A year ago, I had the great privilege of working alongside Rebecca Parrish, doing location sound recording for Jen Gilomen, one of the filmmakers behind Working Films documentary Deep Down when they brought their film’s protagonist Beverly May to Chicago. They were here for an ITVS Community Cinema Screening, but first stopped by Little Village to meet the members of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) to learn about their fight against several toxic industries, including two huge coal power plants that were poisoning the air and the people in those neighborhoods.
LVEJO member Ian took us on a walking tour of his neighborhood, where we got to stand right outside the towering gates of the Fisk plant in Pilsen. The change in the quality of air I was breathing was immediately noticeable. There was no running away from the foul smell of chemicals in the air. As I crinkled my nose and started to fear the effect breathing the air would have on my brain that day, I wondered how the City of Chicago could allow such a toxic-emitting plant to carry on running right where people’s homes are. A 2010 study showed that pollution from the Fisk and Crawford plants alone leads to 42 premature deaths, 66 heart attacks and 720 asthma attacks each year!
Fast forward to today, I found myself back in Pilsen, where the smoke stack of the Fisk plant towered over me once again. A large crowd had gathered in the park across the street carrying signs and chanting continuously. This time, the looks on the faces of Pilsen residents were ones of sheer joy and celebration. Just yesterday, news broke that both coal plants in Chicago will soon shut down.
That’s when Greenpeace, one of the organizations that’s been fighting for this for years, called me to help document this historic victory.
Visit their blog to read their recap of the day and watch a clip of Lelia Mendez, a member of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), giving an emotionally-charged speech.
(Thank you Mitch, for passing this opportunity along. It was so great to come full circle.)
Louder Than a Bomb is a documentary featuring some of the most brilliant youth across Chicago competing in the world’s largest youth poetry slam. Watching its trailer was enough to get me inspired, give me goosebumps, and leave me wanting to see more. Winner of the Audience Choice Award and Standing Up Film Competition (for films that celebrate social justice and activism) in the Cleveland International Film Festival, Louder Than a Bomb shows you the incredible power that spoken word has to move an audience and bring community together. And now, with its television release on the Oprah Winfrey Network as part of the OWN Documentary Club set for this Fall, LTAB is poised to spark change across the nation; especially timely now, when arts education programs are being cut at an alarming rate.
As part of my learning journey of how media can be utilized as powerful tools to engage our communities, I asked to meet with Louder Than a Bomb directors Jon Siskel & Greg Jacobs. Hear what they have to say about the impact they want to create with their film and how they plan to maximize it.
Thank you, Jon and Greg, for being most welcoming to me. It was a fun visit! :)
Media Impact Spotlight is a web video series featuring professionals utilizing various forms of media for positive social change. Watch previous episodes and subscribe to the series here.
The first ever Entrepreneurs Unpluggd event in Chicago, organized by Stella Fayman and Tim Jahn, was a relatively intimate gathering of like-minded individuals, brought together to hear the stories of some of the most successful online business owners around. Since I’m on a journey to starting a media social enterprise of my own, I figured it’d be a really good learning opportunity. The lineup for the night? The founders of Sittercity.com, ContactKarma.com, FoiledCupcakes.com, crowdSPRING.com and GrubHub.com. Pretty impressive stuff!
Missed out on the event? No worries. Here’s a quick re-cap of what went down:
“People love opportunities to interact with other people with common interests.”
Found there was no bakery around that would deliver cupcakes to her without charging exorbitant delivery fees.
Started this online cupcake store 1.5 years ago with social media as her only form of marketing
Targeted office admins because they wanted to sell by the dozens. Who organizes parties? Who has $$?
Hire people who are smarter than you
YSL: Those cupcakes look delicious. Keeping them in mind for my company’s next event! I loved the way they handled a mistake they’d recently made. It’s a great example of what to do.
Wanted to help small and mid-sized businesses find graphic design services more easily
Found first buyers by paying friends to post projects on their site
Held a public project where designers were invited to compete to design the crowdSPRING site.
Had to very carefully manage the backlash from the design community because they were changing the way the world of design worked.
YSL: I love this. Crowdsourced design services. Just what I’ll need for when I revamp my website! Discovered them when they featured JJ’s List on their blog as one of the top influencers in the world of crowdsourcing.
“Find a good partner who brings different perspectives and skill sets to the company.”
Started online food delivery directory in 2004 when he got sick of pizza delivery from this one place
Started with 2 people in his house
Customer Service must be at the core of his business.
In case of a screw up, make the resolution A LOT better than the problem.
YSL: This is the only service that I’d actually used before the event. Definitely made my being sick and unable to go out to buy food a lot easier to manage. Their ads are peppered all over the trains… which I would imagine has paid off well for them, since that’s how I discovered them in the first place.
What a great event. Thanks Stella and Tim for organizing this. I can’t wait for the next one!
And so it ends… the Grand Jury Prize winners Like Crazy (Dramatic) and How to Die in Oregon (Doc) announced just minutes ago at the Awards Ceremony… the crowd disperses across Park City to party the night away as the Sundance Film Festival 2011 draws to a close.
And what an incredible journey it’s been. With a million thanks to Maria Finitzo, Dorothy Marks and the folks at Kartemquin Films, I had the opportunity to be there as part of the 45-strong entourage that journeyed from Chicago to Park City in support of The Interrupters world premiere.
My first big film festival. *ahh!!*
Holding up my Sundance credentials
As the plane touched down in Salt Lake City, I was instantly struck by the gorgeous snow-capped mountains all around – a stark difference from the flat Illinois I’m used to. Now I’d heard stories about how crazy things can get for first-time festival-goers (no surprise that everyone wants to be a part of the most prestigious film festival in the country), but nothing prepared me for the sheer madness we were hit with. The bus, ticketing, getting into theaters and parties all had complex systems that came with big learning curves. Thank goodness I had Maria and Dorothy to brave it all with me. No wonder people have written Sundance Survival Guides.
The Interrupters Eddie, Coby and Ameena pose with crew Zak, Alex and Aaron just before the world premiere
My first film of the festival? Kartemquin’s very own The Interrupters. While it was scheduled to premiere at 9pm at the beautiful Temple Theatre, we arrived by 7.30pm to party it up in the green room… specially reserved for the cast, crew, friends and family. Everyone had a ton of fun getting their glamour shots taken with the Sundance backdrop set up there. When it came time to roll, the theatre was packed. Director Steve James introduced the film and then, it was the moment of truth… the world premiere! I must’ve cried at least 5 times throughout the film… incredibly powerful stories of violence in neighborhoods of Chicago told through the eyes of 3 remarkable interrupters who’ve risked and dedicated their lives to stopping the killing. But don’t just take it from me. Read responses fromCinematical, Square, imdb.com, Chicago Tribune, Roger Ebert and the many folks who saw the movie. The Kartemquin party that followed the night after at our condo was definitely a celebration to remember and a great opportunity for me to get to know the interrupters themselves over drinks.
Our schedules for the days that followed after were jam-packed with as many films as we could get tickets for. Tickets were SO DIFFICULT to come by though… so there came times where we had to launch plan B: Show up at the venue 2 hours before the screening time to get on the wait list and hope/pray that we make it in. A real gamble… but somewhat fun too because you get to strike up some interesting conversations with people standing in line around you… like Michael aka Mr. Moustache, a cowboy hat-donning veteran Sundance volunteer (one of 1650!) who’s there to answer questions about the festival, but instead, receives questions about his long, intricately curled moustache the most!
It’s amazing how many fellow Chicagoans we met there. It was also pretty cool that most of the folks I’d made conversation with had either seen The Interrupters or had heard about it and were very excited about it. Good buzz!
There was also a good deal of kindness and generosity going around… One morning, as I was standing in line at 8am waiting to enter a theatre, the gentleman next to me turned to me.
“hey, would you like a ticket to see Happy, Happy?” “erm… no thanks.” I replied. “for free?” Now my interest was piqued. “oh! well it depends on what time and which theatre…” I already had 3 films scheduled for the day. “3pm at the Egyptian,” he said, “we’re not gonna be able to make it.” The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I agreed and thanked them for their kindness, silently wondering why they’d bought the ticket in the first place… and then a look at the ticket revealed the answer… printed at the bottom were the words “Sponsor Comp”. Ah. I wonder which of the major name sponsors they were working for!
Happy, Happy, a Norwegian film, later went on to win the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Filmmaking… so thanks guys! :)
All in all, Sundance 2011 was a wonderfully memorable experience. Got to see lotsa great films, meet lotsa great people, hang out with the wonderful folks from Kartemquin and eat lotsa great food. Thank you Maria, for your guidance, generosity and giving me the opportunity of a lifetime.
Here’s a list of the films I got to see there in chronological order:
Happy Happy – Norwegian film about 2 couples cheating with one another. Light-hearted and funny. Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Filmmaking
Lost Kisses – Italian film about a 13-year old being idolized by the townsfolk who believe she has the ability to talk to God. I saw no connection to the film’s title. They gave out free lipbalm though!
Position Among the Stars – Highly recommended doc set in Jakarta. Gripping story about 3 generations in a poor family striving for a better life. Winner of the World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Doc
Doc Showcase II – The Barber of Birmingham was excellent. RIP director Gail Dolgin. Living for 32 had a great story, following the survivor of the Virginia Tech shootings… wish they’d executed it better though. Animals Distract Me was.. okay. A famous celeb self-indulging imo.
Family Portrait in Black and White – Sad doc about black children in Ukraine orphaned because of racism and a foster mother who’s taken 17 of them in.
The Bengali Detective – Interesting doc about the lives of 4 people in Calcutta as seen through the eyes of a slightly overweight detective with a heart of gold.
Shuling Yong 