Resources on film as a social marketing tool

As promised, here is an annotated list of websites that offer great resources on the use of film for social change:

www.voicesofhope.tv is the website of a film production company that is dedicated to “leaving a legacy within our lifetime.” It features information on documentary film making, actual clips, instruction on advocacy, and resources for social marketing campaigns.

www.dogooder.tv is like YouTube for causes. All the films are worth watching. There just isn’t the “noise” of junk on YouTube. www.linktv.org is another site where independent documentaries are broadcast online, along with the independent film channel at www.ifc.com and Wide Angle at www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle.

www.itvs.org is the Independent Television Service, which funds and produces films for public broadcasting. This site offers funding opportunities for independent film makers, offers some films for viewing online, and links to many independent broadcasters. Of note is the series they produced for PBS called Independent Lens www.pbs.org/independentlens

www.centerforsocialmedia.org is the excellent website of the American University Center for Social Media in Washington, DC. “Helping people make media that matters” is featured on the home page, and the site has many resources on web tools, legal issues, media planning and relevant events and conferences. The site assumes that media includes all forms of media, not only film.

www.workingfilms.org “Working Films advances social, economic, environmental and racial justice by linking independent non-fiction media to activism.” The good folks at working films are the lubricant between documentary film makers and partnerships with civil society organizations with the express goal of improving social justice.

www.activevoice.net This is a site that puts “a human face on public policy” through film. They also include discussion guides and suggestions on how to maximize the reach of film for social change. Of particular interest is the joint project with the Ford Foundation called “Beyond the Choir” which investigates the challenge of getting films viewed by a greater audience than the converted.

www.witness.org This is the website for Witness, an NGO that specifically works to document footage for use in documentaries and other media, in order to affect change in policy and opinion on international human rights issues.

www.takepart.com This is a site inviting socially minded individuals to act for the benefit of the social good in one of many causes. It is one of many social activist sites that features the use of video. Note also that there is an active blog on this site.

Here is a resource and reading list created by Roberta Osler Sachs in support of her course on “Producing Films for Social Change” at Tufts University.

www.projectthinkdifferent.org “Our mission is to create a renaissance in the media arts that increases civic engagement by empowering people to think differently and think BIG about their role as citizens and agents of change.” Based out of Boston.

www.spunout.ie is a youth oriented social action website based out of Ireland. It uses film to support various international causes from child labour to famine.

Here is a list of some of the most notable documentary films of history. A great place to start research on film titles.

www.johnpilger.com This site is the home of a Australian (now London based) documentary film maker and journalist. Although this site promotes his work (for sale), his commentary and experience on the use of documentaries to foment change is interesting. (if a bit socialist in tone)