When someone utters the words “Hollywood” or “movie industry,” you don’t necessarily think of do-gooders. The U.S. movie industry made $8.22 billion dollars in 2010 and although that is a slight decline from 2009, it’s still a sizable amount and film continues to be a thriving industry. Both big budget and lower budget films continue to make profit even in a down economy. Some of these films seek to drive societal change by calling attention to flaws in the U.S. government, financial and education systems, poverty and violence in other countries, and numerous other issues all the while still bringing in major dollars to studios, hopefully encouraging more filmmakers and studio heads to continue the pattern.
I recently watched the much-lauded documentary, “Waiting for Superman” and was reminded of the power a film has in conveying a meaningful message. Movies are one of the only longer form mediums that still holds an audience’s attention in a society that is inundated with constant noise and clutter. Max Lugavere and Jason Silva, two “filmmakers for change” that work at Al Gore’s CurrentTV pointed out that, “we produce more data every two days than we had produced in 10,000 years of human recorded history…(therefore) the message needs to be packaged in a way that appeals to people emotionally.” In ”Waiting for Superman”, the director draws attention to the need for a significant overhaul of the education system by profiling leading reformers and following five young students from various walks of life. By the end of the film, I was on the verge of tears and definitely convinced of the need for reform.
Film communicates a complicated and important story in a digestible, human and entertaining way. One particular company, ONEPASS Productions, created by a classmate from Yale, Amy Montalvo, does just this. Amy produces documentaries for “charitable organizations which are standing up for change” in order to bring their message to audiences that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach and ideally, spur them to action. The documentaries to-date have focused on education, health and youth empowerment and most recently, she did a shoot in Mexico for Concero Connect and Choice Humanitarian to showcase their efforts to bring internet to the community of El Estanco. The video portrays these people and organizations in a way that nearly anyone can relate to on some level. Amy’s dedication to her work and commitment to these causes are clear when you speak with her about her work. She created a company by which she can communicate these messages broadly and still make a profit, grow her business, and do something she loves.
David Berstein, author of “The Change Generation” series “profiling a young generation of change-seekers” for Fast Company, directed and produced the film 18 in ’08 as a tool to drive the youth vote during the 2008 presidential election. The film highlights the lack of civic participation in younger populations and has evolved into a movement called “Generation 18” in which David and his colleagues distributed flip-cams to applicants to document their personal impact on politics on a local, state and national level. The concept is pretty simple, but novel in that it capitalizes on the current need to captivate an audience emotionally through visual stimulation in order to call their attention to an important issue.
In an era where smart phones and handheld video cameras are omnipresent, producing movies can be an easy and cheap way to deliver messages that enact social change. In its first year, ONEPASS profited. Waiting for Superman made $1.4 million after 17 days in the box office. The two are very different in scale, and yet each proves that this industry can be profitable and purposeful.
