part of the konsonant/ STi which seeks to help projects aiming to make a difference. konsonant/ will choose a handful of filmmakers to work with throughout the year, providing them with the music their causes deserve. If your project is not ready yet, don't fret; they will be announcing other opportunities for fellowships as the year progresses.  You will need to provide links to your website and trailer, and a concise synopsis of your film. Deadline to apply is March 15, 2011. Apply now!

Two films involved with the Reel Power film series are nominated for Oscars this year! Gasland, a film by Josh Fox about the dangers of the natural gas industry, is up for Best Documentary. And Sun Come Up, by Jennifer Redfearn about the exodus of some of the world’s first Climate Refugees, is nominated for Best Short Documentary. Make this Oscar broadcast a meaningful experience with actions that will help stop climate change, protect our country’s drinking water and produce a clean, safe energy future.

GASLAND

SUN COME UP Tune into the Academy Awards on ABC on February 27, 2011 at 8p.m. EST and cheer on these great films. You can take these steps to ensure your Oscar night is focused on more than just the red carpet’s best dressed list: 1. Get Reel! Have a computer accessible so your guests can immediately watch the Reel Power film trailer at commercial time and sign up to join our email list. Joining Reel Power: Films Fueling the Energy Revolution will help you stay up to date with more world-changing documentary films like Gasland and Sun Come Up. 2. Stop Fracking! Ask your guests to email the President or you can pre-print the letter supplied by Gasland for your guests to sign. 4. Raise the Roof! Let your Oscar Party double as a House Raiser for the Carteret Islanders by taking donations to help build a new home for a family forced to relocate because of Climate Change. Learn more about how you can be an official House Raiser at the Sun Come Up website and email Stephanie Bleyer at bleyer [at] gmail.com to sign up. 5. Keep the party going! Host a screening of Gasland in March and Sun Come Up in April so your family and friends can see the full versions of the films. To learn more about hosting screenings sign up for the Reel Power email list.

"One of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years." - Variety "On the want-to-see- scale, GASLAND tops the list" - Washington Post "Riveting" - LA Weekly "GASLAND just might be the best film of the year." - The Huffington Post

The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. The Reel Power film for March, Gasland, asks the important question- Is fracking safe?

Gasland started as a personal journey when filmmaker Josh Fox was asked to lease his family land in Pennsylvania for drilling. Determined to find the truth, Josh embarked on a cross-country odyssey with a camera and his trusty banjo, uncovering a trail of secrets and contamination. It was an odyssey that would change his life and culminated in a critically acclaimed and now Oscar-nominated documentary. Since it’s premier on HBO, Fox has been tireless in his campaign to raise awareness about the dangers posed by the natural gas industry. Recently he and Oscar-nominated actor and Gasland fan Mark Ruffallo held a press conference in Washington D.C. and spoke with members of Congress about the need for a National Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing to protect our nation’s drinking water. Get Involved!: 1) Tune In to the Academy Awards on February 27th on ABC at 8p.m. EST to cheer Gasland on and Take Action during the broadcast with your friends by writing President Obama a letter asking for his support of the FRAC Act and for a National Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing. 2) Spread the word by Hosting a House Party of Oscar-nominated Gasland in March. A house party is a great way to engage your community with the issue of hydraulic fracturing while providing important information about the recent boom in gas drilling across the nation. Use the home screening toolkit to help plan your party. 3) Stay Connected to the Reel Power Film series and plan ahead. Our April featured film will be Sun Come Up. And the Oscar goes to.... The Gasland team has put together a great how-to guide to help you plan and execute a stellar Oscar party that will lead to meaningful actions by your friends and community: At 8:00 P.M. EDT on February 27, 2011 Gasland will be among the nominees for Best Documentary Feature at the 83rd Academy Awards™ in Los Angeles. We want you to invite your friends and family over to watch the ceremony together and to take immediate action to urge Congress and President Obama to support the FRAC Act and a national moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing. Here are some ways to get started: 1) Invite your guests via email, phone or listserv. Tweet about it (our hashtag is #gaslandmovie) create a Facebook Event (& join our Facebook fan page). 2) The better the snacks, the better the party. In the spirit of supporting environmental sustainability, purchase ingredients from your local farmer’s market or plan a group potluck made up of dishes with local ingredients.  To cut down on waste, do not use disposable cutlery or plates and have a recycling bin visibly placed in your home. 3) At 8PM EST tune into the show on ABC and cheer on Gasland! 4) Have a computer accessible so your guests can immediately email the President, join the Gasland fan page on Facebook and sign up for our e-mail list. Hand out the pre-printed letter to President Obama to your guests, collect the completed letters and mail them right away. 5) The day after, send a thank you e-mails to your guests with links to our partner organizations.

"One of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years." - Variety "On the want-to-see- scale, GASLAND tops the list" - Washington Post "Riveting" - LA Weekly "GASLAND just might be the best film of the year." - The Huffington Post

The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. The Reel Power film for March, Gasland, asks the important question- Is fracking safe?

Gasland started as a personal journey when filmmaker Josh Fox was asked to lease his family land in Pennsylvania for drilling. Determined to find the truth, Josh embarked on a cross-country odyssey with a camera and his trusty banjo, uncovering a trail of secrets and contamination. It was an odyssey that would change his life and culminated in a critically acclaimed and now Oscar-nominated documentary. Since it’s premier on HBO, Fox has been tireless in his campaign to raise awareness about the dangers posed by the natural gas industry. Recently he and Oscar-nominated actor and Gasland fan Mark Ruffallo held a press conference in Washington D.C. and spoke with members of Congress about the need for a National Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing to protect our nation’s drinking water. Get Involved!: 1) Tune In to the Academy Awards on February 27th on ABC at 8p.m. EST to cheer Gasland on and Take Action during the broadcast with your friends by writing President Obama a letter asking for his support of the FRAC Act and for a National Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing. 2) Spread the word by Hosting a House Party of Oscar-nominated Gasland in March. A house party is a great way to engage your community with the issue of hydraulic fracturing while providing important information about the recent boom in gas drilling across the nation. Use the home screening toolkit to help plan your party. 3) Stay Connected to the Reel Power Film series and plan ahead. Our April featured film will be Sun Come Up. And the Oscar goes to.... The Gasland team has put together a great how-to guide to help you plan and execute a stellar Oscar party that will lead to meaningful actions by your friends and community: At 8:00 P.M. EDT on February 27, 2011 Gasland will be among the nominees for Best Documentary Feature at the 83rd Academy Awards™ in Los Angeles. We want you to invite your friends and family over to watch the ceremony together and to take immediate action to urge Congress and President Obama to support the FRAC Act and a national moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing. Here are some ways to get started: 1) Invite your guests via email, phone or listserv. Tweet about it (our hashtag is #gaslandmovie) create a Facebook Event (& join our Facebook fan page). 2) The better the snacks, the better the party. In the spirit of supporting environmental sustainability, purchase ingredients from your local farmer’s market or plan a group potluck made up of dishes with local ingredients.  To cut down on waste, do not use disposable cutlery or plates and have a recycling bin visibly placed in your home. 3) At 8PM EST tune into the show on ABC and cheer on Gasland! 4) Have a computer accessible so your guests can immediately email the President, join the Gasland fan page on Facebook and sign up for our e-mail list. Hand out the pre-printed letter to President Obama to your guests, collect the completed letters and mail them right away. 5) The day after, send a thank you e-mails to your guests with links to our partner organizations.

How do you make your documentary film resonate with local audiences and issues? How do you build a bridge between community activist groups and the movements in your film? Watch how Deep Down’s film team is bringing together grassroots leaders from Appalachia with community leaders from across the country engaged in similar struggles. Deep Down’s protagonist Beverly May, co-director Jen Gilomen, and outreach director Lora Smith traveled to Chicago for an ITVS Community Cinema Screening partnered with members of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). The group toured the Little Village neighborhood, a community known as “The Midwest Mexico,” to learn about their struggle to fight the abuses of several toxic industries including two massive coal powered power plant that are poisoning their air and people. IMPACT is a series of videos created by Working Films and The Fledgling Fund focused on building film campaigns that ignite social change. Previous videos include “No Impact Man: Activating Your Audience” and “IMPACT: A Funder’s Perspective.” For more information, go to workingfilms.org/impact and thefledglingfund.org/impact.

The Oscar-nominated film Sun Come Up follows the relocation of the Carteret Islanders, a peaceful community in the South Pacific, and now, some of the world’s first environmental refugees. Here's your chance to share the film with friends and family and get involved. Imagine one night, 50 parties in 50 different homes. Each home commits to raising at least $400 each, for a total of $20,000 for the Carteret Islanders by February 27th, the date of the Academy Awards! All donations will go directly to the Carteret Islanders' relocation program toward the building of new homes. Watch the trailer below and join up!

Working Films has played a part in the Full Frame Documentary Festival for the past five years by presenting an award to the film with the most potential for social change. In 2007, this award went to Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern for their film The Devil Came on Horseback. This year, Full Frame is recognizing these remarkable filmmakers with the 2011 Career Award. Annie and Ricki will also be presenting the US premiere of their latest film, Burma Soldier, at the festival. The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival takes place April 14-17, 2011 in Durham, NC. Get your passes now before they sell out!

February’s Reel Power featured film, Dirty Business: "Clean Coal" and the Battle for Our Energy Future, is an in-depth look at the coal industry, ‘clean coal’ technologies and the future of renewable technology. Produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting, and narrated by Rolling Stones reporter Jeff Goodell, the film takes audiences on a journey from MTR sites in Appalachia to the coal explosion in China. Dirty Business explores the true cost of our dependence on coal for electricity in the age of climate change. Politicians and corporate interests have mounted a formidable public relations campaign promoting "clean coal" as a solution to our energy/climate problem. Despite major concerns on the part of scientists and environmental groups, there has been little public education about this issue, which is a central element of President Obama’s energy policy. Dirty Business is the first major public media project to explain and demystify "clean coal" and to explore the extent to which increased energy efficiency and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar thermal power might make "clean coal" unnecessary and uneconomical. Take action with Reel Power and Dirty Business to educate your community about the truth behind “clean coal.” Here’s how: 1) Host a Community Screening or House Party of Dirty Business during the month of February.  Use our screening guide and other resources to help make your event a success. 2)  Join the conversation on Facebook to let your voice be heard on energy issues. 3)  Plan ahead for March and get ready to host a screening of the Oscar-nominated Gasland. For a solid piece of investigative, in-depth reporting on the full costs of coal, it really doesn’t get much better than Dirty Business. Interest in the film is truly amazing, as is the feedback that we have been getting from people who have shown the film. Here is a recent quote from the Northeast:

“Our Coal Night with Wellesley College was a great success in large part because of the screening of Dirty Business. The 45 students in attendance all enjoyed the film and asked incredible questions of our panel after. I have a few other campuses interested in screening the film, and I am excited to share it with them. Thank you for this opportunity!” - Drew Grande, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Organizer

People all over the country are screening Dirty Business to help educate their communities and to inspire audiences into action! In Kansas, community organizers hosted screenings to help build local awareness of the dangers of coal pollution in opposition to the construction of another coal plant in their area. In Iowa, students at Iowa State screened Dirty Business to inspire more students and administrators to get their campus off coal. In Georgia, Dirty Business was shown at the EcoFocus Film Festival.