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2017 Media Impact Festival Case Studies

Since 2014, Media Impact Funders has been showcasing the work of producers dedicated to creating documentaries in the public interest through our annual Media Impact Festival. This year’s Media Impact Festival is a partnership with the AFI DOCS Film Festival in Washington, D.C., which took place from June 14-18. Our festival celebrates the following 10 […]

The 2017 Media Impact Forum

Agenda 9 a.m.—Welcome and Introductions   Vince Stehle, Executive Director, Media Impact Funders David Rousseau, Vice President and Executive Director, Media & Technology, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 9:15 a.m.—Returning to Public Media’s Roots A conversation with NPR’s founding architect and one of today’s leading public radio reporters on how public media has served us for the […]

Catch this week’s NonCommvention with the help of VuHaus

WXPN’s 17th annual NonCommvention—considered the premier gathering place for noncommercial music radio stations, industry members and music fans—is under way at World Café Live in Philadelphia. Performers this year include Blondie, Ani DiFranco, the Pixies, Benjamin Booker, and more.

2017 Sundance Film Festival turns its lens on climate change, environment

Last week, as Donald J. Trump was being inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States in Washington, D.C., festival-goers in Park City, Utah, were preparing for premieres, parties and protests at the Sundance Film Festival. The MIF staff, its board of directors and various colleagues were focusing on how to move forward with effective, […]

We laughed, we cried: Insights from a PopTech first-timer

Have you ever felt both emotionally drained and intellectually invigorated at the same time? That’s the best way I can describe my first experience at last week’s PopTech conference, the annual showcase of visionary people, projects and ideas that convenes every fall in Camden, Maine.

New survey reveals insights on current state of the documentary field

This week, the Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) and the International Documentary Association (IDA) released the results of a survey—“The State of the Documentary Field”—designed to track and better understand trends in the evolving field of documentary film.

'The Web belongs to all of us': Q&A with the Web’s inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee

This post originally appeared on the Ford Foundation’s Equals Change blog on Sept. 21, 2016. Not everyone knows the name Sir Tim Berners-Lee, but they certainly know his invention: the World Wide Web. And if being responsible for one of the most important innovations in human history wasn’t enough, early on Berners-Lee made the generous […]

Using television and film to advance your cause (no ad budget required)

Editor’s note: This piece originally appeared Aug. 8, 2016, on PhilanTopic, the blog of Philanthropy News Digest. By Neill Coleman | Vice President of Global Communications, Rockefeller Foundation

After the conventions, time for foundations to focus on change

When a political convention rolls through your neighborhood, it’s easy to believe that anything is possible. In Philadelphia, where I live, we’ve just witnessed an event that had the fervor and optimism of a Taylor Swift concert for four days but the precision and orchestration of a military convoy taking over an entire city. No […]

From Black Panthers to Black Lives Matter: Official transcript from our Stanley Nelson event

Editor’s note: Back in February, we held an event with filmmaker Stanley Nelson to talk about his now Emmy-nominated film, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. The film sparked the No. 1 trending Twitter hashtag—#BlackPanthersPBS—in the world on the night it premiered on PBS’ Independent Lens. It is also Independent Lens’ highest rated and most-streamed […]

5 ways mapping can help you increase media impact

Media projects are often judged primarily on their own merit. When it comes to gauging impact, however, context rather than content can be king. Mapping tools can help to reveal that context, making it easier to both design outreach and assess outcomes. Here are five mapping strategies to consider:

The 2016 Media Impact Forum

At the 2016 Media Impact Forum, we explored the networks, data and collaborations that support and amplify powerful narratives in film, journalism virtual reality and more. Agenda 9:30 a.m.—Welcome and Introductions Vince Stehle, Executive Director, Media Impact Funders Andrew Rasiej, Founder/CEO, Civic Hall Musical interlude Michael Thurber, Composer, Performer, From the Top 9:55 a.m.—Tech Support: Mapping […]