Talented media makers capture the complexities of real life, dramatic personal transformations and the impact of the decisions we make. Active Voice’s street-tested strategies make it easy for inspired audiences to take positive action on the issues they’ve learned about. Read about the projects we’re working on now.
A Class Apart A Class Apart, by Carlos Sandoval and Peter Miller, is built around the landmark 1954 legal case Hernandez v. Texas, in which an underdog band of Mexican Americans from Texas bring a case all the way to the Supreme Court—and win. Overview House Party Toolkit Event Planning Toolkit for Organizations
The Calling The Calling, from the Kindling Group, is an upcoming PBS documentary miniseries that follows eight Catholic, Evangelical Christian, Jewish and Muslim Americans who are training for religious leadership. It takes viewers into the unknown world of seminaries to reveal the real people "behind the robes." Overview
Child Brides: Stolen Lives
In this hour-long special report by NOW on PBS, Child Brides: Stolen Lives takes an unprecedented inside look at a global custom—early marriage—that devastates girls' lives and holds back communities. Overview Campaign Details Facilitator Guide: Global Applications
Food, Inc.
In Food, Inc., director Robert Kenner (Road to Memphis) lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing a secretive and highly mechanized system controlled by international corporations that routinely prioritize profit over the health and safety of consumers. Overview Campaign Details
Greensboro: Closer to the Truth Greensboro: Closer to the Truth, by Adam Zucker, uses the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission ever held in the United States—which tackled the Greensboro Massacre of 1979—as a storyline to explore how people confront the truth of their past and struggle with the possibility of hope and redemption. Overview Campaign Details
Have You Heard From Johannesburg? Have You Heard From Johannesburg? is a documentary miniseries by Connie Field that tells the story of the global movement to end apartheid in South Africa and the everyday people who helped bring one of the world’s most brutally repressive systems to its knees. Overview Campaign Details
New Muslim Cool New Muslim Cool, by Jennifer Taylor, tells the story of Hamza Pérez, a young Puerto Rican American hip hop artist who converted to Islam at age 21, pulling himself off the streets to become a community activist and rising star. Overview Campaign Details
Out in the Silence Out in the Silence, by Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer, tells the story of a rural Pennsylvania town and a handful of residents struggling for inclusion despite vehement anti-gay sentiment. Overview
Renewal Renewal, by Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller, is the first feature-length documentary to capture the vitality and diversity of America’s religious-environmental movement. Overview
Shelby Knox Redux Shelby Knox Redux, by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt, profiles a high school student who, despite her deeply conservative Southern Baptist upbringing, advocates comprehensive sex education and gay rights. Five years after her controversial activities and now living on her own, she returns to Lubbock, Texas to check in with her friends, her supportive parents and a local church that "welcomes" everyone. Overview Campaign Details
Torn From Home: My Life as a Refugee Torn From Home: My Life as a Refugee is an innovative traveling museum exhibit, developed by Lied Discovery Children’s Museum, that takes audiences on a hands-on journey into the extraordinary lives of children who are forced to flee their homes and seek safety in a new land. Overview Campaign Details
Trouble the Water
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's Trouble the Water tells the true story of one young couple’s triumphant journey to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina. Living on the margins, Kim and Scott Roberts survive not only broken levees, misguided soldiers, and bungling bureaucrats, but a social system that has failed them. Overview
The Visitor The Visitor, an acclaimed feature film by Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent), tells the story of a disillusioned college professor and a young immigrant couple whose lives are forever changed by a chance encounter. Overview Discussion Guide
"The people at Active Voice are social media multihyphenates: intellectually challenging, committed, creative, strategic, and effective. They are valued collaborators in our efforts to help make the world a better place, one story at a time."
John Schreiber Executive Vice President, Social Action & Advocacy, Participant Media
A Class Apart
About the Campaign:
The landmark legal case Hernandez v. Texas raises important questions about inclusion, American identity and equality before the law that are as resonant today as ever. Partnering with a range of organizations, Active Voice is raising awareness of an overlooked chapter in the history of America’s fastest growing ethnic group.
What's Happening:
Impromptu “A Class Apart, A Night Together” screenings and watch parties on campuses and in communities nationwide, supported by downloadable resource guides
Intergenerational events honoring World War II veterans and their struggles for equality and respect
Sneak preview events that deepen relationships between Latino leaders, public television stations, elected officials and film festivals
Partners (partial list):
American Constitution Society
American Experience
American GI Forum
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
The League of United Latin American Citizens
Camino Bluff Productions (client)
Meadows Foundation (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "…One of the most successful programs the Center for Mexican American Studies & Research has presented in the past two years."
-Sister Maria Eva Flores
Director, Center for Mexican American Studies & Research, Our Lady of the Lake University
Campaign Timeline: 2008 – present
Photo Credits: Lee (Russell) Photograph Collection: Spanish Speaking People of Texas
Center for American History UT-Austin; San Antonio Light Collection, UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures, Courtesy of the Hearst Corporation; John J Herrera Collection, Houston Public Library
The Calling
About the Campaign: Currently in development, The Calling engagement project will use national networks, screenings, educational materials and a broad online platform to help people push past the stereotypes and cartoonish images of religion today. The complex and highly accessible characters we meet in The Calling will spark connections among people of many faiths—ideally enabling community building and social action.
What's Happening:
Interactive websites, developed by nonprofit communications leader See3 Communications, where viewers will participate in digital storytelling and contests like "What’s Your Calling?"
Community-based screenings and other activities across the country for churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, faith-based community groups, public television stations and afterschool programs that foster long-term collaboration
Resources for innovative seminaries
Partners (partial list):
Care2
Interfaith Youth Core
See3 Communications
Kindling Group (client)
Campaign Timeline: 2007 – present
For more information about this project, click here.
Photo Credit: Kindling Group
Child Brides: Stolen Lives
About the Campaign:
Working closely with NOW on PBS, Active Voice has been building partnerships with international organizations working in Kenya, Guatemala, India, Mexico and Ethiopia that want to incorporate the documentary into their on-the-ground work with communities and into orientation materials for volunteers working abroad.
What's Happening:
Global conversations about child marriage, including among populations as remote as Masaai communities in Kenya, that address the concerns of young girls in new and exciting ways
International aid workers and educators using the film and facilitators' guide to address the issue of early marriage in the communities they serve
A smartphone application that will enable volunteers to help translate the film into multiple languages on the go, extending the accessibility of the film abroad
Partners (partial list):
BEADS for Education
The Extraordinaries
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
The Population Council
NOW on PBS (client)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "…I really like the cross-cultural perspective on the issue of child marriage… There were striking scenes in every country...all incredibly moving."
-Carrie Berg
Youth and Livelihoods Program Manager, IRC
Campaign Timeline: 2008 – present
Food, Inc.
About the Campaign: With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Participant Media and Active Voice are running the Ingredients for Change Campaign, a year-long initiative that includes a series of 30 Food, Inc. community engagement screenings and discussions. These events are being held in underserved communities across the country that are disproportionately affected by a lack of access to affordable healthy food and high rates of obesity and other diet-related health problems.
What's Happening:
30 community-engagement screenings nationwide in under-resourced areas, organized in conjunction with local advocacy organizations and accompanied by panel discussions and facilitated community dialogues.
Action and resource guides in English and Spanish to help organizations prompt fruitful conversations and mobilize community members.
An Ingredients for Change peer-learning network to share best practices and sustain long-term advocacy efforts at local and state levels, captured in a quarterly newsletter, blog and user-generated content.
Partners (partial list):
New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee (Louisiana)
Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (Fresno, CA)
Hartford Food System (Connecticut)
Rio Arriba Community Health Council (New Mexico)
Healthy Youth Partnership (St. Louis, MO)
Participant Media (film producer)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "The event overall proved to be very successful in getting residents engaged and resulted in identifying new partners who are excited to collaborate with CCROPP on a number of food issues. … We really appreciate the opportunity to work with Active Voice and look forward to becoming more involved in the Ingredients for Change national campaign."
-Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program
Campaign Timeline: June 2009 – May 2010
Greensboro: Closer to the Truth
About the Campaign:
Many communities have histories of social and racial injustice that have never been resolved; left alone, these tensions fester and grow. Using the documentary as an icebreaker, Active Voice’s Closer to the Truth Project will work with grassroots organizations across America to encourage deep and sustainable dialogue that promotes community healing.
What's Happening:
Partnerships with a host of grassroots organizations from Oakland, CA to Charlottesville, VA to tackle concerns like racial reconciliation, tribal counter-narratives and economic justice
Technical support for community-building forums, event-planning assistance and strategic framing consultations
An interactive website that encourages partners across the country to learn from each other and connect with resources such as the Transitions Framework and transitional justice experts
Partners (partial list):
International Center for Transitional Justice
Andrus Family Fund (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "Zucker's documentary holds out for the possibility of community healing and long-term solutions to racial hatred."
-Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
Campaign Timeline: 2009 – 2010
Have You Heard From Johannesburg?
About the Campaign: Active Voice is helping to design a multi-country Have You Heard media and community engagement campaign to coincide with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 20th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela. The goal is to use the decades-long anti-apartheid struggle and its unprecedented victory to inspire veteran and emerging “global citizens” around the world.
What's Happening:
Sneak preview screenings in key markets around the globe
International broadcasts (in conjunction with Steps International) and watch parties in early 2010
A digital and community-based campaign to promote global dialogue about human rights and the role of international citizen movements
Training tools, available on the web and on DVD, focused on activism in sports, corporate responsibility and youth leadership
Partners (partial list):
Clarity Films
Steps International
Ford Foundation (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "The capacity of this [series] to bring people together across generations and borders is truly powerful—to galvanize us and let us know we have the ability in our hands to fix what is broken, both personally and politically."
-Donna Katzin
Executive Director, Shared Interest
Campaign Timeline: 2009 – 2010
New Muslim Cool
About the Campaign: Supported by national and grassroots partners from across sectors and faiths, Active Voice is spearheading a community engagement campaign designed to spark critical conversations among diverse groups around America, especially youth and interfaith groups.
What's Happening:
Sneak preview screenings and watch parties around the country
Interfaith dialogue hosted by youth- and action-oriented groups
Crossover conversations among people of different faiths, races, classes and cultures
Vibrant social networking via YouTube, Ning and Facebook to promote the film, events and critical online discussion
Partners (partial list):
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
The Inner-City Muslim Action Network
Interfaith Youth Core
P.O.V.
Specific Pictures
Voto Latino
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "While the film transcends race, ethnicity, class and religion, the setting, scenes and scope all reaffirm the universality of one humanity. New Muslim Cool, like hip-hop culture, is all about irrepressible social transformation and empowerment."
-Dr. Ben Chavis
President and CEO, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
Campaign Timeline: Spring 2006 – present
Out in the Silence
About the Campaign:
Active Voice helped filmmakers Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer prepare for the community launch of their film by providing strategic guidance and partnership development aimed at helping enhance LGBT inclusion in rural areas and underserved communities.
Campaign Activities:
Community screenings in small towns and rural areas geared toward giving voice to LGBT residents and sparking the involvement of new allies.
Youth-led peer-to-peer screenings at high schools and colleges around the country, including a series of events in conjunction with GLSEN’s National Day of Silence.
Use of the film as a resource by local and national organizations, educators and attorneys to spark dialogue and coalition-building around LGBT inclusion.
Partners (partial list):
Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Equality Federation
Rural Organizing Project
James H. Bryson Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation (funder)
The award-winning Out in the Silence continues to be a much sought-after resource with an active engagement campaign; for more information, please visit www.outinthesilence.com.
Campaign Timeline: 2009 – present
Renewal
About the Campaign:
In rural communities, suburbs and cities, people of faith are rolling up their sleeves to save the environment. Offering a mix of practical information and personal stories, the Renewal Campaign is helping individuals and communities reexamine what it means to be human and how we live on this planet.
What's Happening:
Web-based networking among a wide range of faith-based organizations, secular environmental groups, land trusts and congregations (mosques, churches, synagogues, land-based religious settings, temples and more)
Partnerships with and resources for organizations ranging from the National Council of Churches to the Humane Society
Incorporation of the film to environmental schools and seminaries of diverse faith traditions
Partners (partial list):
Auburn Media
Interfaith Power and Light
Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock (funder)
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "The religious-environmental movement is potentially key to dealing with the greatest problems humans have ever faced, and it has never been captured with more breadth and force than in Renewal."
-Bill McKibben
environmentalist and author of The End of Nature
Campaign Timeline: 2007 – present
Shelby Knox Redux
About the Campaign:
Initiated in response to several recent murders of LGBT youth, Active Voice’s Welcoming Conversations project will share the Knox family’s story with congregations across California as a catalyst to help parents, teens and communities of faith to have more open dialogue around sexuality, inclusion and affirmation.
What's Happening:
Guided intergenerational dialogue between parents and teens about sexuality and sexual orientation, especially in families of faith
Support for congregations that are having conversations about being more welcoming to LGBT community members
Community events that bring together churches, grassroots organizations and young people to foster tolerance and respect for LGBT people
Partners (partial list):
California Council of Churches
California Faith for Equality
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry
Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
Ford Foundation (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "I found [the film] honest, inspiring and motivating. It made me think 'What have I done lately?'"
-Joseph Tolton
Founder and Pastor of Rehoboth Temple Christ Conscious Church, New York, NY
Campaign Timeline: 2008 – present
Torn From Home: My Life as a Refugee
About the Campaign:
Active Voice’s first museum project is helping families learn about the experiences and needs of refugees, both in their own communities and around the world. Throughout the project’s four-year national tour, Active Voice will cultivate partnerships with children’s museums and local organizations to deepen the exhibit’s impact and put this global issue in a local context.
What's Happening:
Cross-cultural, newsworthy museum events involving youth groups, elected officials and community leaders
Tie-in film screenings that reveal why people leave their homes and shed light on the real-life experiences of refugees in America today
Opportunities for families to support local refugees through donations, volunteering and networking
Partners (partial list):
Lied Discovery Children’s Museum
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Unbound Philanthropy (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "I will never forget this experience at the Discovery Center. Hopefully, others who see this exhibit will begin to open their own eyes and give a little back to some people who really need our help."
-Student visitor
Don Harrington Discovery Center, Amarillo, TX (first site on the national tour)
Campaign Timeline: 2008 – 2013
Trouble the Water
About the Campaign:
In partnership with PolicyLink—a leading national research and action institute dedicated to advancing economic and social equity—Active Voice is leveraging Trouble the Water to build a broader base of support for policy reform around equitable development in the Gulf Coast.
What's Happening:
Strategic, policy-focused screenings in the Gulf Coast and in communities where those displaced by Hurricane Katrina have resettled to strengthen support for equitable development
Youth spoken word workshops and performances inspired by the film
Katrina evacuees speaking out about their experiences and the region’s ongoing struggles
Partners (partial list):
Elsewhere Films
PolicyLink
Surdna Foundation (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "Trouble the Water serves as an immediate call to action. It requires you to question what you have been told, to seek real truths, and to engage others to fight social indifference and neglect."
-Nicole Lee
Executive Director, TransAfrica Forum
Campaign Timeline: 2008 – present
The Visitor
About the Campaign:
Throughout the theatrical, post-theatrical and DVD distribution, Active Voice has been organizing special screenings and community discussions to shine light on local detention centers and help audiences connect to on-the-ground advocates.
What's Happening:
Heightened awareness about immigrant detention issues among new, "crossover" audiences in more than 30 communities to date
New "visitors" signing up to meet and support detainees
Increased visibility for national and local NGOs and community-based organizations
Legal training for pro bono attorneys to defend detainees in bond hearings
Partners (partial list):
Detention Watch Network
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement
O’Melveny & Meyers
Participant Media (client)
Open Society Institute (funder)
Who's Talking About the Campaign: "…An exciting opportunity to present issues of immigration detention and enforcement to a broad, mainstream community…"
-Michelle Garnett McKenzie
Advocacy Director, Advocates for Human Rights
Campaign Timeline: 2007 – present
Photo Credit: JoJo Whildon
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