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Filmanthropy Rapporteur’s Report Now Online!

On June 16, 2007, more than 70 filmmakers, nonprofit communication managers and public engagement practitioners and strategists met during SILVERDOCS to discuss partnerships on social action, advocacy and public information campaigns. Read on!

Documentaries on a Mission: How Nonprofits Are Making Movies for Public Engagement

Read about how the Sierra Club, The American Civil Liberties Union and local environmental groups use documentaries for high-impact and action

What Keeps Social Documentaries from Audiences—and How to Fix It

What happens to U.S. social documentaries after they are first seen at a film festival or on television? Far too little—in spite of evidence of rising interest in the genre. Read the results of research and an expert convening on the topic and find out not only about the problems, but suggested solutions. Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

War Beyond the Box

The Center for Social Media scanned the internet to look at some of the media strategies being used during the war in Iraq. The war spurred many types of communication; they are categorized and links to examples are provided.

Liz Garbus

Academy-Award Nominated, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-Winning and Emmy- Award Winning Producer/Director Liz Garbus, co-founder of Moxie Firecracker Films in New York City, is one of the most celebrated young voices in American documentary filmmaking. She will be visiting American University as the Fall 2007 visiting filmmaker on November 8, 2007, when we will be screening her latest film, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib in the 2007 Human Rights Film Series. See our website for details on this special event.

Visiting Photographer: Lou Dematteis

Award-winning photographer Lou Dematteis, who has spent more than two decades documenting social and political conflict and their consequences in the United States and around the world, is our Fall 2006 Visiting Photographer. He will be at American University to give a guest lecture on October 19 on his career as a photographer.

Vicky Funari

Vicky Funari, whose work focuses primarily on women’s stories, as well as the complex identities of today’s culturally mixed and dynamic migratory populations, is the Center’s Fall 2006 Visiting Artist. She will guest lecture in SOC production classes Oct. 18 – 19, and will also screen her latest film as part of the Human Rights Film Series.

Outreach as a Central Element in Documentary Production

Co-directors Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson discuss the integration of outreach plans in the production of their film Deadline, which aired on NBC’s Dateline in July, 2004.

Judith Helfand and “Making Change, Making Movies”

Judith Helfand, the maker of A Healthy Baby Girl and co-director of Blue Vinyl and The Uprising of ‘34, shares strategies and secrets for fundraising, interviewing, crafting and distributing films that make a difference.

HotDocs Launches Docs In Schools

Agnes Varnum

In addition to a strong festival program, funding forum and plenty of producer resources, this year’s 13th annual HotDocs in Toronto launched Docs In Schools, a special program to bring docs, students and educators together.

Evaluating Your Outreach Efforts

By Ellen Schneider and Melaine Piersol

Ellen Schneider and Melaine Piersol discuss the importance of outreach campaign evaluations. They move past the primary successes and failures of projects to the reassessment of how filmmakers and outreach coordinators develop new programs and redefine goals and objectives.

Making the Media Your Partner

By Geoffrey Knox

From the Making Television Matter book listed below, focus on the challenge producers, activists, nonprofits, and public television stations face in developing media interest on local social issues, and how to respond to different obstacles outreach campaigns you may run into.

Making Television Matter: How Documentaries Can Engage and Mobilize Communities

Edited by Karen Hirsch

This link will take you to a chapter-by-chapter summary of the essays that capture the experience of creative outreach organizations, which have used documentaries for engagement on issues ranging from racism to environmental toxins to community redesign.

Why Fund Media

Edited by Karen Hirsch

This link will take you to a chapter-by-chapter summary of the essays, written to help grantmakers see the benefits of funding media and strategies that have been used to make the reach as wide as possible.

Well-Founded Fear: A Case Study

By Barbara Abrash

This case study of the POV documentary A Well-Founded Fear analyzes how filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini moved the project from idea to broadcast, and how it impacted audiences.

Case Study: Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo

By Barbara Abrash

An early example of working with issue partners, Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo demonstrates how the life of a documentary can extend well beyond its original broadcast.

Breaking New Ground: A Framework for Measuring the Social Impact of Canadian Documentaries[PDF]

By ERIN Research Inc. for The Documentary Policy Advisory Group

By examining seven Canadian documentaries, this report aims to measure the social impact of documentaries and provide a “baseline” on which to build new strategies for future activities. Also included is an annotated bibliography of literature related to measurement of social docs.

• Human Rights Tools E-Library
  This website offers a library of resources on human rights issues, from monitoring and fact-finding tools, advocacy tools and other essential resources for human rights work, to the top online databases for resources on human rights law, refugee law and humanitarian law. The page offers career resources and the latest headlines on human rights issues.
• The Drum Beat
  A helpful overview of kinds of evaluations by Jane Bertrand, with a frank assessment of their limitations, of strategic communications campaigns. The public health focus is a model for others.
• Is Social Change Media a Delusion? California Newsreel at 30 and 2000
  A contrarian view on the question of the social impact of media by Lawrence Daressa, one of the leading distributors of documentaries on race, working class issues and Africa.
• Making Connections Media Outreach Initiative
  Supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, many of the film outreach projects that you find articles and case studies about above are part of national campaigns organized as part of the Making Connections project. On the left are a list of the national campaigns.
• Outreach Extensions
  Founded by Judith and Ken Ravitz, Outreach Extensions specializes in national outreach campaigns.
• Roundtable Media
  A production company that specializes in Public Engagement Media. Check out the Public Engagement Media Center for more tips and resources.
• Working Films
  Working Films is a national organization that links independent documentary filmmaking with community education, organizing and direct action to support social, economic and civil justice.
• National Video Resources
  National Video Resources designs and implements projects that enable individuals and organizations such as public libraries, colleges and universities, and other non-profits to acquire and use independent film and video.
• National Center for Outreach
  An organization that supports public broadcasting stations with outreach for programming, including funding for outreach initiatives.
• Active Voice
  Active Voice is a team of strategic communication specialists who put powerful film to work for personal and institutional change in communities, workplaces, and campuses across America. Through practical guides, hands-on workshops, inspiring events and key partnerships nationwide, Active Voice moves people from thought to action.
• Docurama
  A distribution company for documentaries on DVD. Many of your favorite titles are available here.