LATEST NEWS

The American Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival is the longest-running showcase for international documentaries in the United States. The festival screens documentaries that increase our understanding of the complexity and diversity of the peoples and…

The American Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival is the longest-running showcase for international documentaries in the United States. The festival screens documentaries that increase our understanding of the complexity and diversity of the peoples and cultures that populate our planet. Submissions are now being accepted for the 34th annual festival to be held Thursday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 14. Deadline: March 31 (early), May 3 (final) For more information: http://amnh.org/programs/mead/submit.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="368" caption="photo by BRITDOC"][/caption] Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Documentary Institute have announced the lineup for the Good Pitch @ Tribeca, hitting the screens in NYC on April 27 during the Tribeca Film Festival. For…

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="368" caption="photo by BRITDOC"][/caption] Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Documentary Institute have announced the lineup for the Good Pitch @ Tribeca, hitting the screens in NYC on April 27 during the Tribeca Film Festival. For three years and running (we were there at the very first Good Pitch in Oxford UK), Working Films has provided a two day workshop on campaign development for the Good Pitch filmmakers. Our allies the Fledgling Fund, Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Tides Foundation, the Hartley Film Foundation and anonymous donors provide additional support. From an impressive 220 submissions, eight outstanding filmmaking teams will pitch their projects and associated engagement campaigns. The goal is to create a unique coalition of non-profits, NGOs, for-profit brands and foundations around each film to accelerate its impact and influence. The filmmakers in the Good Pitch 2009 can attest to successes: immediate funding from unexpected sources, strategic partnerships with organizations to reach new audiences, savvy and unique audience and community engagement tactics from allies “on the front lines”. And it keeps getting better, watch for some highlights from us in future blogs. The selected filmmakers are Tom Rielly (Moving Windmills), Jennifer Arnold (A Small Act), Michele Stephenson & Joe Brewster (An American Promise), Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady (Detroit Hustles Harder), Michael Collins (Give Up Tomorrow), Alexandra Codina (Monica & David), Lee Hirsch (The Bully Project) and Eugene Martin (Anderson Monarchs Soccer Club). Congrats to all of them, and we’re off! Find out more about the event and the selected projects. Announcements on how to apply to the next Good Pitch will follow shortly.

Our friends at See3 and YouTube have partnered to bring you the 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. The contest will award a total of $10,000 in grants, funded by the Case Foundation, to the best videos of the year…

What makes a movement, a leader, and a follower? This is for all of those trying to build ‘the movement'. Thanks to Derek Sivers for this.

How do social issue documentary films do more than just raise awareness? Are you a documentary filmmaker looking for the formula to take your film to the next level? IMPACT is a new series of videos created by Working Films…

Including Samuel and the film’s campaign has big plans for 2010: a youth-driven inclusion campaign, international outreach, screenings across the country and more. But sometimes looking back is as exciting as looking forward. Filmmaker Dan Habib has shared a few…

Including Samuel and the film’s campaign has big plans for 2010: a youth-driven inclusion campaign, international outreach, screenings across the country and more. But sometimes looking back is as exciting as looking forward. Filmmaker Dan Habib has shared a few spectacular highlights on the impact of Including Samuel that follow below.

20 TEENS & 48 HOURS First, twenty teenage leaders from across the country held Including Samuel viewing parties in their communities, then came together at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD on January 8-10, 2010. Their goal was to develop an advocacy campaign to build awareness and support for the full social and educational inclusion of people with disabilities. These teens created a powerful mission statement, developed two concepts for a national inclusion campaign, and created two prototype campaign videos -- all in less than 48 hours! The campaign is under wraps and will be launched this spring! See more information about the Summit and the teens who took part, plus hundreds of photos at the Youth Inclusion Voices Facebook page.

ON THE ROAD: 150+ SCREENINGS IN 27 STATES Dan has presented the film at more than 150 screenings in 27 states, as well as internationally. He has led discussions at film festivals, universities, high schools, national conferences, medical schools and theaters from New York City to San Francisco, Belgium to Montreal. The film has also screened at film festivals and events in more than a dozen countries, including Russia, Turkey, Greece, Belgium, India, England, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Scotland and Taiwan. Grants from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the Endowment for Health enabled Dan to bring free screenings and discussions to ten New Hampshire school districts and to many of New Hampshire's pediatric medical practitioners and students. See the full list of screenings Dan has attended. Visit the Including Samuel Effect and the Facebook Group to read testimonials about the impact of the film on thousands of schools, organizations and families around the world.

Dan will present the film at the following upcoming events: •    New York, NY: Young Child Expo and Conference, April 10 •    Nashville, TN: Council for Exceptional Children Convention, April 22 •    Minot, ND: Pathfinders Conference, May 6 •    Washington, DC: VSA arts International Conference, June 11 837 BROADCASTS ON 347 STATIONS The film aired nationwide on PBS stations in the fall of 2009. The film was broadcast 837 times on 347 stations reaching 83% of the national market. The broadcasts, which had the potential to reach 240 million people, were underwitten by the National Inclusion Project and CVS Caremark All Kids Can. New Hampshire Public Television produced a half-hour segment on the impact of Including Samuel. Read the Including Samuel newsletter to learn more about the campaign’s recent successes.

Sophie Gore Browne from Chicken & Egg pictures joins us as a guest blogger Chicken & Egg Pictures in partnership with Working Films hosted another STORY LEADS TO ACTION at 92YTribeca, with a screening of the documentary Good Fortune by…

Sophie Gore Browne from Chicken & Egg pictures joins us as a guest blogger

Chicken & Egg Pictures in partnership with Working Films hosted another STORY LEADS TO ACTION at 92YTribeca, with a screening of the documentary Good Fortune by filmmakers Landon Van Soest and Jeremy Levine. Set in Kenya, the documentary vividly calls into question the positive impact of international development organizations, from the housing reconstruction efforts of the UN in the slums of Kibera to a private agri-business in the swamp lands of Yala. The film raises issues about dead aid, and the politics of international development which often excludes the involvement of the very people these organizations are trying to help. The film has had a successful year on the festival circuit along with a notable P.O.V. broadcast, but the aim of the night was to put heads together with NY guest educators to hash out how this film could really make a difference where it is most needed; among students learning international development, aid organizations, the donor community, inter-governmental organizations like the UN/World Bank/IMF that promote foreign investment in developing countries. [caption id="attachment_942" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="From left to right: Landon Van Soest, Jeremy Levine, Eliza Licht, David Gerwin, Dr. Mojúbàobolú Olúfúnké Okome"][/caption]

Dr. Mojúbàobolú Olúfúnké Okome, Professor of Political Science; Eliza Licht, Director, Community Engagement and Education, P.O.V.; and David Gerwin, Associate Professor, Coordinator, Program in Social Studies, all provided varied personal insight on the content of the film and the purpose to which it could be most effectively used.

P.O.V. came away with ideas for compiling an education packet to be distributed with the film to various education institutions and both Professors spoke about how the film could be used in the class room. Beyond the guest speakers contributions to the conversation, filmmakers in the audience shared their views and ideas about ways to take this film beyond the film circuit. Audience members where encouraged to write their questions and ideas down, whilst the conversation was taking place, for the filmmakers to take home and transform into practical audience engagement strategies. Here are some of audience members’ suggestions: •    Show the film to large foundations to encourage them to support projects with local involvement. •    Include more statistics for the educational version. •    Give updates on what is happening with the stories now. •    Provide more info on different approaches to development like microlending. •    We also got lots of great suggestions for organizations to highlight for our educational guide and venues to screen the film. Thanks to all!

Sophie Gore Browne from Chicken & Egg pictures joins us as a guest blogger Chicken & Egg Pictures in partnership with Working Films hosted another STORY LEADS TO ACTION at 92YTribeca, with a screening of the documentary Good Fortune by…

Sophie Gore Browne from Chicken & Egg pictures joins us as a guest blogger

Chicken & Egg Pictures in partnership with Working Films hosted another STORY LEADS TO ACTION at 92YTribeca, with a screening of the documentary Good Fortune by filmmakers Landon Van Soest and Jeremy Levine. Set in Kenya, the documentary vividly calls into question the positive impact of international development organizations, from the housing reconstruction efforts of the UN in the slums of Kibera to a private agri-business in the swamp lands of Yala. The film raises issues about dead aid, and the politics of international development which often excludes the involvement of the very people these organizations are trying to help. The film has had a successful year on the festival circuit along with a notable P.O.V. broadcast, but the aim of the night was to put heads together with NY guest educators to hash out how this film could really make a difference where it is most needed; among students learning international development, aid organizations, the donor community, inter-governmental organizations like the UN/World Bank/IMF that promote foreign investment in developing countries. [caption id="attachment_942" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="From left to right: Landon Van Soest, Jeremy Levine, Eliza Licht, David Gerwin, Dr. Mojúbàobolú Olúfúnké Okome"][/caption]

Dr. Mojúbàobolú Olúfúnké Okome, Professor of Political Science; Eliza Licht, Director, Community Engagement and Education, P.O.V.; and David Gerwin, Associate Professor, Coordinator, Program in Social Studies, all provided varied personal insight on the content of the film and the purpose to which it could be most effectively used.

P.O.V. came away with ideas for compiling an education packet to be distributed with the film to various education institutions and both Professors spoke about how the film could be used in the class room. Beyond the guest speakers contributions to the conversation, filmmakers in the audience shared their views and ideas about ways to take this film beyond the film circuit. Audience members where encouraged to write their questions and ideas down, whilst the conversation was taking place, for the filmmakers to take home and transform into practical audience engagement strategies. Here are some of audience members’ suggestions: •    Show the film to large foundations to encourage them to support projects with local involvement. •    Include more statistics for the educational version. •    Give updates on what is happening with the stories now. •    Provide more info on different approaches to development like microlending. •    We also got lots of great suggestions for organizations to highlight for our educational guide and venues to screen the film. Thanks to all!