We are nearly five months into 2021 and we have had the opportunity to work on some incredible impact campaigns so far! From criminal justice reform and mass incarceration, invisible illness, mental health, and even the stories behind the current COVID19 era – we have been engrossed in a wide variety of important issue areas. Continue reading for a glimpse into some of our recent campaigns:
Warmly, Team PicMo
Conversation series around criminal justice reform through the Moment of Truth series
IMDb TV’s new series Moment of Truth re-investigates the murder of Michael Jordan’s father, James Jordan, as well as the rampant corruption and institutional racism in a rural North Carolina county that followed that result in a life sentence for Daniel Green—who still maintains his innocence. In conjunction with the series release on April 1st and Daniel Green’s upcoming appeal on a recent court decision denying a hearing to present new evidence, we launched a conversation series featuring the stories creators, participants, and formerly incarcerated professionals. Hundreds of activists and nonprofit leaders learned about the importance of using the correct language towards formerly incarcerated people, supporting people upon their re-entry to society, and the racial bias affecting hundreds of thousands of Black and Brown people.
Picture Motion invites educators, students, and families to join an interactive, virtual program with the creators behind Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon
On April 12th, Picture Motion, in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company™, produced and hosted a virtual event — Disney’s BEHIND-THE-SCENES: Storytelling Through Animation. The event brought accessibility to the story artist and screenwriters behind Disney’s latest animated film Raya and the Last Dragon to middle and high school classrooms for an opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the many ways the creatives behind the film can bring stories and experiences to life. To support the overall programming, an Educator Toolkit created by Blueshift Education guided teachers on key learning points including the construction of a story, the process of creative collaboration, and storyboarding. This virtual programming will be the first in a series of episodes that aim to inspire & empower young people to use their voice to tell their own stories.
Young filmmakers seek to inspire students to tell their own stories through COVID DIARIES NYC
This May, Picture Motion is collaborating with DCTV and HBO to organize a special week of free virtual screenings of COVID DIARIES NYC for students and educators. COVID DIARIES NYC chronicles the lives of five young filmmakers, ranging in age from 17 to 21, who turn their cameras on themselves to tell the stories of their families during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Each screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring the young filmmakers, and students will have the chance to interact with the filmmakers during a live Q&A on May 4th. We hope this screening experience will inspire students to reflect on their own experiences during this historic year, and maybe even empower them to begin documenting their own stories. Our team has also created an educator’s guide with discussion questions and student activities for teachers to further incorporate the film into their classrooms. Later on, in May, we will also be organizing a panel focused on the mental health themes explored in the film. If you are a student or educator interested in attending our screening week (May 3 – May 7), please RSVP here.
National Geographic Presents: IMPACT with Gal Gadot, six real-life wonder women from all around the word
Picture Motion is supporting the world premiere of National Geographic’s new series, IMPACT with Gal Gadot that follows inspiring women living in communities marred by violence, poverty, trauma, discrimination, oppression, and natural disasters, and yet, against all odds, dare to dream, stand out, speak up and lead. Next week on Wednesday, May 5th, we are organizing an educator and student screening around the series with middle and high schools as well as youth and girl empowerment groups to amplify conversations around the resilience and leadership that the series’ subjects imbue. Please join us for the special screening and share with your friends and family.
TIME captures the intimate ways people’s lives are affected by the prison-industrial complex
TIME is a documentary from filmmaker Garrett Bradley that tells the story of FoxandRob Rich and their decades-long journey towards freedom. Through a partnerships campaign during the fall and winter months of 2020, Picture Motion worked with grassroots organizations, coalitions, and communities of justice-involved people to amplify their work and their stories alongside the film’s virtual release on Amazon Prime. To learn more about TIME and the film’s role within organizations advocating for criminal justice reform, watch this conversation with film participants FoxandRob Rich and Raj Jayadev of Participatory Defense.
- If you are a student, educator, or work with young people aged 14+, RSVP to our upcoming COVID DIARIES NYC Screening Week.
- Host a sneak peek screening of PBS’s upcoming series on mental health, Mysteries of Mental Illness
- Apply Now to Reese Witherspoon’s LitUp Fellowship for Underrepresented Women Writers
- Join us on May 11th for a virtual conversation around IMDbTV’s Moment of Truth, focusing on bringing together voices from organizations working within criminal justice reform – RSVP here
- The AXS Film Fund program awards up to five creators of color in documentary filmmaking or nonfiction new media who identify as having a disability with grants of up to $10,000 each to assist them in finishing their projects at any stage of production. Apply starting June 1st!
Your Movie Going Experience Is About To Change | The Atlantic
MTV Entertainment Group to launch Storytelling Summit with mental health focus | RealScreen
Promising Young Woman Offers Free Virtual Screenings To College Students Across The Country In Partnership With RAINN | Focus Features
Will Smith, Antoine Fuqua Pull Slave Drama ‘Emancipation’ Out of Georgia Due to Restrictive Voting Law | The Hollywood Reporter
