Real Girls, Reel Change

Find out how Real Girls, Reel Change went at our blog and view our photo album on Facebook.

 Exploring the Power of Film to Transform the Lives of Girls and Young Women
A Collaborative Workshop for Filmmakers, Non-Profits, and Funders

Working Films hosted an innovative workshop in partnership with the Fledgling Fund and Chicken& Egg Pictures that aimed to nurture the work of non-profit organizations, filmmakers, and funders that are focused on supporting the physical, emotional, and social well being of girls and young women. Real Girls, Reel Change was an opportunity for these media makers and organizers to collaborate and explore the idea that it takes more than one great film on a topic to support sustained social change. Working Films understands that real impact takes time and strategic use of many types of resources, and Real Girls, Reel Change was born out of our desire to develop a new format in which we can explore how multiple films that address similar issues can be used collectively and independently to advance the work of organizations working in a particular arena.

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What participating filmmakers had to say:

"Libby Scancarello and I had an amazing experience at the Real Girls, Reel Change Conference in NYC this fall, along with five other women filmmakers.  Sponsored by The Fledgling Fund, Working Films and Chicken & Egg Productions, the three-day conference brought us together with potential partner organizations and helped us craft concrete plans for outreach and audience engagement.  We had a speed dating round with nonprofits and funders who share our mission of serving girls, to spark ideas of how we might work together.  Now, we're working with New Moon Media, The American Association of University Women, Girls, Inc., The Girl Scouts of America, and others, to launch the film and create a movement around it.  It's great to have partners!

On the final day of the RGRC Conference at 92Y/Tribeca in NY, a group of teenage girls from the Bronx, part of a program called Power Writers, joined us for the day, and wrote about the experience.  After viewing just the trailers for our films, here's one of the teenagers, Gabriella, reading her short piece.  We were blown away by how powerful and relevant to her life just a small taste of films like Seneca Falls could be."

- Louis Vance (Seneca Falls)

"I'm excited about this screening and the real girls real change workshop was a big part of planning it. It seems to be taking on a life of it's own which is the best part."
- Jesse Epstein (Body Typed) talking about her upcoming barbershop community screening.

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About the Event
Real Girls, Reel Change took place October 21-23, 2009 in New York, and was a collaboration between Working Films, the Fledgling Fund, and Chicken & Egg Pictures. All participating filmmakers were grantees of the Fledgling Fund and Chicken and Egg Pictures.

The goals of this event included:

•    Increase filmmakers’ understanding of effective methodologies for audience engagement so as to ensure that their films create real, measurable social change. Participating filmmakers, all of whom will have films about girls’ physical, emotional, and social well being, should leave the event with an improved understanding of how to initiate and maintain relationships with partner organizations. Filmmakers should use the event to shape an audience engagement campaign that is mutually beneficial for the movement and for the film.

•    Introduce and illustrate to non-profits and funders working on girls’ issues the effectiveness of film as a tool for advancing their organizational priorities and mission, emphasizing the wide range of ways in which film can be used and viewed.

•    Explore partnerships between filmmakers and non-profits, and between non-profits that are not yet working together, that will result in real change in the lives of girls.

•    Learn from non-profits about the incentives and barriers that exist to their use of media to advance their organizational priorities.

What the event looked like:

We have developed an exciting format that will help us to reach these goals over the course of three days. Filmmakers will spend the first two days learning about audience engagement methodology and honing their individual outreach plans. These intensive two days will feature case studies that highlight the effective use of multiple pieces of media on a single issue to advance the work of organizations, as well as presentations by organizers who have strategically used film. Days One and Two will also feature peer-to-peer education by participating filmmakers.

On Day Three, a cohort of non-profits and funders will spend an entire day with representatives of the six documentary film projects featured in the event. The group of non profits will be strategically selected to ensure that we have a cross section of organizations that are working to make change in the lives of girls through a variety of methods (e.g. organizations providing direct services to girls, organizations doing advocacy, etc.).  Importantly, the group will be curated to include organizations that work on the specific micro-issues that each film addresses so that each filmmaker has at least one potential non-profit match in the group. Together filmmakers and organizations will participate in workshops, panel discussions, and brainstorming sessions in which they will learn about the effectiveness of film as a tool for advancing organizational priorities and mission. Filmmakers will have the opportunity to informally present their ideas to non-profits leaders working on girls' issues who may become partners or are in a position to offer valuable feedback on the feasibility and impact potential of their plans. This final day will consist of two best practice presentations, a panel discussion with the non-profit representatives, and a series of informal discussions between filmmakers and non-profits. 

Days One and Two, dedicated solely to filmmakers, will be held at the Edith Macy Conference Center, just a short 40 minute train ride from Manhattan. Day Three, for organizations and filmmakers, will be held at the 92YTribeca facility in Manhattan.

Read more about how Real Girls, Reel Change went at our blog and view our photo album on Facebook.