What's the Economy for Anyway?
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Images
Topics
Economy: Consumption, Debt
Environment: Climate Change, Conservation, Pollution
Human Development: Labor
Project Geography
US: National
Budget
Raised to date: $48,600.00
Estimate to complete: $115,400.00
Total Estimated Budget: $164,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 11/08/2009
Status
Post Production
Media Type
Video
Project End Use
Other: Although the film is the principal media, it is but one facet of the project. Outreach is central to the project, and we will be employing a website, radio and television interviews, teaching tools, and a book. See the Outreach Plan below for more detail.
Key Personnel
David Batker
Executive Director, Earth Economics
David Batker, Narrator, is a Founder and Executive Director of Earth Economics. He completed his graduate training in Economics under Herman Daly, one of the world's foremost ecological economists. Dave worked for seven years with Greenpeace International, specializing in trade and international finance, shifting policies, and stopping damaging projects of the World Bank, IDB, ADB, ECAs, and private banks. He has been Executive Director of Earth Economics since 1998.
John de Graaf
John DeGraaf is the producer of “What’s the Economy for, Anyway?” John is a seasoned filmmaker whose work (“Affluenza”, “Buyer Be Fair: The Promise of Product Certification,” and “Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger) challenges as well as empowers viewers to think and act on social and environmental issues. John has been the recipient of more than 100 regional, national, and international filmmaking awards.
Laura Pacheco
Producer Laura Pacheco has been producing for NOVA and other PBS series for several years. She co-produced and directed the documentary, “The Motherhood Manifesto” with John de Graaf and recently co-produced the upcoming PBS special “Renewal”, about the impact of faith-based environmental movements.
Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)
Outreach Plan: The film is complete but has not yet been publicly released. We are now ready to implement our outreach plan, which can be summarized with the following ten bullet points:1. Website creation: We recently received a $10,000 in-kind grant from Rusty George Creative (http://www.rustygeorge.com) which is currently developing the film website but we require another $5,000 to complete this project. The website will include, among other features, embedded act-by-act sections where videos can be viewed as short clips with facts and current issues. The site will contain an annotated script complete with sources cited, links to relevant nonprofits, teaching tools, and other downloadable information. Website visitors will be invited to host “WTEFA parties” and have an opportunity to become more involved. December 2009.
2. Blogosphere and viral release: The film, materials, and website will be launched via 30 top blog sites and 250 next- level blogs, posting the chapters on YouTube and directing traffic to our website. Annie Leonard, creator of the extremely popular “Story of Stuff”, is advising our blog strategy and Chip Giller of Grist has expressed interest in assisting with the blog launch. Beginning December 2009.
3. Regional and national press: John de Graaf’s previous films and two earlier films produced by Earth Economics were covered by CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, BBC, NPR, The New York Times and other leading news sources. We are happy to report that there is already interest in WTEFA at The New York Times, PBS and NPR. In addition, we are set to pitch The Colbert Report where two colleagues were recently guests. We also plan to break into the regional and top press with a nationwide tour of humorous, low-budget events involving local college students, press interviews and allied organizations. Beginning January 2010.
4. Sectoral constituencies: Each section of the film (GDP, health, sick leave, vacation) has a bevy of interest groups (unions, environmentalists, the travel industry, etc.). We plan to reach out to each of these communities and find individuals who will help us distribute the film within their unique networks. We have already made connections enabling us to release the film through annual statewide union gatherings, 300 environmental groups, and will soon approach United Way and government agencies such as the State Departments of Financial Regulation to help us distribute the film.
5. Reviews from a wide variety of high-profile and common citizens: We have already secured endorsements from a number of respected leaders such as MoveOn.org co-founder Joan Blades and author/350.org founder Bill McKibben. We are confident that other leaders will endorse the film as we move forward with our distribution plans but in the meantime we are also collecting quotes from everyday common citizens. Sample quotes we’ve collected so far include the following:
“What’s the Economy For, Anyway?” asks a deep question that we should all be asking. This film provides us with insight and extensive data about how our economy got to where it is today. Why is the gap between rich and poor higher than ever? How is it that citizens in other countries have better healthcare than we do and pay less? What happened to our social safety net? Be prepared to want to watch the film a second time and take notes. You may look at our economy in a whole new way from here on. – Joan Blades, co-founder MoveOn.org and MomsRising.org
I LOVE it, and I think it works on several different levels. The main actor … is funny without being silly, the information is presented in a straightforward manner and it anticipates and responds to questions that might arise. I really love the message of “most people, most good, for the longest time.” -- Robert Ludgate; cab driver; Savannah, GA
6. Government agencies and decision makers: We have already seen that elected officials respond exceedingly well to the film at the local and state level. We have just started showing the film to select U.S. senators and representatives and plan to do more screenings on Capitol Hill.
7. Crisis Tour and Film festivals: We plan a national film tour involving the most egregious financial crisis sights in each major media market city including the AIG building near Wall Street in New York and the ex-Washington Mutual building in Seattle. We would conduct free lunchtime showings of the film for Wall Street and AIG employees as media events with associated college campus lectures. The film has already been tested on over 30 campuses throughout the US. The film has been accepted for showings at festivals in Colorado, California, Brazil and the Copenhagen Climate Convention and will be toured at other festivals as well. Beginning November 2009.
8. Marketing: One of our primary marketing venues will be through Bullfrog Films, which is the oldest and largest publisher of videos and films about the environment in the U.S.
9. Book project: We are now working with a dynamic book agent to create a 200-page book to complement the film and have already created an outline for the book, which is available upon request. We are also now exploring the possibility of creating a cartoon book intended to resonate especially well with high school and college students.
10. Curriculum development: A college-level curriculum on “What’s the Economy For, Anyway?” has already been developed and taught at the University of Washington and Evergreen State College. We now want to provide this content along with other educational materials to many more university professors. We also hope to develop short lesson plans for high school and junior high classes. We did not expect much response at the junior high level but have been stunned that even elementary school students have been riveted by and learned from the film.
Funders
| Name | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sigrid Rausing Charitable Trust | $13,000.00 | ||
| Mountaineers Foundation | $2,000.00 | ||
| Glaser Progress Foundation | $3,000.00 | ||
| Rockefeller Brothers Foundation | $7,000.00 | ||
| individual contributions | $20,600.00 | ||
| Earth Economics internal grant from contract profits | $3,000.00 |
Location
1121 Tacoma Avenue S
Tacoma, WA, 98402
Short Synopsis
“What’s the Economy For, Anyway?” (WTEFA) challenges the primary purpose of the U.S. economy presenting a compelling vision of a better economy with the objective to protect and advance the common good. Funny and compelling, this 40-minute documentary replaces single issue “silo” thinking with a powerful message to expand and unify the progressive movement.
Description/Treatment
Project description: “What’s the Economy For, Anyway?”(WTEFA) is a disarmingly humorous, tremendously informative fast-paced documentary challenging viewers to consider what the economy really ought to deliver. It challenges the current goals and measures of the U.S. economy and presents a compelling vision of “the greatest good, for the greatest number over the longest run.” Created by award-winning filmmaker John de Graaf and hosted by celebrated economist David Batker, the film combines humor and persuasive statistics to explain how current U.S. policies have left Americans less happy, more economically vulnerable, and lagging behind workers in many other nations on almost every indicator of health and well-being.
Using motion footage, archival film, animation and sophisticated graphics, WTEFA is structured in 13 chapters covering topics like the Gross Domestic Product,health, happiness, security, environment, work/time, social justice and a dose of US economic history. This format allows for easy viewing in segments or as a whole. The film critiques current U.S. policy but also offers pragmatic suggestions of changes that would create a better economy within a framework that unites people across sectors. Specifically, the film seeks to raise awareness and spark action across the nation about the importance of worker’s rights including paid sick time, paid vacation, the right to organize, paid maternity leave and other progressive policies which would benefit workers at all echelons of society. WTEFA is not an “environmental” or “health care” or “financial crisis” documentary but instead transcends traditional boundaries. We are seeking funding to pay forstaff time, website creation, press work and outreach to catapult WTEFA into a viral documentary to help unite the progressive movement for systemic change.
In conclusion: We feel that the timing for the release of this film could not be better. As a result of the recent economic downturn, many Americans are frustrated, scared and openly questioning how best to reform the U.S. economic system. We believe WTEFA offers a compelling vision of what our nation could look like if we chose again to establish public policies which support the common good. The principle players behind this film have the talent, skills and enthusiasm to attract significant attention for the project if they are able to find the funding necessary to underwrite their ambitious but pragmatic outreach strategy. We sincerely hope we can count on your support.
Click here to ask for more information about this project: