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All Case Studies: Audience Engagement
Case Study: Changing the World, One Documentary at a Time
By Gary Weimberg
This case study examines how a documentary, The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez Gomez, can become an instrument for social change, while also giving some important advice on what to focus on when making an issue based film.
Positive: Life with HIV: When a Film Doesn’t Receive a National PBS Broadcast
By Janet Cole
From the Making Television Matter book listed above, the outreach campaign for Positive: Life with HIV is detailed, recognizing both the obstacles between independent filmmakers and public television and proposes new ways to overcome them.
Take this Heart: A Coalition Model
By Jackie Conciatore
From the Making Television Matter book listed above, the outreach campaign for Take the Heart demonstrates the potential for collaboration between funders, filmmakers, television stations, and community organizations.
The Television Race Initiative: Sparking Dialogue That Can Lead to Action
By Carole Ashkinaze
From the Making Television Matter book listed above, a successful project using television programming to spark dialogue leading to action, the POV/The American Documentary’s “Television Race Initiative” shows stations how they can create relationships with local organizations to facilitate problem solving around the issue of race relations.
Nonprofits on Using Media to Reach Constituents
From the Making Television Matter book listed above, The American Red Cross by Darlene Sparks Washington and The Greater Hartford AIDS Fund by Beverly Boyle are case studies showing how nonprofits can have a greater impact in their community by getting involved.
Outreach Extensions: National Legacy Outreach Campaign Evaluation[PDF]
A report by Applied Research & Consulting LLC evaluating the social impact of the independent film Legacy. Also, read an interview with filmmaker Tod Lending on Legacy.
ITVS Community Connections Project
ITVS Community Connections Project Case studies of seven Independent Television Service (ITVS) outreach projects are archived on this website. The films’ broad range of issues includes war, immigration, parenting, and the arts. Click here for direct links to community engagement summaries for The New Americans, Be Good, Smile Pretty, Daddy & Papa, Refrigerator Mothers, The Good War, and Poetic License.
Enhancing Education: A Producer’s Guide
By WGBH Boston
This comprehensive website contains 12 case studies documenting how producers have integrated educational outreach into their productions. The archived broadcast projects range from children’s programs, to one-off documentaries, and to nonfiction limited series. The list includes programs such as Africa, Building Big, Culture Shock, and Cyberchase, among others.
Report from the Road: Two Towns of Jasper[PDF]
By Working Films
Linking the film with community change is the goal of the outreach campaign surrounding this highly acclaimed documentary from the POV series on PBS. Read this report on the outreach campaign to find out how Two Towns of Jasper is “sparking change one city at a time.”
Using Grassroots Documentary Films for Political Change
By David Whiteman
This is a list of planning suggestions for filmmakers, again using Uprising of ‘34 as a model.
Impact of Uprising of ‘34: A Coalition Model of Production and Distribution
By David Whiteman
As much an article as a case study, Whiteman examines George Stoney and Judith Helfand’s film as an example of a project that raised awareness about lost history.
Blue Vinyl and the My House is Your House Consumer Organizing Campaign, 2002-2003[PDF]
By Working Films and Toxic Comedy Pictures
Blue Vinyl co-directors Judith Helfand and Daniel Gold “hit the road to tell the truth about America’s favorite plastic.” After the film, the makers formed partnerships and turned the film into an organizing tool called My House is Your House. Read a report on the results to date of this ground-breaking campaign.
The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s[PDF]
By National Center for Outreach
An impact assessment of the outreach activities organized around The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s.
Reentry National Media Outreach
Based on the belief that diverse media play an essential role in motivating and mobilizing community action, this ongoing outreach campaign expands public awareness and works in partnership with local organizations and initiatives on prisoner reentry issues using various documentaries and strategic engagement. Read “Bridge-Building Strategic Questions.”
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.
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.
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.