From Distribution to Audience Engagement - Social Change Through Film

"Outreach and strategic communications are linked to a film's ability to raise awareness about the issues, and a well crafted audience engagement plan moves the public to increased engagement, strengthened social movements and ultimately leads to social change."

Opening with an example documentary film inspiring social change by using the 3 tools of distribution, outreach/strategic communications, and audience engagement, this paper describes how these tools support The Fledgling Fund's efforts to inspire social change through creative media.

Noting that "[i]t is that emotional connection with a film that...creates the building block for substantive audience engagement and social change", as the paper discusses the definitions and functions of distribution, outreach/strategic communications, the assumption is that "we are starting with films that are of exceptional quality with the emotional connection that facilitates the rest of this process." Definitions, with a sample snapshot and expanded strategy descriptions to illustrate each tool, include:

1. Distribution: the process of placing a film in online or offline venues to make sure that it is accessible to audiences. Traditionally, this involves securing a theatrical release, national and international television broadcasts, a festival run, or DVD sales. There may also be various non-traditional online screening portals and community screening venues. "From our experience, wise filmmakers are thinking about appropriate and realistic distribution methods far before their film is actually complete." Distribution snapshot: Population Action International's (PAI) film, The Silent Partner, explores issues associated with sex within marriage, extramarital sex, violence within marriage, HIV, and women's empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa. PAI held screenings in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, the United States (US), and Canada with audiences that included prominent media, policymakers, and community members; PAI also distributed nearly 1,000 copies of the film both through participation in international conferences and by responding to requests for copies made by partners around the world. Screenings were also held at US college campuses as part of PAI's University Tour Initiative, which provided the opportunity for young people to become more engaged in these issues. While a theatrical or festival run is often seen as prestigious and desirable, PAI recognised that they could have the deepest social impact with the film by going straight to their intended audiences with its distribution.
2. Outreach and strategic communications: the way that filmmakers tell the world about their film. This is largely determined by: how the film fits into the social movement; how the movement itself has connected with the film, embraced it, and worked with the filmmaker to understand the message it conveys; how it fits into the needs of the social movement; and how the members of this movement can see it. In order to do this effectively, film teams (made up of filmmakers, outreach and engagement coordinators, movement builders, and/or leaders/organisers) have to think critically about how and where the film’s message should be conveyed. This might be accomplished through: online social networking tools (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube Channel, etc.); a website dedicated to the film; radio stories, newspaper articles, magazine or television coverage, and/or blog coverage or other e-communications; mutually beneficial partnerships with non-profit organisations, corporations, religious bodies, or educational institutions; word of mouth; speaking engagements, and/or public stunts or other creative methods that are focused on making a splash that attracts media and public attention. Snapshot: With a focus on policy change for women in combat and veterans, the Lioness filmmaker team established partnerships with the Center for Women Veterans and Disabled American Veterans (DAV) to provide Lioness with further credibility and access to military and political leaders and organisations. The partnership with the Center for Women Veterans led to Lioness becoming institutionalized as an educational and clinical component of women veteran care at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). DAV provided the filmmaking team with insider knowledge of the legislative process and ongoing advice. Lioness also partnered with DAV in order to execute its Capitol Hill Screening (Washington, DC, US) in 2009. That screening helped launch the women veterans bill, which was included in S. 1963, The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. On May 5 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law this bi-partisan legislation to prepare the VA for the influx of women veterans, particularly those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who will access care there in the coming years.
3. Audience engagement: the process of moving a film's audience from passive viewing to active involvement with the issue represented. It is what happens after audiences see the film and want to use their energy, resources, ideas, connections, or time to make a difference. Concrete suggestions for filmmakers include:
   • Suggest an immediate action - signing a petition, making a donation, and/or pledging to volunteer or host a screening.
   • Recommend that viewers sign up for the film's mailing list to learn more.
   • Connect the audience directly with partner organisations who are working locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally on the issue and have already created concrete ways to involve people.
   • Drive the audience members to the film's website, where they can learn about how to engage with the issue, either through partner campaigns or unique film-initiated campaigns. This can be done through text messages, having a computer on-site, having the URL on the screen or handing out postcards or other takeaways that have the film's website details.
   • Encourage the audience to form local action committees right after the screening that will continue to organise around the issue.
   • Initiate a discussion with the audience to help them learn more from each other about what is happening locally on the subject.
   • Ask the audience to spread the word about the film, and more importantly, about the issue through their personal networks, professional circles, local press, and their blogs or social networking sites.

According to the paper, these 3 phases are typically not linear. For example, sometimes audience engagement work happens before a film is complete and distributed. Potential audiences learn of the film and the issues represented via a comprehensive film website or shorts made from the film's early footage and/or through early outreach and strategic communications. The filmmaker and organisational partners can then drive these new potential audiences to action before they even see the full film.

The paper then connects these 3 components to the organisation's Dimensions of Impact framework (pictured above).

Lastly, the paper outlines 4 primary questions that filmmaking teams should address as early as possible in order to maximise their film's social impact:

1. What is the overarching social change goal? - A number of specific questions are posed to help filmmakers develop a strong foundation for planning, such as: Does the issue require high-level policy change? Local policy change? Grassroots activism? A corporate culture shift? A change in consumer behaviour? More micro-level change, such as individual mind or behaviour change or altering family practices? Where does the issue currently sit within the political, social, and cultural environments?
2. Who are the intended audience(s)? - As an example of how to determine this, the paper provides the example of Sin By Silence, a film about the extreme consequences of domestic violence and its corresponding outreach and audience engagement work. One of the primary audiences for the campaign is males and females on college campuses around the US and especially at more conservative-leaning schools or schools that had little or no domestic violence prevention programming. The film's director also sought to reach women in shelters or those who were former domestic violence victims. "While these two audiences are potentially at very different ends of the spectrum on their understanding of the issue, each was equally important and impactful. When the film screened on college campuses, the film team's goal was dating violence prevention and they engaged the students in highly informative discussions about spotting the signs of abuse in their own relationships and those of their peers about how to escape those potentially dangerous situations. When the film was screened in shelters with domestic violence victims, the film team focused on using the film as a catalyst to make sure those women were equipped with the emotional and physical support they needed to stay removed from abusive relationships. By having these two separate events in the same local area, the film’s team was able to create a bridge afterward that connected a young cadre of advocates with their neighborhood shelter for further education and volunteerism to help expand the local impact for this vital cause."
3. What are the goals for these intended audiences? - To address this question, filmmakers are urged to form strategic partnerships within the movement as early in the process as possible. Often, these are nonprofit organisations that are entrenched in the issue and have their fingers on the pulse of the political, social, and educational happenings around the movement. Filmmakers should begin forming these partnerships as early as possible. These partnerships are particularly important when the issue represented in the film plays out differently based on geography (each city where a film may screen). A local or regional organisation that knows all these details can guide audiences to the most impactful local actions after they view the film and continue following up with these audiences long after the film has screened.
4. How can a film and its outreach and audience engagement strategies effectively reach audiences? - The first message that needs to be delivered is always "see this film". Filmmakers should find ways that each of the defined intended audiences communicate with and among each other and then find ways to share information about the film via those means. In addition, filmmakers need to focus on creative audience engagement. For example, Jesse Epstein is creating an interactive experience based on her series of shorts called Body Typed. One of the shorts, Wet Dreams and False Images, takes place in a barber shop, where she engages the male staff and clients in a discussion about women's bodies and the false reality of perfection. For her audience engagement campaign, she is taking that experience off the screen and into people's lives by hosting screenings at barber shops and continuing the discussion around body image that she began in the film. She is also creating a game, to be played online or on mobile phones, that will allow people to test their ability to identify photo re-touching in magazine images.

One element stressed in the concluding section of the paper is that "like most creative pursuits, social issue filmmaking is typically a highly collaborative process, right from the beginning. The partnerships described in this paper are essential to achieving social change and should not be overlooked."