Mapping the Media Arts Field
Click here to ask for more information about this project:
Images
Topics:
Broadband/Internet, Community networking, Media Arts Centers, Public Infrastructure & Access, Radio, TV, Universal Access, VOIP/Telephony/Phones, Wireless Networks
Target Audience:
Asian Americans, Broad-based public audience, college students, communication practicioners, community groups, Community Video, Documentarians / Storytellers, educators, engaged artists and non-profits, festivals & events, filmmakers, government agencies, historians, Latino/a and Native American aritsts, Latino/a and Native American documentary makers, libraries, NAMAC member organizations and their stakeholders, NAMAC members and stakeholders: philanthropic community, philanthropic community, public policy makers, public television audiences, researchers, Social media technology, teachers and students, underserved communities , women
Geographic Area:
Budget
Raised to date: $90,000.00
Estimate to complete: $100,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $190,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 01/03/2011
Key Personnel
Jack Walsh
Executive Director
Jack Walsh possesses a life-long commitment to independent media and supporting the organizations that work on behalf of independent film and video makers. After completing film school at San Francisco State University, he worked for maverick independent filmmaker Peter Adair before taking the position as Executive Director of the legendary Collective for Living Cinema in New York. Returning to the Bay Area in the 90s, Jack became Series Producer of the innovative public television series Living Room Festival, worked as Station Manager of KTOP, Oakland’s government channel, and as an Executive Producer at San Francisco public television station KQED.
Prior to becoming Executive Director at the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC), Jack was the Capital Campaign Manager for the 9th Street Independent Film Center, an innovative cross-sector collaboration that enabled four nonprofit organizations to buy and renovate a building in San Francisco’s SOMA district. Since joining NAMAC, Jack has overseen three national conferences (Taking Liberties, 2005; The Frontier is Here, 2007; and CommonWealth, 2009) as well as regional convenings, leadership development, and capacity building programs. He is the principal investigator of Mapping the Field: A National Survey of Media Arts Organizations, which he launched in 2010.
An award-winning independent filmmaker and producer, Jack’s works have screened around the world at film festivals and through broadcast. His current project, Feelings Are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer is a feature length documentary about the pioneering choreographer and filmmaker.
Funders
| Name | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Nathan Cummings Foundation | $20,000.00 | 05/01/2007 | |
| The Tides Foundation | $30,000.00 | 03/30/2007 | |
| The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | $30,000.00 | 10/20/2006 | |
| National Endowment for the Arts | $10,000.00 | 06/01/2006 |
Short Synopsis
National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) requests funding to analyze the data and publish the key findings from our Mapping the Media Arts Field survey. This comprehensive national census measures the field’s economic, community, and creative indicators and will live as a searchable database on NAMAC’s website. Mapping the Field demonstrates the value of the media arts and public media fields and the important role they plan in the free flow of information in our society.
Description/Treatment
Mapping the Media Arts Field, NAMAC’s major survey of the media arts sector, officially closed on June 1, 2010. Developed with the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology at Iowa State University, NAMAC enlisted five intermediary organizations –Alliance of Artists Communities, Alliance for Community Media (ACM), Independent Media Arts Preservation (IMAP), National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), and National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) – to distributed 1170 surveys electronically. We received 431 completed surveys, a completion rate of 37% from organizations in 46 states, 7 Native Sovereign Nations, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Already, we are uncovering data that surprises and inspires us. For example:
- Annual Operating budgets in these organizations total over $228MM
- Annual they spend over $10MM on technology purchases
- They create over 285,000 programs broadcast/aired/webcast annually
- They reach audiences of over 33MM
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Other findings revealed that government support is the largest revenue stream for these organizations registering at 37% of annual revenue. This is followed by earned income at 17%; business/industry support tied with foundation support at 10% each; private individuals 9%; franchise fees 7%, interest at 2%. The remaining 8% of revenue sources include a mix of rentals, university-based programs, student fees, and other nonprofits.
The majority of respondents, 62%, operate as nonprofit organizations; 17% are government agencies; and 13% are programs within another organization. The remaining 8% of organizations include sponsored projects, incorporated, but not as a nonprofit, university/college programs and school districts.
Though most organizations provide multiple services, when asked their primarily organization description, 45% defined themselves as broadcasters/cablecasters (which also included webcasters); 10% described themselves as production facilities; 9% as media education; 6% as distributors; 6% multi-disciplinary; and 5% as membership organizations. The remaining 19% included visual arts organizations, university-based programs, preserves/archives, funders, artists’ residencies, and funders.
Generation transition is occurring within this sector’s staffs. Gen-Xers make up 39% of staffs followed by Boomers at 34%; Millennials at 23%; Founders (over 65) at 3%; and Youth (under 18) at 1%.
In addition to these broad results, we also drilled deep into the work created in and supported by these organizations. Results examine the numbers of creators working within these institutions and the size of audiences they reach from face-to-face public presentations as well as through broadcasts and the web. We have rich data on the numbers of people employed by this sector, staff salaries, and boards of directors along with demographics on sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and organization location.
Now, NAMAC is ready to embark on the analysis of this data to make it user friendly on our website as well as to report out the key findings the data reveals. We have identified the consulting firm of AdvisArts Consulting headed by Claudia Bach to analyze the data and provide the key findings from it. Working with the web-design firm Giant Rabbit, we will take this rich data set and turn it into a user-friendly tool for organizations, stakeholders, funders and the public.
Click here to ask for more information about this project: