"Technology has transformed network edges into interactive sources of content" — Brad Bernthal (Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program) at March 14 UC-Boulder panel
It was an unusually high-leveled panel at U of Colorado at Boulder last evening:
- Kevin Shand. Chair, Colorado Film Commission
- Diane Sieber, Faculty Co-Director, ATLAS Institute & Associate Professor, Herbst Humanities in Engineering
- Brad Bernthal, Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program
- Jill Pulver, USA TODAY
- Josh Weinberg, Co-Founder, First Look Student Film Festival
- Brit Withey, Program Director, Denver Film Society
- Emilio ‘Che Che’ Mata, SVP Creative Services, Starz
As Colorado Film Commission Chair Kevin Shand pointed out, “the panel truly represented a wide cross section of the industry and all brought different perspectives to the conversation. It was interesting to learn more about what is going on outside of the traditional filmmaking model and what is going on in the minds of America’s youth.”
As Adjunct Professor at the School of Law, Bernthal said that initiatives such as FYI Film Your Issue, which underscores user-generated content, “embodies one of the most important trends in technology: the power of pushing intelligence to the edges of the network.”
He elaborated: “Consider the many vectors that make something like FYI possible, which include: a move from an analog to a digital world; processing power which makes cameras and editing capability affordable and accessible; the ease of storing (recording) and moving (uploading) information. The net result of these and other innovations is that the film fan who used to be relegated the role of the passive viewer now becomes a filmmaker.
“Rather than network edges filled with passive viewers, technology has transformed network edges into interactive sources of content. FYI leverages this fundamental development and provides a platform where the images and voices of the edges are now seen and heard.”
"Our generation is still looking to be activist in a way that relates to us," says Cal Arts student at March 5 panel co-hosted by FYI and Cal Arts
A young woman stood up at the March 5 panel hosted by FYI and Cal Arts to explain that her generation is as engaged and concerned as those previously -- "but we haven't found the way to be activist that fits us," she explained, comparing her generation to the legendary marches and public protests by baby boomers during the 1960s Vietnam-war era.
Her assessment -- and confusion -- echoed sentiments we've heard repeatedly at public events elsewhere as the 2007 FYI competition unfolds.
The latest panel, screening and student Q&A was held at the Bijou Theatre on the Valencia campus of Cal Arts.
Overall, young adults appear as engaged and aware as previous generations.
While a young woman in the audience said that she didn't herself and her peers as equally engaged as those past, others were vehement that being aware and caring about pressing social issues was widespread among young adults.
There was heavy participation in the audience, as students clamored to discuss the current political landscape during the Bush era, the numerous media options available today, and the role of print within the landscape that now includes internet and other options.
The lively 45-minute Q&A followed the screening of winners of the last round of FYI Film Your Issue as well as a description of the international initiative which launched during the Sundance Film Festival, soliticing one-minute films from anyone age 16 to 25 on issues that matter to them. The panel of media experts and academics focused on this year's FYI theme, "Expressing Your Issue in the Digital Age," a broad overview of the activist landscape that now factors in filmmaking technologica advances and the World Wide Web to previous forms of activism, including marches.
The panelists, led by moderator HeathCliff Rothman, founder of FYI, included Deborah LaVine, Film Directing, Program Co-Director, School of Film and Video, Cal Arts; Travis Wilkerson, Documentary filmmaker and Cal Arts professor; Joe Werlinich, General Manager, Los Angeles regional office, USA TODAY; Barr Potter, Film producer and consultant; and Gabor Kalman, documentarian and film professor at USC and Art Center, Pasadena.
Several panelists remarked that documentary films focusing on social issues are becoming more popular and commercial, both in this country and overseas. Even feature films with a message are being produced, which is very evident in the themes of those pictures nominated this year for an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film, proving that mainstream filmmakers recognize the universal appeal of films that address major social issues. One panelist pointed out that certain production companies will only finance and produce movies that deal with such issues, indicating that Hollywood is embracing the concept that films can be both socially relevant and entertaining at the same time.
As Kalman said afterwards, continuing the discussion, "In my opinion, today's students are becoming more and more engaged in social activism, compared to students of the previous couple of decades. In the documentary production classes I teach both at USC and Art Center College of Design, the subjects students choose for their documentaries are often dealing with issues of our times both on the local and global level. At Art Center, an institution-wide initiative called Designmatter was created to explore social and humanitarian applications of design and responsible business practices. In my Non-Fiction Film and Video Workshop students make short videos for non-profit organizations dedicated to humanitarian and social issues. These works examine some of the most pressing current concerns, including educational, environmental and public health issues; from reduction of violence, programs for at risk youth, aging populations, homelessness etc. The experience of working on these films is often the first exposure to these subjects for many students."
Lastly, Kalman noted that "FYI is a terrific opportunity for a large number of students to engage in an immediate, easy access and personal way, expressing their critical concerns facing us in an empowering alternative to traditional forums. I would be happy to promote it in all my classes."
Student strongly denounces media reports of youth apathy at George Washington University panel for FYI on March 1, 2007
Opening the Q&A to the 125+ students at the FYI Film Your Issue panel at George Washington University by soliciting their feedback on their generation’s engagement or apathy, a student rose and proclaimed angrily and vehemently how much he “hates” the way the media portrays his generation as apathetic.
The common refrain of students at the campus events is resentment at being compared unfavorably to their parents, the baby boomers, in terms of engagement.
“We’re just as interested, we care just as much, we do just as much,” is the rallying cry. The message is that in today’s fractured media, the young adults see their own actions as viable as the large, massive protests that were reported a generation ago.
“We do things in smaller ways,” said one student, while another pointed out that everyone she knows “volunteers their time.”
Another student articulated a broad-based cynicism or mistrust that personal action makes much of a difference, pointing to the fact that despite the opposition to the War in Iraq, the government was still planning to send more troops.
Clay Warren, Chauncey M. Depew Professor of Communication, Communications Program, George Washington University, which co-hosted the evening, countered that he “truly hopes the prevailing opinion among youth is NOT “Our means of making change don’t make change,” as stated by the student.
The on-stage panelists were Clay Warren; Mary McClelland, Field Director, Young Voter Strategies; Mark Jenkins, contributor, NPR All Things Considered, The Washington Post; Mary Beth Marklein, Education Reporter, USA TODAY; and FYI president HeathCliff Rothman, who moderated the panel.
Mary Beth Marklein quoted from a study that indicated that voting, a form of activism, had indeed risen in the last election for young adults.
The theme of the panel was “Expressing Your Issue in the Digital Age,” a free, dynamic look at contemporary social activism in a new media landscape of the internet and technological advances which puts filmmaking easily into the hands of everyone.
After the hour-long discussion, students remained for Children of Men, donated by Universal Pictures.
FYI panel focuses on contemporary documentaries at American University
With a strong "industry" presence on the panel at American University, the focus of the discussion was the popularity of documentaries, the effectiveness and viability of various lengths for the films and what issues were being tackled (and not tackled).
The theme of the panels for FYI 2007 is "Expressing Your Issue in the Digital Age," a free, dynamic look at contemporary social activism in a new media landscape of the internet and technological advances which puts filmmaking easily into the hands of everyone.
The panelists were Charlene Gilbert, Associate Professor, School of Communications, American University; Patricia Finneran, Festival Director, Silverdocs; Carol Bidault de l'Isle, Executive Director & Founder, Washington, DC Independent Film Festival (which was opening the next day!); Stephen Nemeth, President, Rhino Films and founder, Amnesty International Films; Jan Brown, Director of Educational Resources, USA TODAY; and FYI president HeathCliff Rothman, who moderated.
This round, after showing the winners from last round, and giving each panelist an opportunity to give an opening statement about the subject, we opened the floor to the students by asking their perspective on how engaged and activist they were, and their peers, relative to the press reports about supposed apathy.
One student said that she was no less activist than legendary baby boomers, but active in a different way. Another student said there was so much media coming at her, and options, it was overwhelming.
The animated, provocative discussion ran for 75 minutes before we had to stop, in order to show our scheduled feature, Children of Men.
