Environmental Justice
Film and Activism
Working Films News

IMPACT: Deep Down – Make it Local

February 22, 2011 BY Molly Murphy

How do you make your documentary film resonate with local audiences and issues? How do you build a bridge between community activist groups and the movements in your film? Watch how Deep Down’s film team is bringing together grassroots leaders from Appalachia with community leaders from across the country engaged in similar struggles.

Deep Down’s protagonist Beverly May, co-director Jen Gilomen, and outreach director Lora Smith traveled to Chicago for an ITVS Community Cinema Screening partnered with members of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). The group toured the Little Village neighborhood, a community known as “The Midwest Mexico,” to learn about their struggle to fight the abuses of several toxic industries including two massive coal powered power plant that are poisoning their air and people.

IMPACT is a series of videos created by Working Films and The Fledgling Fund focused on building film campaigns that ignite social change. Previous videos include “No Impact Man: Activating Your Audience” and “IMPACT: A Funder’s Perspective.”

For more information, go to workingfilms.org/impact and thefledglingfund.org/impact.

RELATED NEWS

Come on In: Building Spaces People Want to Join

How can film screenings become the welcoming spaces organizers need: places where people feel invited in, and leave feeling like they belong? In this conversation, Working Films’ Director of Campaigns and Strategy, Andy Myers, chats with Daniel Solorzano with Amanecer in El Paso, Texas and Warren Tidwell with Alabama Center for Rural Organizing and Systemic Solutions (ACROSS) about what it takes to create spaces that break down barriers, dissolve left/right binaries, and give more people a sense of ownership in our movements. These two organizers were part of the 2025…

Announcing the 2026 Impact Kickstart Cohort!

Now in its eighth year, Working Films’ Impact Kickstart resources underrepresented documentary filmmakers to develop and implement impact campaigns that meaningfully engage audiences, partners, and supporters. This year, three incredible film teams have been selected to receive $20,000 each in impact campaign funding, along with in-kind partnership and strategy development from Working Films, and participation in a year-long cohort experience where filmmakers can learn from and support one another. Hannah Hearn, Impact Coordinator and Fellowships Lead at Working Films, reflected on the ways Impact Kickstart has evolved to respond at…

Get to Know the 2025 Rural Cinema Cohort

At its heart, Rural Cinema is about harnessing the power of story to drive change. The program trains environmental justice organizers to use film as a tool to bring people together, spark meaningful conversations, and inspire action on the challenges their communities face. With hands-on training, access to films, and funding to host their own series, participants transform storytelling into tangible, local impact. This year, we’re excited to shine a spotlight on the 2025 Rural Cinema cohort, a remarkable group of organizations from across the country that are reshaping what’s…