In March, Picture Motion hosted a special night of storytelling and impact in Austin, TX around SXSW. The night centered on creative artists, activists, and community advocates fighting for women’s health. We highlighted our relevant campaigns and identified ways for audience members to get involved and take action. 

Read on to find out more about the engaging campaigns we’ve been working on and how you can get involved and take action around current initiatives.

Although there is a lot to celebrate lately at Picture Motion, our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine, facing cruelty and wanton destruction with dignity and strength; the Ukrainian government, likewise, is made up of brave people who are admirably trying to steer their country through disaster. We also want to keep in mind the millions of Russian people all over the world who absolutely condemn the actions of their leaders – they are unequivocally on the side of peace, standing with the people of Ukraine, risking their own safety to denounce their government’s choices.  

In solidarity,
Team PicMo

The LFG Campaign Closes Out With A Big Win

Throughout March we celebrated Women’s History Month and are proud to share the news that the U.S. national women’s soccer team won $24 million in an equal pay settlement. After working on the LFG #WhenWeValueWomen campaign around equal pay for equal work, we are thrilled to see this impact in action.

Encouraging Civic Engagement Through A Campaign Around Obama

Obama: In Pursuit of A More Perfect Union is a multi-part documentary that explores the journey of Barack Obama becoming the 44th U.S. President. Through strategic partnerships and a grassroots screening tour, Picture Motion worked closely with schools and non-profit organizations to support 118 online, in person, or hybrid screenings and action-oriented conversations using the docu-series and the Kunhardt Film Foundation’s educator resources to encourage civic engagement, uplift Black candidates and candidates of color, and activate youth networks to get out the vote, reaching a total estimate of 11,500 students, educators and community members.

63 screenings were organized around Black History Month programming and 26 screenings were planned around Presidents’ Day activities with university campuses, museums, and nonprofits partners including: Southern University at New Orleans, Housatonic Museum of Art, Western Kentucky University, Elk Grove High School, Douglas County High School, School of Communication at Texas Southern University, and My Brother’s Keeper Alliance chapters in Houston and Yonkers — who partnered with the Houston Independent School District and Yonkers Public Schools to bring the series and educator resources to students and classrooms.

If you know an educator or leader looking for ways to inspire their students or group to take action – tell them to encourage three friends, family members, or classmates to register to vote and visit our action page to find upcoming elections, voting locations, and what’s on the ballot in their city.

We Curated A Discussion Guide For Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches

Inspired by historian David Blight’s biography, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches explores Douglass’ life — from his birth in bondage, to his freedom as an abolitionist speaker and writer. The film draws from five of Douglass’ legendary speeches to represent different moments in the tumultuous history of 19th century America as well as different stages of Douglass’ long and celebrated life. Picture Motion has created a downloadable, robust discussion guide that audiences can use for further learning, discussion within classrooms, and ways to take tangible action against racial injustice today. If you haven’t seen the film yet, it’s streaming now on HBOMax.

We Celebrated Employee Appreciation Month!

We have a fantastic group of passionate impact-makers here at PicMo! In honor of Employee Appreciation Day, we’d love to share something with you about each of our team members:

• Subscribe to Anti-Racism Daily to receive daily (or weekly) newsletters on how to navigate being an active anti-racist ally.
• After watching the vital documentary FLEE, take action and help support refugees like the documentary’s central subject, Amin.
• Equality League is working with FIFA to #SupportAfghanAthletes by helping to evacuate Afghan women’s national basketball team players. However many more at-risk women athletes need our help.
• 2020’s election saw one of the highest youth voting rates in recent history, with half of Americans 18-29 casting a ballot. As we look ahead to the midterms, it’s more important than ever for young people to get out and vote!
• The attack on trans youth continues in states across the U.S., as new legislation is being proposed and implemented to affect their rights. Visit Transathlete to review the latest legislation state by state, and take action accordingly. Then, take the ACLU pledge to Support Trans Youth Now.
• Listen to the Side Effects of Reproductive Rights (with Lizz Winstead) episode of Amanda Seales’ Small Doses podcast and then take the pledge through the ACLU to defend abortion rights.
• Celebrate Black History Month every month; Check out the Black Film Archive, created + curated by Maya Cade, which showcases Black films made from 1915 to 1979 that are currently streaming,
• Check out these resources and action opportunities from our partners at JWI relating to the Violence Against Women Act for ways you can get involved.
• Equality League advances gender equality by training a global network of athletes to advocate for their rights. On March 15th, Women’s Equal Pay Day, they hosted a screening of LFG accompanied by a panel focused on keeping young people involved and inspiring them to be advocates on their own time rather than waiting until they grow up, while ensuring we’re including boys and men in this gender equity conversation. Watch  “The Impact of Athlete Advocacy” here.
• Read our 2021 Impact Report reflecting on the incredible campaigns we worked on last year.

• The Seats at the Table impact campaign organized 35 grassroots screenings with collegiate prison education programs similar to the one in the film, middle and high school classes interested in innovative education, and community groups impacted by high levels of incarceration. In addition, the campaign created an educational webinar highlighting film participant Dr. Andrew Kaufman, formerly incarcerated and former UVA students, and key partner Represent Justice.
• Our Final Account virtual event for the American Federation for Teachers on March 22 had 115 total attendees join us for a screening and discussion on combatting antisemitism and promoting education surrounding the Holocaust through the lens of the film.
• The Final Account grassroots campaign engaged 169 schools, JCCs, faith based communities, national and local nonprofits to help advance anti-bias education, inclusion, and equity, giving the campaign a 2.7M+ potential reach through promotional, membership and school district engagement.
• Through our #WhenWeValueWomen impact campaign for LFG we had a total of 136 partners, hosts, and attendees in sports, education, and/or policy pledging to assess or take action on their gender equity gap. The campaign closed with 73 community screening events, 43 screenings over our initial goal!
• This week we held a virtual marquee event for the documentary Hold Me Right where we had 321 unique users join us for a screening, guided meditation, fireside chats with issue area experts, and curated spotlights featuring organizations working to prevent sexual assault and honor survivors’ experiences.