Sundance report: New funder-filmmaker collaborations & a mission to find climate solutions

The Media Impact Funders team has just returned from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where we convened a highly engaged group of media funders to discuss innovative new collaborations among funders and filmmakers, and social impact campaigns designed to move the needle at the community level. Read More

On May 10, we convened our annual Media Impact Forum at the American Philosophical Society—the home of America’s oldest learned society—in Philadelphia. From its earliest days, the American republic has relied on scientific inquiry to propel our nation forward, in all facets of our life–in commerce, national defense, social policy and creative expression, among many other areas. The meeting helped philanthropy focus on the special role of science in our national debates, the importance of sharpening the communications of science, and broader issues about understanding how and when communications and storytelling make a difference. Below, you’ll find video clips of each session. If you want the highlights, check out the thread we made for Twitter Moments. Or just read the notes here. And here are some more in-depth impressions from those who were there: One of our speakers, Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, posted his entire talk over on Medium. The gist? That Benjamin Franklin, in response to polarization and fake news, would say that these are not even remotely new concepts. Independent consultant Louise Lief wrote a nice recap for the Knight Foundation’s Trust, Media &… Read More

Studios of WQXR and WNYC, 160 Varick Street, 8th Floor, NYC New York Grantmakers in the Arts, Philanthropy New York and Media Impact Funders came together for a discussion among arts funders about the role of digital media within the arts,  Read More

Read our Storify covering our events in Chicago. We kicked off our Chicago visit with a celebration of the Henry Hampton Award winning film, DETROPIA,  featuring filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, with award presentation by director Ric Roman Waugh (Snitch). DETROPIA is a requiem for the death and rebirth of a great American city and explores resilience, hope, anger and change against the backdrop of staggering job and populations losses; a dramatic “downsizing” of an American city; and cuts to basic services. Following the award we had a lively discussion with the filmmakers, J. Mikel Ellcessor, General Manager of WDET, Rahsaan Harris, Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, moderated by Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program. Read More