HI welcomes inaugural Technology Fellow, Clint Beharry; is profiled by entertainment industry expert Peter Broderick, in his summer 2011 bulletin; and highlights upcoming and recent speaking events. Read the full newsletter here.
Inaugural TFI New Media Fund grants awarded
October 6, 2011
Founder and Executive Director John S. Johnson served on the first ever jury panel for the 2011 inaugural Tribeca Film Institute ‘New Media Fund.’ The fund’s aim is to support non-fiction, social-issue film projects that integrate multiple media platforms, including social networks and mobile applications.
Six grant recipients were announced October 4, each receiving up to $100,000 to bolster their projects. Among this year’s grantees are 18 Days in Egypt, a “crowd-sourced interactive documentary” on the Egyptian revolution, and The Interrupters, a documentary and web campaign on Chicago’s “violence interrupters … who protect their communities from the violence they themselves once employed.”
For a full list of the 2011 recipients, click here.
HI mentioned in NY Times ‘Arts Beat’
October 3, 2011
HI’s Waiting for “Superman” evaluation received attention from the New York Times ‘Arts Beat’ blog on September 13, 2011. Michael Cieply, who covered this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, wrote, “Peter Broderick, the [How Films Can Change the World panel] moderator, said a Harmony Institute study of the education-reform film ‘Waiting for Superman’ identified ‘extensive press coverage’ as having amplified the message of the movie…”
Click here for the full post.
Deputy Director to speak at NCTC
September 26, 2011
On Wednesday, September 28 at 7p ET, HI Deputy Director Debika Shome will speak on a panel titled, “An Evening of Conversation: Communicating Climate Change Facilitating Audience Connections,” at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, WV.
Sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and NASA, the panel is part of the combined Earth to Sky (ETS) effort to create programs that support scientific literacy. Accompanying Shome on the panel is Connie Roser-Renouf, Principal Investigator for the “Global Warming’s Six Americas” project, and Becky Lacome, acting Training Manager for National Park Service Interpretation and Education.
The panel is free and open to the public.
New partnership with Crimson Hexagon
September 15, 2011
Recently named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies on the Web by Fast Company, Crimson Hexagon has partnered with HI to enhance our ability for understanding the connection between entertainment and social change. Powered by an algorithm developed at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Crimson Hexagon challenges traditional social media monitoring, expanding measures to include a real-time view of online audiences and how they truly think and feel about a brand, campaign, or issue.
“We are thrilled to partner with Harmony Institute and provide them with our leading technology to power their research in the pursuit of drawing connections between entertainment and social change,” said Crimson Hexagon CEO Patricia Gottesman. “We look forward to seeing the interesting findings Harmony Institute will share with the broader entertainment community on its role in activating communities for social change.”
Read the official press release here.
Vote for HI’s 2012 SXSW Panel Today!
August 29, 2011
This year’s SXSW event in Austin, TX is just around the corner, and your voice counts in selecting what new ideas are shared with this year’s participants. HI’s panel ‘Social Change Film: Strategy + Transmedia + Evaluation’ is in the mix for the 2012 Film Conference, but we need your votes to make it to the event as presenters this year.
To support HI, visit the SXSW Panel Picker, register or login, and give us the thumbs up today!
HI Deputy Director at 2011 NY International Latino Film Fest
August 26, 2011
On August 17th, 2011 Deputy Director Debika Shome spoke at the 2011 New York International Latino Film Festival on a panel titled ‘Film for Change.’ The panel discussed documentary film’s power to bring about positive social change, and the role filmmakers play in that process.
In addition to Shome, the panel featured documentary filmmakers and organizations focused on film for social change, including Pamela Yates, director of Granito; Paco de Onis of Skylight Pictures; Eren Isabel McGinnis, Producer of Precious Knowledge; Jamie Chvotkin, VP Marketing & Distribution at Explore; and moderated by Roselly Torres, Distribution & Marketing Director of Third World Newsreel.
HI presents at 2011 Creative Change, Sundance
August 25, 2011
On August 18, 2011, Assistant Director Eleanor Cleverly joined a panel of art and program evaluators at the third annual Creative Change Retreat hosted by Opportunity Agenda, an organization working to build public support and policy for equal opportunity in the US.
Cleverly accompanied presenters John Bare, VP of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Maria Jackson, Director of the Urban Institute’s Culture, Creativity, and Communities Program, and moderator Alexis McGill Johnson, Executive Director of the American Values Institute, to discuss art at the intersection of activism and social justice.
HI’s presentation focused on the importance of storytelling as a communication tool, and the value of a broad and holistic definition of success in the field of art and advocacy. The discussion closed with best practices for measuring creative culture’s impact on social values, practices, and policies.
Creative Change is an annual retreat at the intersection of arts and social justice. The retreat provides a space where advocates, artists, media makers, organizers and donors can connect, reflect, share ideas, and brainstorm innovative ways of inspiring and mobilizing support for social justice values and solutions through the arts.
Peter Broderick Highlights HI’s Waiting For “Superman” Evaluation
July 8, 2011
On July 7, 2011, film consultant and writer Peter Broderick released a bulletin titled “Special Report: How Films Can Change the World,” which showcases evaluations of An Inconvenient Truth, The End of the Line, and Waiting for “Superman.”
Through these three unique reports, Broderick presents researchers who are proving that both the financial and social impact of films can be measured. This innovative concept holds promise for filmmakers, non-profits, and advocates who seek new audiences for their messages.
HI’s Waiting for “Superman” evaluation is described as a “substantial study analyz[ing] the impact of [the film] on viewers’ perceptions and attitudes.” Broderick describes how HI’s “strikingly designed” highlights report reveals the importance of carefully depicted metaphors and strategic partnerships in changing perceptions and attitudes among viewers. Read Peter Broderick’s bulletin in-full here.