June 2010 Archives

As described below in a previous blog entry, The Fledgling Fun and Chicken and Egg Pictures hosted an informal discussion with a small group of our grantees about how to create the best website platform for their social issue film.  Check out the written notes below, but here is the video to go along with it.

The Fledgling Fund and Chicken and Egg Pictures Website Discussion from Emily Verellen on Vimeo.

Though apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, economic injustices between blacks and whites remain unresolved. As revealed in Yoruba Richen's incisive Promised Land, the most potentially explosive issue is land. The film follows two black communities as they struggle to reclaim land from white owners, some of whom who have lived there for generations. Amid rising tensions and wavering government policies, the land issue remains South Africa's "ticking time bomb," with far-reaching consequences for all sides. Promised Land captures multiple perspectives of citizens struggling to create just solutions. A co-production of the National Black Programming Consortium, American Documentary/POV and the Diverse Voices Project, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


Promised Land Broadcast Premiere 

Tuesday, July 6th on POV. Check local listings for times.

The film will also be available to watch online from July 7th - October 5th on the POV website.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/promisedland/

ENVISION 2010 is a full-day program taking place on Saturday July 10th at The TimesCenter. The event will include a full day of screenings and panel discussions focusing on the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015.

For more information and to purchase your tickets, visit our website: http://envisionfilm.org/

From The Fledgling Fund

We have had a busy and exciting June. As many of you may know, The Fledgling Fund has announced its latest group of grantees and as you will see from the July e-newsletter, many are poised to play an important role in critical national debates about immigration, our food system, environmental justice issues, and global human rights.

Each project's individual engagement campaign will be very different but reflect the needs of the issue it is addressing and the NGOs that are working for social change. We continue to be amazed by the number of very strategic proposals that we receive; in many ways they reflect the development of the social issue documentary field. Filmmakers continue to do what they do best - bring us compelling and moving stories. But, many are also beginning to work with NGOs and other stakeholders earlier in the process so that they can place their film into the larger narrative of the movement. That is not to say that they lose control of their film or story, but it does mean that they tap into the expertise of advocates who understand the different sides of a particular issue, the opportunities for social change and the potential obstacles in the way.

This approach was on display last week at The Good Pitch at Silverdocs. Despite the fact that both England and the U.S. were participating in key World Cup games when the day began, there was a full house with funders, filmmakers, NGOs, broadcasters and other industry representatives all present to watch eight projects pitch to tables of carefully selected stakeholders. Click here for a complete list of the projects represented. The most attractive projects to me were those with compelling characters and interesting and complex story arcs. There were several offers of financial support that will have an immediate impact, allowing several filmmakers to move forward with filming this summer. However, perhaps just as importantly, several projects received important information about the complexity of the issue they were addressing, insight on story, and offers to provide ongoing guidance or connect them with others who could assist them as they move their project from production to audience engagement. Clearly, this very public forum with all its energy is just the first step in a long process of relationship building and project development. It is likely that some of these relationships may prove to be less useful over time, while others will emerge as critical to the project. All will require work to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships that respect the needs and expertise of all parties. What is exciting to me is that these relationships - whether initiated at the Good Pitch or in another forum -can help lay the foundation for highly strategic audience engagement campaigns that maximize the social impact of truly amazing nonfiction stories.

On Wednesday June 16th, The Fledgling Fund began a new event series in collaboration with Chicken and Egg Pictures.  The idea is simple - the media-makers we support are experts on so many things - let's get them all together to see what kind of sharing can happen.  Every project we fund has had successes and failures that they have learned from along their journeys from making the media to inspiring social change.  We wanted to take time to celebrate those lessons and create a collaborative space to share them.  

So, for a few hours on Wednesday evening, 11 media-makers, myself and Natalie Difford from Chicken and Egg Pictures shared dumplings, sake and wisdom - all delicious.  The topic for the evening was "Social Issue Film Website Do's and Dont's" - "Web Geekery" for short, dubbed by Nancy Schwartzman.  Below is some of that delicious wisdom that we also wanted to share with you.  

The event was such a success, that we have committed to doing a similar event every other month - each on a different topic.  So, stay tuned for more of these updates, and if you are a grantee, let us know if you would like to participate in future get-togethers and topics that interest you the most.

Here were the participants for Web Geekery:

Jesse Epstein - Filmmaker, Body Typed http://jessedocs.blogspot.com/
Trish Dalton - Filmmaker, Body Typed
Nancy Schwartzman - Filmmaker, The Line http://whereisyourline.org/
Robbie Gemmel - Filmmaker, Cape Wind http://www.capewindmovie.com/
Stephanie Bleyer - Audience Engagement Campaign Manager, No Impact Project http://noimpactproject.org/ and Gasland http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/
Vaishali Sinha - Filmmaker, Made in India http://www.madeinindiamovie.com/
Roland Legiardi-Laura - Filmmaker, To Be Heard http://www.tobeheard.org/
Amelia Green-Dove - Filmmaker, The Recruiter http://www.propellerfilms.com/recruiter/
Alexandra Lescaze - Filmmaker, All Of Me http://allofmethemovie.wordpress.com/
Daria Sommers - Filmmaker, Lioness http://lionessthefilm.com/
Marty Syjuco - Filmmaker, Give Up Tomorrow http://www.giveuptomorrow.com/

Before the discussion, I gave the participants the following homework to bring with them to share:

1)  At least one burning question you have about website design, functionality or creation process that you want to discuss with the group

2)  One example of something you did right with your own film's website or with a film website that you really like

3)  One example of something you would change about either your own film's website or a film website that you have visited

4)  At least one thing you love about a NON-film website that you think filmmakers should incorporate into their website strategies

Here were some of the key questions that came out of the discussion:

Q. How can I find a designer that I really like?
Q. Should we be using HTML or FLASH?
Q. What are the advantages of using a blog vs. a website. Do we even need websites?
Q. We want to have an international reach and want to be compatible with bandwidths in other countries - what do we need to be aware of to make that work?
Q. How can we translate our website for other countries?
Q. What are the best ways to drive people to your website that perhaps haven't seen the film yet?
Q. How do you create a financially sustainable website?

Here are some of the highlights from the discussion:

•    Wordpress is fantastic and works really well for people who have slow internet speeds or for smartphones
•    No Impact Project site is not a movie site - in that it is not there to promote the movie No Impact Man but to start the conversation for people to be a part of the movement, and that structure worked well to engage people who had seen the movie and even those who had not
•    Use Facebook for the interactive parts of your campaign - it's where people are at anyway and it's best to not add a new website to their day or else they won't come as often
•    NING is a tool that media-makers need to know about - it's not for everyone, but can be very useful in some cases
•    VOKLE is a great tool to do live Q&A's with an audience. People can interact with you on this website like a radio show so you can have web chats. Its an embeddable player. Your picture goes up next to the host and you are interacting via twitter and chat feed.
•    CALL TO ACTION is a great tool for social issue media makers as well - allows you to create a widget with a piece of media that directly engages people in action after they have seen it.  You can embed the widget anywhere so that it reaches people beyond your own website.
•    TUMBLR is a very easy to use site that acts like a visual Twitter.  One of the great things about it is that it leads visitors back to your own website.
•    Media makers need to decide how much time they want to commit to their website.  Do you want it to be a place where people get news about the subject of your film? If so, it is much more time consuming to do it well.  It may be a better idea to let other websites who already do that continue to be the source for updated news - and you can just send your visitors to them.
•    It's useful to have a full-time Twitter intern for some media-makers.  If Twitter is a major part of your strategy, make the commitment.  Help those interns to feel invested in the project and the issue and they will begin to really take ownership over the social media world and do an excellent job.  They can even begin to create a name for themselves within the issue space.
•    Make your website as "cool" as possible so that broader audiences find you online, stay with you and come back often.  Don't just make a boring film website.  That is useless these days.
•    Linking to other films within the same subject area should be more natural - more films need to recognize the eco-system they exist within and find new ways to collaborate with other media-makers who have similar social missions.
•    To just vote on something online or be told to do something is not enough, audiences have to be engaged.

Stay tuned here - I will soon be posting a video featuring highlights from the conversation as well. 

The Fledgling Fund is pleased to share this report with you from Lioness - a documentary film by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers which tells the story of a group of female Army support soldiers who were part of the first program in American history to send women into direct ground combat. The film has had tremendous success changing hearts, minds and policies. Read the report here.

From The Fledgling Fund

The Fledgling Fund is pleased to announce our newest grantees. The spring application round was incredibly competitive with nearly 350 Letters of Inquiry submitted, of which 75 were invited to submit full applications.  We appreciate the effort that all applicants put into completing the process and wish each project tremendous success. We believe that each of the following 22 projects holds enormous potential for changing hearts and minds that will lead to social change. We congratulate them all on their grants! Please come back and check our website as we continue to add more information about each of these projects to our Creative Media page.

Funded Projects:
Power Writers
Budrus
Planeat
No Dumb Questions
Turkey Creek
Picture My World
Witness
The MacDowell Colony

With all of this talk about the transition to clean energy and energy independence, one of the most obvious questions is, what should we do about nuclear energy? Check out this TED 2010 debate on the subject and form your own opinion:

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival is back in NYC and if you are looking for a great way to connect with some of the most pressing issues our planet faces, start here:  30 films from 25 countries, including 28 New York Premieres.  Tickets are on sale.

Downloads:

Festival program (20 pg, PDF 2mb)

Festival calendar (2 pg, PDF 1mb)

See you at the festival!

Please check out the New York Premiere of this astonishing documentary. Pushing the Elephant tells the story of Rose Mapendo, who was separated during the conflict from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Through the story of their reunion, we come to understand the excruciating decisions Rose made in order to survive and the complex difficulties Nangabire faces as a refugee in the US. We are delighted that both filmmakers, Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel, and film subject Rose Mapendo will be present for a discussion after the screenings.

Presented in association with African Film Festival, Inc. and Mapendo International

SCREENINGS:
Saturday, June 12 1:45
Sunday, June 13 4:30 (reception to follow)
Monday, June 14 4:00

All screenings are at the Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th Street, New York, NY 10023

Find out more on www.hrw.org/iff

We are all disgusted by what we are seeing with the BP oil spill in the gulf.  Let's turn that "energy" (pun intended) into action.  Check out these fantastic films, all of which were part of our recent Reel Engagement (see below) residency.  These passionate filmmakers are now working together to strategize about how their films can work together to get more people engaged in this issue of energy reform and helping to stem climate change while we still can. Stay tuned for more info here!


Cape Wind

Cape Wind is a feature-length documentary about the high-stakes battle rocking Massachusetts as entrepreneur Jim Gordon fights to build 130 440 ft. tall wind turbines in the middle of Nantucket Sound.

Deep Down

Through a complex human story that cuts across environment, economics, public policy, and culture, the story of Beverly May and Terry Ratliff reveals the devastating impact of our energy consumption against an explosive backdrop: Appalachia's centuries-old struggle over the black rock that fuels our planet.

Dirty Business

Dirty Business reveals the true social and environmental costs of coal power and tells the stories of innovators who are pointing the way to an alternative energy future. Guided by Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell, the film examines what it means to remain dependent on a 19th century technology that is the largest single source of greenhouse gases. Can coal really be made clean? Can renewables and efficiency be produced on a scale large enough to replace coal?

Gas Land

When filmmaker Josh Fox discovers that Natural Gas drilling is coming to his area--the Catskillls/Poconos region of Upstate New York and Pennsylvania, he sets off on a 24 state journey to uncover the deep consequences of the United States' natural gas drilling boom. What he uncovers is truly shocking--water that can be lit on fire right out of the sink, chronically ill residents of drilling areas from disparate locations in the US all with the same mysterious symptoms, huge pools of toxic waste that kill cattle and vegetation well blowouts and huge gas explosions consistently unregulated by state and federal regulatory agencies.

Split Estate

Imagine discovering that you don't own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company plans to drill for natural gas 150 feet from your front door. Imagine another shocking truth: you have little or no recourse to protect your home or land from such development. Split Estate maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the US struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health.

Sun Come Up

Sun Come Up follows the relocation of some of the world's first environmental refugees, the Carteret Islanders - a community living on a remote island chain in the South Pacific Ocean. When rising seas threaten their survival, the islanders face a painful decision: they must leave their beloved land in search of a new place to call home. The film follows relocation leader, Ursula Rakova, and a group of young islanders led by Nick Hakata as they search for land in war-torn Bougainville, 50 miles across the open ocean.

When Two Worlds Collide

When Two World Collide is a feature length topical documentary filmed in Peru and Nicaragua, following the journey of an Amazonian leader, Alberto Pizango, falsely accused of murder by the Government and forced into exile for resisting the commercial exploitation of ancestral lands. Now in exile and facing 20 years in prison, this film chronicles the causes and effects of a conflicting clash of values and visions that will determine the fate of this region of the Amazon rain forest and the eco-system of our world.

Sir Ken Robinson makes so much sense in this TED talk about the state and future of education in this country. Check it out and let his ideas inspire you: