Check out the full article on GOOD here. Thanks to the team at www.good.is for the great post! Glad I was able to contribute some classroom footage to this.

A community is only as strong as its foundation, and for over 40 years, CNE has been providing the building blocks necessary to ensure that children in Evanston and its surrounding communities have access to quality early education programs. Research has shown that without this quality care during the early childhood years – birth to five – a child’s chance for future educational, professional and personal success is greatly compromised, thus having a great impact on the stability and overall health of a community.

Details
Oct 2011
Duration: 7min 9secs
Shot on the Panasonic GH2
Edited on Final Cut Pro
Produced/Directed by Shuling Yong
Cinematography by Jeff Perlman
Location Sound Recording by Jonathan Vogel and Morgan Johnson
Edited by Philipp Batta

We all grade ourselves by different measures:

• For some people, it’s as simple as how much money they make. When their net worth is going up, they know they’re doing well.
• For others, it’s how much money they give.
• For some people, it’s how many people’s lives they can influence for the better.
• For others, it’s how deeply they can influence just a few people’s lives.

- from pg 30 of “Anything You Want” by Derek Silvers, Founder of CD Baby

Summary

Our interns Alicia Ward, Melissa Young and Marquita Fisher

In Summer 2011, 3 teenage interns came together to produce a short documentary about health and sports participation in their communities. With the generous help of Girls In The Game and Kartemquin Films, the result was 8 weeks of immersive, hands-on learning for the girls. Their finished film “Girls In Action” premiered on Aug 24, 2011 to over 50 people, and the screening was followed by a thoughtful Q&A session about the issues. Girls In Action will also be featured as a companion web video for In The Game, a Kartemquin Films doc-in-progress about Title IX, gender equality in sports, and how change takes place in a democracy.

Summer Squad

Teaching the younger generation that sports can be fun and that it's good to stay active!

In order for our interns to produce a well-informed and thoughtful documentary, they had to first learn about the issue at hand – why there is a lack of participation in sports among girls in their community. So we kicked things off by sending them to spend a week at Girls In The Game’s Summer Squad. There, our girls not only participated in daily workouts, but also learned about the media’s role in influencing perceptions of sports participation. They had to think about important questions like:

• How much coverage are women’s sports given in the media?
• How does the media portray sportswomen?
• How does that influence a teenage girl’s desire to be active?
• What can I as a filmmaker to do change perceptions and encourage more girls to be active?

Field Trip: Chicago Premiere of The Interrupters

Getting an autograph from Ameena Matthews of CeaseFire at The Interrupters premiere

To give our interns an understanding of how social issue documentary can inform audiences and affect change, we took them to the Gene Siskel Film Center for the Chicago premiere of The Interrupters, the newest film from Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams). It was an eye-opening experience for them to see a documentary film by the legendary Steve James, and to witness great audience discussion after with the filmmakers and subjects.

The Big Premiere

After weeks of hard work, Girls In Action was finally complete.

Our girls hard at work out in the field!

Our interns had the opportunity to screen their new documentary to the award-winning filmmakers at Kartemquin Films. The big day began with a special sit-down lunch with the producers and director of In The Game, where the girls got to share their experience and ask questions of Kartemquin’s Executive Director Justine Nagan, Producer Mary Morrissette, and Director Maria Finitzo herself.

After screening Girls In Action to the wonderful folks at Kartemquin Films

That same evening, our interns planned a big screening at Cabrini Connections itself. There was an overwhelming turnout of support from the interns’ friends, family members, subjects of the film, internship mentors, representatives from Girls In The Game, and staff of Cabrini Connections. The place was bustling with excitement as the girls geared up to screen their film a second time that day.

The crowd at Cabrini Connections listens carefully during the Q&A session after watching Girls In Action

Following the screening, the interns invited representatives from Girls In The Game up front to join in the Q&A session. Questions from audience members came fast and furious – first about issues covered in the film and what we can do about it, and later about the filmmakers’ experience. Our girls had set a goal for their film to inform, inspire and influence, and based on the questions audience members were asking, we can say they’ve achieved it. They handled the Q&A very well and we are very proud of what they’d accomplished in such a short period of time.

Summing Up

Our three interns had, over the course of 8 weeks, learned so much more than how to use a camera. They learned:

• how to think critically about an issue and structure their story in a manner that would convey a positive message to their audience.
• professional communication skills such as how to set up interviews, how to send a professional e-mail, and how to follow-up with a thank you note after.
• basic job responsibilities such as showing up punctually, completing tasks on time, and communicating with teammates clearly and effectively.
• to exercise their public speaking skills by standing in front of an audience, presenting their work, and taking questions after.
• how to carry on as champions of healthy living and keeping an active lifestyle.

As with all good things, the internship had to come to an end. We sent our girls off with the hope for bright futures ahead for them all. Go now, and take flight!

Group photo on the last day. Melissa, Marquita and Alicia hold special DVD copies of their work and photographs for memories.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of my two fellow instructors, Jane Wang and Jonathan Vogel. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to take this adventure on with me.

We’re kicking off the first week with an immersive learning experience by sending our interns to participate in the Girls In The Game Summer Squad, where they’ll be playing sports, going on field trips and learning about issues around Sports and the Media.

Keep a lookout for the girls’ updates and reflections on their filmmaking journeys on our Reel Talent Productions blog at www.cabrinifilms.blogspot.com

Much love and gratitude goes out to my amazing team for leading this with me. Jonathan, Jane and I are going to work our butts off to make this as memorable and fulfilling of an internship for the girls as possible. :)

First Lady Michelle Obama made it clear:

“The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake.”

With a mission of solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, Michelle Obama launched Let’s Move!, a nationwide initiative to put children on a path to a healthy future. 

One of the 4 pillars of the campaign is in Increasing Physical Activity, because our young people now live in a world where it’s easy to be sedentary, and inconvenient to be active. In a report to President Obama, adolescents spend more than 7 hours/day watching television, DVDs, movies, or using a computer/cell phone/MP3 Player. 56% of boys and 74% of girls are not getting sufficient exercise.

That’s why I’m excited to announce that three Reel Talent Productions teens will spend 8 weeks on a summer filmmaking internship producing short documentary to examine what the situation is like within their community. How’d things get this way? And more importantly, what can we do together to reverse it?

The finished piece will be used to inspire, inform, and fuel discussions about these pertinent issues, adding a small (but mighty!) puzzle piece to the larger picture that is Let’s Move!

My co-leader Jon and I are in the midst of conducting interviews with applicants this week. With only 3 spots available, making the final decision will be tough. Results will be announced next week.

Keep your eyes peeled for updates on the kids’ journey here. Ask them questions, send them encouragement and suggest ideas for improvement! Let’s do this together.

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.

“I think this is what all of us as artists want – we want our audience to come away changed emotionally in some way. To take the experience of watching a film, and integrate it into their own life, and have an emotional experience about that viewing; that may be positive, that may be negative, but it is moving.

I think we all wanna move people emotionally. And that’s what art does best.”

- Maria Finitzo, Peabody Award-winning Filmmaker

You’ve hit the nail on the head and taken the words right outta my mouth, Maria. Thank You for being a huge role model and inspiration in my life.

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:

Genevieve Thiers – SitterCity.com

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”

• Started what’s essentially a match.com for parents and caregivers when she saw a pregnant woman walking around campus flyering for a nanny.
• Startup cost was $12K and it was just her and her laptop for the first 4 years.
• Marketing your online company has 3 stages: Grassroots level -> Direct Marketing -> Brand Marketing
• Pitched herself as the “babysitting expert”, which later landed her 6 segments on The Today Show.

YSL: She’s essentially taken what people were already doing, and put the process online. Brilliant.

Dan Ratner – ContactKarma.com

“Customer = someone who pays you for stuff.”

• Started a service for finding vendors your friends use. Site’s still in beta.
• Selling to small businesses is just as hard as selling to big ones
• Get the customer to tell you what they need
• Talk about your product. A lot.
• Sometimes intuition is not the same as reality

YSL: Interesting concept that’s kinda like yelp.com and facebook rolled into one. Injects some fun into searching for services.

Mari Luangrath – FoiledCupcakes.com

“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.

Ross Kimbarovsky – crowdSPRING.com

“Look bigger than you are.”

• 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.

Matt Maloney – GrubHub.com

“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 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 from Cinematical, 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:

1. The Interrupters – Awesome doc. Go see it!
2. Abraxas – Japanese Narrative about a punk rock musician turned buddhist monk
3. Higher Ground – Directed by Up In The Air star Vera Farmiga. Excellent Soundtrack. Ok story.
4. 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
5. 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!
6. Shorts Program II – Best ones I saw were Brick Novax and Sexting.
7. 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
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.