A group of high-profile film and television creators is calling on Hollywood to support more social impact storytelling after their deaths. Spotlight, Roma And A painful reality Supporting partner media.
In an open letter to the entertainment industry on Tuesday, A-listers including George Clooney, Ava DuVernay, Matt Damon and Kerry Washington said values-based storytelling is needed now more than ever to “expand the scope of the debate.” is, to open our hearts to experiences quite different from our own, to immerse us in the beauty of the complexities of humanity. The group of 118 filmmakers, activists and non-profit signatories, which also includes Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, Michael Mann, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón, added, “We call on Hollywood to fulfill this moment. demand. There is an entire ecosystem of people, ready to work with you, connected to the past 20 years of work by participants.
Co-founder Jeff Scholl surprised many in the industry when he announced the company’s closure on April 16. Started in 2004 by an eBay co-founder, the participants operated under the “double bottom line” principle that sought to both make a profit and inspire social change with the stories it supported. During its 20-year run, the company was behind scripted and documentary films. Citizenfour, Green Book, The Help, RBG, Flee, American Factory, Lincoln, Contagion, Food Inc. And A very violent year. In the process, it earned more than $3.3 billion at the box office and 21 Oscars and 18 Emmys.
The letter states that, with his work, Shrek has “never diminished the public’s appetite for thought-provoking subject matter.” Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Participant “changed the landscape of our public discourse and popular culture forever” by pairing filmmakers with advocacy groups and activists dedicated to causes connected to their stories. (Signatories to the letter include attorneys such as Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, and Brian Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative.)
The group added, “As we reflect on the achievements of the participants, we look forward to championing the next generation of producers who will build on the participants’ extraordinary body of work, integrating the learning offered by will develop new partnerships and innovate in this new media landscape.”
IJen Poe, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and executive director of Caring Across Generations, was part of a small group that conceived the letter and gathered signatures and support for its message. Poe noted in an interview Monday that Cuarón’s 2018, Participant-backed film Roma — focused on a domestic worker in Mexico City in the 1970s — helped lead to the introduction of the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2019. The US bill, which sought to eliminate domestic workers from federal labor protections such as exemptions from paid overtime, is will be re-introduced this year.
Roma And its impact campaign “created an opportunity when there was a little more space in the public imagination for the experiences of domestic workers,” Poe said. “It provided an opportunity to orient our audience to real-world change opportunities that they could be involved in.”
Poo — who also worked with the contestant. help, Shirley And It is beyond my understanding — continued, even as industry-wide contraction sweeps Hollywood, social impact films “need to be made.” He added, “There’s a market for it and it just needs to continue. And I think everyone in Hollywood has a role to play in making sure that happens.
Read the letter and see the full list of signatories below.
Friends of Filmmaking and Effects,
20 years ago, long before social impact became a place in Hollywood, the participants started stories in our culture with the express goal of changing it. Participants empowered bold storytelling with their faith in the filmmakers’ vision, advocacy and social movements using these narratives in dynamic campaigns, and most importantly, they challenged public opinion. The hunger for provocative subject matter that can power new narratives and fresh offerings has never waned. point of view
As artists inspired by and connected to social movements, we have experienced the unique role of the participant in empowering filmmakers to experiment, innovate and grow. As advocates, we’ve seen real-world change through the power of filmmaking and campaigning. Participant has forever changed the landscape of our public discourse and popular culture by forging authentic partnerships between advocates, storytellers and distributors through its impact filmmaking model. For this, we are grateful and proud of our association with this important entertainment institution.
Participants proved that audiences crave movies with a purpose, garnering 21 Academy Awards out of 86 nominations and 18 Emmy nominations across five television series. Along with critical acclaim, his catalog, including “Spotlight,” “Roma,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “A Fantastic Woman” and “When They See Us,” has grossed more than $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office. of His mission was to achieve a “double bottom line”, creating world-class content that inspired social change, which he did.
As we say goodbye to the participant, we must emphasize that values-based storytelling is needed now more than ever. To widen the room for discussion, to open our hearts to experiences quite different from our own, to immerse us in the beauty of the complexities of humanity. And in the face of unprecedented change and uncertainty, we need deeper collaboration between great storytellers, advocates and movements for change, to remind us of our agency in shaping the future and the power of our actions. let’s The future and health of our culture and democracy requires more of us to participate, spread hope and humanity. Democracy is a living, breathing entity to which we give life by participating.
As we reflect on the achievements of the participants, we look forward to championing the next generation of producers who will build on the extraordinary body of work of the participants, integrating the learning it offers, creating new partnerships. will seed and innovate in this new media landscape. We call on Hollywood to meet this moment. There is an entire ecosystem of people, ready to work with you, rooted in the past 20 years of work by participants.
signed,
CRISTELLA ALONZO
Courtney Andrealis Vincent
Yalitza Aparicio
Rosanna Arquette
AV Squad
Justin Baldoni
John Bitsack
Latosha Brown, Black Voters Matter
Scott Budnick, Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and 1 Community
Anthem Burke, Me to Movement
Sophia Bush
CAPE (Asia-Pacific Alliance in Entertainment)
Caring for generations
Linda Yvette Chavez
Don Cheadle
George Clooney
Julie Cohen
Gabriella Copperthwaite
Julie Ann Cromet, Collective Moxie
Alfonso Cuaron
Alan Cummings
Richard Curtis
Matt Damon
Dustin Daniel Creighton
Viola Davis
Hino Deckert
Appreciate the American.
Joan Davis
June Diane Raphael
David Diggs
Abigail Disney
Mark Duplass
Eva Duvernay
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Enfield Road
Brandi Evans
Avion Media
Vera Farmiga
Jane Fonda
Devon Franklin
Geena Davis Institute
Anna Grubb
Happiness
Gold House
Goldcrest Films
Uni Golijov
Good energy
Fatima Gos Graves, National Women’s Law Center
Clark Gregg
Davis Guggenheim
Mark Hamill
Ed Harris
Crystal Echo Hawk, IllumiNative
Jamie Heath
Matthew Heinman
Dr. Alisha Hines, Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA
Louise Hogarth
honto88
IllumiNative
In a creative company
Alexander G. Iñarritu
Mikiko James, Women in Film
Steve James
Raquel Jaramillo
Michael Keaton
Daniel D. Kim
Regina King
King Shaka
Elba Luis Lugo
Diego Luna
Wide
Michael Mann
Stephanie Marin
Neda Martinez, New School
Paula Mendoza
Alyssa Milano
Andrea Wilson-Mirza, Women in Film
National Domestic Workers Alliance
New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT)
Yvette Nicole Brown
Sue Abedi, Muslim Public Affairs Council Hollywood Bureau
Joshua Oppenheimer
Anshantya Oso, BLD PWR/BLD PWR Productions
David Oyelowo
Piper Parabo
Pierrepaulin Films
Pillar Fund
Laura Poitras
Ai-jen Poo, National Domestic Workers Alliance and Intergenerational Care
Pop Culture Collaborative
Pop shift
Don Porter
Monica Ramirez, Justice for Migrant Women and the Latinx House
Jonas Pohr Rasmussen
Rashad Robinson, The Color of Change
Jess Morales Rocketto, Aquis Institute
Anthony D. Romero, American Civil Liberties Union
Audrey Rosenberg
Yvonne Rousseau
Kendrick Sampson, BLD PWR/BLD PWR Productions
Liz Sargent
Steve Sarowitz
Vicki Shabu, entertainment initiative of the New America Better Life Lab
Martin Sheen
Octavia Spencer
Brian Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative
Storyline Partners
tao/s
League
Baratonde Thurston
Yalda T. Uhls, Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA
USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center
Christine Wichen
Gloria Walton, Solution Project
Kerry Washington
Betsy West
Women in Animation (WIA)
Sophie Yan, Every Town for Gun Safety
Credit : www.hollywoodreporter.com
