Social Impact Filmmaking

Catalog description

This course is an opportunity to investigate how to create content that can inspire and compel social change. The goal is to help emerging filmmakers understand how to create stories with a social impact inspired by issues or events they are impassioned to explore - to think deeply about things that matter to them then transfer their observations into the stories they tell. We will analyze how to tell stories which tap critical issues of our time without preaching from a soap box. Our objective is to find a way to focus on these issues by creating an honest emotional hook and character development that engages the audience. We will view films and television series that achieve this goal and those that don't. Once we define the issue we wish to explore, e.g., racism, gender issues, financial inequities, the climate crisis, etc., we will research how these issues affect life in the community/country where the course is taught and identify ways in which their impact may differ from how they are experienced in our community of origin. We will also explore what constitutes Social Impact Entertainment and how to define the impact the stories we tell have on the audiences exposed to them. We will also identify action plans for audiences to take that are moved by the stories told.