Wendy Levy of The Producer's Institute

Being the least experienced person in the room can actually be a good thing.

During my stay at the Producer’s Institute, I frequently found myself in that position. And as a result, I had the good fortune of absorbing the knowledge, passion and wisdom of those around me.

For those who don’t know, The Producer’s Institute at BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition) is a place where filmmakers, journalists, video game designers, web developers, second lifers, foundations, broadcasters and NGOs come to brainstorm. It’s sponsored with lead support by the MacArthur Foundation, and it’s hosted by Wendy Levy and the wonderful staff at BAVC. It’s worth mentioning that Wendy is a person of unsurpassed positivity; a natural host who has the uncanny ability to say the right thing at precisely the right time. Her guidance was crucial to our team, and to the tone and excitement of the residency as a whole.

This year, eight three-person teams spent a week developing a presentation. This presentation was centered on one fundamental question.

How can we galvanize people to take action?

Most of the projects at the PI focus on a feature documentary. Feature documentaries are a powerful way to tell stories about people, and in telling a person’s story we are able to bring to light important social issues. Often, as people finish watching a documentary and turn off the television or leave the theater they are inspired, or angry, or curious. They want to use this emotional charge from the film, to actually make a difference.

Every group took a different approach.

The American Meat team at work: Tom Haskins-Vaughan, Alejandro de Onis, and Graham Meriwether

Our team is making a documentary called American Meat, which is a positive, solutions-oriented film about the U.S. meat industry. The main character of AM is the outspoken ingenious Virginia farmer, Joel Salatin. (Joel is featured in both The Omnivore’s Dilemma & Food, Inc.) Joel and his family raise animals outdoors and without the use of antibiotics.

One of the websites we developed at the PI is called Harvest Cloud. HC is a way for people to order sustainable local food online, from farmers like Joel. So after you watch American Meat or Food Inc. and you are feeling inspired to change the way you buy and consume food, you will be able to do so at the Harvest Cloud. Another website we developed, Leave It Better, is a video-based social network where people can share ideas and work together to green their communities. We developed an exciting concept for the launching of leaveitbetter.com which involves the proliferation of Leave It Better Flip Cams. I’ll go into more detail about that in my next blog post.

During the week, our ideas and initiatives were developed with the help of mentors. The storytelling mentor, Lynette Wallworth had a profound impact on my thought process. She talked to us about one of her video installations that told the stories of women who immigrated to Australia. In the installation, the participant walks up to a monitor and sees a point of light. She then places her hand on the point of light, and a life-size projection of one of the women walks up to the glass and places her hand on the hand of the participant. This kind of interaction between the art and the audience is fascinating, and set my mind in a new direction.

Some of the projects at PI are films that have already been completed, and others, like American Meat, are still in production. But here’s some info about screenings you can go to, or websites you can visit to become a part of some of the important social dialogues being sparked by PI projects:

The Way We Get By opens this weekend in NYC. Their film is about three elderly people in Maine who welcome home American veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the things they developed is a way for people to send care packages to U.S. soldiers overseas.

I’ll be at the Saturday afternoon screening at the IFC Center. If you are in NY, you should come!

Takaaki Okada and Pete Nicks of The Waiting Room

The Waiting Room is a documentary about a struggling hospital in Oakland, CA. The social engagement project associated with the film is really special. They’ve interviewed people in the waiting room about what kind of treatment they need, and how long they have been waiting.

It’s time that everyone in America is guaranteed health care. This film and social engagement project are providing an outlet where people can voice their frustrations with the system and potentially use this collective frustration to change the health care system in America.

Sands of Silence is a documentary about women subjected to sex slavery, that ultimately suggests that breaking the silence about the experience is the first step to ending it. Their team created an interactive game you can check out here.

Have You Heard From Johannesburg is a documentary chronicling the history of the global anti-apartheid movement that took on South Africa’s entrenched laws.

At the PI, they developed a way that the anti-apartheid activists of the 1960s and 70s can share ideas with the new generation of activists today.

Audience during presentations

The dedication of the people behind all the projects at the PI, and the importance of the issues being addressed was both inspiring and humbling. The 10 days at BAVC were some of the best I’ve experienced.

Collaboration is at the heart of the Producer’s Institute. I’ve made many good friends, and have already begun collaborating with people I met at the Producer’s Institute. Those ten days were a rare and special gift.

Separated from usual routine, we were all put together for ten days to figure out a way to get our message out to the world…