USC-MISC Newsletter: Fall 2015
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PARTICIPATE: October 30, 2015
USC Media Institute for Social Change &
the USC Gould Saks Institute present:
Odyssey of the Mind - A Mental Health Awareness Festival.
Friday Oct. 30th 3-8:30pm
FILMING NOW: Fall 2015
MISC has partnered with Music for Relief to complete a documentary series on the Sunset Marquis Summer Concerts from May through October 2015. The Sunset Marquis hotel has been the rock mecca for the last 60 years, and each summer they hold a concert to mainstage musicians at the start of their careers. MISC has been following each artist as they take the stage and perform their original work. Music for Relief is a non profit organization dedicated to providing aid to natural disaster survivors and protecting the environment.
The Pamoja Project: The team has returned from a three week shoot in Tanzania documenting 3 women working to create change in the areas of education, business and entrepreneurship. Producer/Director Audrey Emerson is working closely with MISC, Devlo Media, and composer Emmett Cooke as they delve headfirst into post production. View a short teaser here
#FIGHTFAKE: Over the summer MISC produced a PSA for the USC Licensing and Trademark division to remind people to purchase authentic CLPA branded apparel. The PSA is live online and will play at all home games for USC sporting events.
One way to ensure you're making a responsible purchase is to look for an authentic CLPA hangtag/hologram (Example Below)
CROSSING DESERT AND SEA: Director Grazyna Kolondra traveled to Jordan this summer to document the use of art to empower Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Kolondra's research indicates that inspiring children to express themselves through art sheds light on the refugee experience and raises awareness of this issue affecting displaced people.
Youth at Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan share artwork with Director Grazyna Kolondra and team. See more of the children's work here.
MISSING: A short film directed by Blerim Gjoci, slated to begin shooting in December tells the story of a woman who fights to keep her missing husband "alive" even if it means losing everything in the present, including her son. This film intends to create awareness around the issue of the 90,000 people who are missing in the US at any given time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
USC MISC has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which will fund a two year partnership with the Keck School of Medicine on the subject of Big Data. Digital data is being collected all over the world very quickly and has increased in quantity faster than anyone expected. This data is not currently being shared among scientists in any organized way, and there is no central place where it is being housed. The organization and sharing of this data is crucial to the ongoing work of biomedical research and in many ways the future of medicine depends on it. MISC will be working in collaboration with researchers at the Keck School to document their work and we will produce films intended to convey the magnitude of this issue.
USC undergraduate students have the opportunity to pursue the minor in media and social change offered by the School of Cinematic Arts. We hope the minor will attract students from all fields of study who want to learn how they can influence the future by integrating social issues into their work.
We're upgrading our youtube channel into a pro-social video hub. If you've created a video and would like us to feature it, email a link and description to info@uscmisc.org for consideration.
PREMIERING
PAYA: The Water Story of the Paiute, a Her Pictures Production in Association with USC Media Institute for Social Change and Owens Valley Indian Water Commission premieres November 12 at the Red Nation Film Festival. PAYA documents the history of Paiute Native Americans who constructed and managed 60-miles of intricate irrigation systems in Owens Valley for millennia before LA secured its largest source of water through modern engineering. After the Indian War of 1863, surviving Paiute returned to the Valley from the Eastern Sierra and White Mountains to find their ancient waterworks taken over by white settlers. Today, 150-years later, the Paiute continue the fight to save their waterworks, which are remnant in the Owens Valley landscape. PAYA (“water” in Paiute) stands to recover Paiute water culture and history through this documentary film.
IN DEVELOPMENT
THE INTERPRETER: In a recent trip to Washington D.C. the filmmakers began development interviews and secured the life rights to the stories of soldier, Matt Zeller and his Afghan interpreter, Janis Shinwari and are now in development on the feature film. The short proof of concept film has raised half its financing and is currently seeking a matching funder.
L to R: Jenna Cavelle, writer/producer, Matt Zeller, US Army veteran/co-founder of No One Left Behind, Janis Shinwari, Afghan interpreter/co-founder of No One Left Behind, Robert Ham, US. Army veteran/director.
IN THE NEWS
*DEADLINE: Feds Officially Probe Hollywood's Lack of Female Directors
*The Reel Conversation talks to The Pamoja Project Director Audrey Emerson
*Mad Men Writers Talk Hollywood Sexism
*"The Interpreter" Garners Minimum to Begin Production
*Staff Sgt. Takes to Silver Screen to Save his Interpreter
*DAILY TROJAN: Filming Complete for the Pamoja Project
*NPR: American Dad Fights for the Interpreter Who Aided Fallen Son
DONATE
To support a future of social change media
makers, donations can be made by choosing
"Customize Your Gift" and selecting
Media Institute for Social Change (MISC)
Donate here
www.USCMISC.org
USC Media Institute for Social Change is a nonprofit organization of industry professionals who use cinema to create an awareness of social issues and inspire positive actions throughout the world. With a mission to support emerging media makers who weave pro-social messaging into their stories, USC-MISC is changing the world one film at a time.
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