Tools for Productive Partnerships Among Creatives, Changemakers, and Funders

What Happens When Things Change?

Most storytelling is fluid and dynamic. Social-change organizations are focused on change — which means that their programs are designed to respond to external shifts. Can straight talk about mission, methodology, money, and more help prepare for changes that inevitably occur in the course of a creative collaboration? Can opportunities emerge from left field, new people, and the unpredictable swings of real life?

Feel free to use the headers as guides, customize the sub-questions, or address as much of this inquiry as you like. Whatever works for you.

Characters and Plot see prompts +

What possible changes in the subjects’ lives might the storyteller anticipate? (For example, if the “protagonist” drops out or takes a radical turn?)How might those changes affect the characters, story, schedule and budget?What if a protagonist’s status changes in the eyes of their community?What are your obligations to your subjects if you find an alternative storyline?What are your responsibilities if your protagonist’s situation gets dangerous?What if the change-maker or funder doesn’t like the final outcome of the story or the story isn’t fully resolved or doesn’t result in a “happy ending?”What if the change-maker’s leadership feels that the story doesn’t meet their standards or expectations?

The Production Process see prompts +

The Budget see prompts +

Opportunities see prompts +

EQUITY, VOICE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Who gets to make creative work, and how can they make a living? Those twin questions are central to issues of social equity and social change. It costs money to make a film or other creative project. Sometimes lots of money. Rarely can a creative afford to make their content available to change-makers for free; those who can may have received a special grant to do so, or they have other revenue streams to subsidize distribution to change-agents. But what about those who can’t afford to work for minimal compensation, or can’t take a huge financial risk, or can’t turn to their own contact list for donations, or who lack the professional networks?

Such creatives need to make money from their work, and that means revenue. In the case of film, a distributor’s goal is typically to maximize revenue for themselves and for the filmmaker; that’s essential for them to have a financially sustainable career. This puts them at odds with the needs of many change-makers and funders, who, understandably, want access to free or cheap media to support their work. One filmmaker says that “filmmakers are often caught in a no-win situation of having to decide between their own financial self-interest and their desire for their work to serve as a catalyst for change.” Many filmmakers and other creatives need revenue not just for production but also from distribution; that’s often the only way for them to keep producing good work. This argues for funders to support screenings and distribution.

Then there’s the question of who can afford not just to have a creative career, but to make creative work at all. Unless we fix the business model used in social-change efforts — in which the creative contributions come mostly from people who have savings, partners, “real” jobs, or a confidence-building track record — we will be perpetuating the inequity that we’re striving to change. Only by supporting creatives who come from vulnerable communities and wide-ranging perspectives will we ever get a full picture of the problems we face today and the steps we can take to solve them.

Photo credit: David Tong