Our November was highlighted with the release of the Documentary Filmmakers? Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use?now on the Center for Social Media website. Read more below. Please put the Statement to use in your own work and let us know about it.

We welcome you to our December screening of the shocking and poignant To Live is Better than to Die--filmed clandestinely in China. And if you think you want a seat in our Making Your Documentary Matter workshop in January, now is the time to reserve! We're also pleased to announce a new speaker series, Roundtable on Public Media beginning in January 2006. Our first guest speaker is David Liroff of WGBH/Boston.

Have wonderful holidays, and see you soon!

On January 13 from noon to 2 pm, we?re kicking off our new speaker series, Roundtable on Public Media, with guest speaker David Liroff, VP and Chief Technology Officer of WGBH Educational Foundation. Boston public TV station WGBH is one of the leading producers of PBS national programming: Nova, Frontline, Masterpiece Theatre, Mystery!, Antiques Roadshow, Between the Lions and more. As controversies over politicization and dwindling funding for public television stations cast doubt on the future of public broadcasting, how is WGBH adapting? Liroff will discuss the new windows that new technologies offer.

Join us:
Nations Building, Conference Room 333
444 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC

To reserve a box lunch, call the Center for Social Media at (202) 885-3107 by Monday January 9.

For more details, visit centerforsocialmedia.org

Join the Center for Social Media and friends for a producer?s workshop on making outreach and audience engagement part of your documentary production plan from the start. Engagement strategies not only make powerful tools to extend the reach and effectiveness of your documentary, they can also be part of your fundraising plan!

Guest speakers include filmmakers such as Sandi DuBowski, Charlene Gilbert and John DeGraaf, outreach experts Robert West, Ellen Schneider and Judy Ravitz, along with Orlando Bagwell (Ford Foundation) and Vincent Stehle (Surdna Foundation) and a keynote address by Cynthia Lopez, from the public TV series P.O.V.

Space is limited. Last year we had a waitlist! Register online now!
$50 Registration fee includes all workshop activities, lunch, and networking reception.

Leading documentary filmmakers and filmmaking organizations joined the Center for Social Media and the Washington College of Law November 18 for the release of the Documentary Filmmakers? Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use. This landmark initiative ushers in a new chapter for creative and free expression. The Statement establishes the standard for how documentary filmmakers can invoke ?fair use,? the quoting of copyrighted material without permission or payment.

Listen to the podcast of the November 18, 2005 panels. Read the Statement, and view video samples of how filmmakers have incorporated fair use in their work -- all from the Center for Social Media website.

American University?s The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Ally Resource Center and the Center for Social Media present the award-winning film that alarmed the Chinese government and shocked the world, revealing the plight of China?s rural poor afflicted with AIDS because of government blood donor policies.

TO LIVE IS BETTER THAN TO DIE
Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 8:15 pm
Wechsler Theatre, Mary Graydon Center, American University Main Campus