Good Pitch at Silverdocs

Whew, just back from Washington DC and the Good Pitch @ Silverdocs, where it was hot hot hot – both inside the Performing Arts Center with an amazing lineup of films and responses from funders, NGOs, and strategists, and outside, where the temp hovered around 99. Jess Search, of C4 BRITDOC, set up a time lapse camera to capture the day: If you missed out on the pitches, you can catch a play by play glimpse on Twitter and Facebook. Also, check out these recaps from the Silverdocs Blog and…

Working Films Goes to Silverdocs

This edition of the Good Pitch takes place at Silverdocs, near Washington DC. It brings together inspiring social-purpose film projects and a group of expert participants from charities, foundations, brands and media to form powerful alliances around groundbreaking films. THE LINEUP We are delighted to announce that we have selected the lineup for the Good Pitch @ Silverdocs. The 8 filmmakers are Victor Buhler (A Whole Lott More), Macky Alston (The Truth Will Set You Free), Jon Shenk (Higher Ground), Angad Bhalla (The House That Herman Built), Dara Kell &…

Films for Good in London with Working Films and C4 BRITDOC

Join us for an inspiring weekend workshop designed to jump start campaigns for a limited number of excellent social issue documentaries on the 23rd-25th, July 2010. Outcomes include the identification of a range of potential outreach partners – including leading non-profits and social entrepreneurs as well as corporate and branding agencies. The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and Working Films designed this workshop to create effective and strategic outreach campaigns and non-traditional distribution plans – reaching the audiences who need these films. Working Films’ co-founders Robert West and Judith Helfand and…

Media That Matters premiere in London

The Media That Matters Film Festival showcases inspirational short films from young independent filmmakers. This is the tenth year that Media That Matters has brought together a collection of 12 short films – each under 12 minutes – aimed at engaging diverse audiences and inspiring action. Working Films co-founder and executive director, Robert West, will be hosting the Media That Matters UK premiere event with UK staff member Sarah Mosses. The jury-selected collection of films look at a broad range of human rights and social justice issues from the experience…

Reel Engagement

How can filmmakers whose movies touch on similar issues collaborate? How can they not!?! I’m preparing to spend next week in the Bay Area with some amazing and dedicated filmmakers and audience engagement coordinators. We’ll be figuring out where the overlaps in their campaigns lie and how they can cover more ground together than they could alone. The films chosen for this innovative retreat are Cape Wind, Deep Down, Dirty Business, Gas Land, Split Estate, Sun Come Up, and When Two Worlds Collide. These projects are all focusing on the…

Huffington Post: 'The Fence' Questions Consequences Of U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Endorsed By John McCain

Huffington Post: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)was clear in his campaign ad last week: “Complete the danged fence,” he told an Arizona sheriff, who appeared with him in the immigration-themed ad. The fence that McCain was referring to is actually a series of barriers along the U.S.-Mexican border that were approved by congress in 2006. It’s also the subject of Rory Kennedy’s short film “The Fence (La Barda).” Kennedy’s film, shot well before Arizona’s new immigration law or McCain’s new ad, calls into question the effectiveness and the unintended consequences of…

Last month’s Story Leads to Action

Last month, Working Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures hosted a screening of Nancy Schwartzman’s film The Line, for our Story Leads to Action series at 92YTribeca. After the screening, the audience discussed how the film could be used in high schools, college freshman orientation programs, sexual violence prevention programs and law school and criminal justice education. On the panel were: – Nancy Schwartzman (Director) – Michelle J. Anderson (Dean and Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law) – Neil Irvin (Executive Director, Men Can Stop Rape) – Don…