Jeanette Millo is a Producer with 20 years of experience, born and raised in Germany, currently teaching Film Finance at USC. Her students have inspired her to write her new book, Entertainment Finance Today. We talk about what it was like to break into Hollywood as a Native German, the importance of weighing the story you want to tell against what it can make, and how to tell impactful stories.

Cinema of Change

Jeanette Milio: Financing your Film

Columbia Graduate Daniel Ragussis directed Imperium (2016), staring Daniel Radcliffe, which centers around an FBI agent who infiltrates a white supremacist group to uncover a domestic terror plot. Though initially Radcliffe's character, Nate Foster, suspects the obvious skinheads, the film offers views of other white supremacists groups and tries to give the viewer a better understanding of them. By drawing from Michael German's real life FBI cases, the portrayals of the plain neighbor next door having unsuspecting views are true to life. On this episode of the podcast Ragussis talks about what drove him to create the film. From initial research for his short film Haber (2008), Ragussis saw that there was an unacknowledged group of White Nationalists posing a domestic threat. He talks about how he humanized the characters in the film by understanding their ideology and displaying qualities beyond just their views. This week we're also joined by special guest (TM), a former member of the white supremacist movement from Germany who advises on how best to reform and save those on the path to radicalization. TM discusses his own experiences and how they relate to what's portrait in the film.

Daniel Ragussis on Ideology and Radicalization

Chance Morrison has worked at HBO for 11 years, holding various positions and currently working in the department for Corporate Social Responsibility. Chance is a passionate advocate for impactful cinema, serving on the board of Bowery Residents Committee as Junior Board Chairwoman, creating the Ask Chance foundation to provide young women exposure to industry professionals, and earning herself the prestigious Time Warner Richard D. Parsons Award for Community Service in 2017. She works on impact campaigns for all HBO content, ranging from Sesame Street to Euphoria.

HBO's Chance Morrison on Storytelling and Corporate Social Responsibility

This week on the Cinema of Change podcast we’re talking with writer and show-runner Stacy Traub. Stacy Traub has worked as a writer and show-runner on shows like, Glee, Trophy Wife, The Real O'Neals, and Black-ish.

Stacy Traub: The Impact When Writing a Modern Sitcom

Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. This episode is an interview with entertainment attorney Mark Litwak called, "Filmmaking Pitfalls in Deal-Making and Distribution." Mark Litwak is a veteran entertainment attorney. As a Producer’s Representative, he assists filmmakers in arranging financing, marketing and distribution of their films. Litwak has packaged movie projects and served as executive producer on such feature films as “The Proposal,” “Out Of Line,” “Pressure,” and “Diamond Dog.” He has provided legal services or worked as a producer rep on more than 200 feature films. Litwak is also the author of six books: Reel Power, The Struggle for Influence and Success in the New Hollywood(William Morrow, 1986), Courtroom Crusaders (William Morrow, 1989), Dealmaking in the Film & Television Industry (Silman-James Press, 1994) (winner of the 1996 Kraszna-Krausz award for best book in the world on the film business), Contracts for the Film & Television Industry (Silman-James Press, 3rd Ed. 2012), Litwak's Multimedia Producer's Handbook (Silman-James Press, 1998), and Risky Business: Financing and Distributing Independent Film (Silman-James Press, 2004). He is an adjunct professor at the U.S.C. Gould School of Law where he teaches entertainment law. Litwak has a B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queens College of the City University of New York. He received his J.D. degree from the University of San Diego in 1977. We hope you find this conversation interesting and insightful. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. Then turn it into cinema.

Mark Litwak: Filmmaking Pitfalls in Deal-Making and Distribution

Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer was born in 1974 in Austin, Texas. He is a two-time Oscar-nominated American film director based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Oppenheimer has a Bachelor of Arts-degree summa cum laude in filmmaking from Harvard University and a PhD from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts in London. Oppenheimer spent 12 years in Indonesia and returned with two internationally praised documentaries, The Act of Killing (2012) & The Look of Silence (2014), both challenged the documentary film form and shed new light on the minds behind The Indonesian Genocide of 1965-1966. 01:30 How films can change both the world and the people in and behind them. 02:20 - The true impact of films 07:05 The psychology of perpetrators 10:40 What screenwriters and narrative filmmakers can learn about real villains 12:20 Advice to narrative filmmakers to have their films make more impact 15:15 Protecting the artist from his/her impact 19:00 On film criticism and understanding how a film works on an audience 20:35 On motivation, risk-taking and finding your path We hope you find the conversation interesting and evocative. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Be the change that you want to see in the world. Then, turn it into cinema.

Joshua Oppenheimer: Why Filmmakers Shouldn't Chase Impact

Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Glenn Sparks wrote one of the most used textbooks for media studies titled: Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview. Over the past 30 years, Glenn has become one of the foremost experts in how media effects individuals and society. In his career in academia, his lectures took him around the world from Canada to Ethiopia. We are pleased to have him join us at Cinema of Change. We hope you find the conversation interesting and evocative. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Be the change that you want to see in the world. Then, turn it into cinema.

Glenn Sparks: Is Media Impact Real?

 Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Professor Paige teaches at the UC Berkeley French Department and has published a number of papers and books focusing mostly on seventeenth and eighteenth-century French literature and culture. What makes him so unique to us is that he is on of the foremost experts on the French New Wave - and the magazine that came with it, the “Cahiers du Cinema.” This period in 1960s French Cinema sparked a revolution in filmmaking worldwide. How could a few french intellectuals change the face of cinema? We’re about to find out. 00:25 - Intro: The French New Wave (FNW) 01:23 - How does a film movement form and become successful? 05:50 - Did the "Cahier du Cinema" magazine dictate the course of the French New Wave? 10:12 - How did the FNW filmmakers transition from critic to creator? 13:45 - How does a journalistic background influence a filmmaker? 19:46 - When do film revolutions happen - and how can we forecast them? 24:35 - Is a cultural shift usually preceded by a generational shift? 27:39 - What's the next revolution that makes us rethink cinema? 35:12 - Can films properly portray the existential questions of life? We hope you find this conversation interesting and evocative. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. Then turn it into cinema.

Nicholas Paige: The French New Wave and a Look to the Future

 Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Lee Mun Wah is an internationally renowned Chinese American documentary filmmaker, author, poet, Asian folkteller, educator, community therapist and master diversity trainer. For more than 25 years he was a resource specialist and counselor in the San Francisco Unified School District. He has produced several documentaries discussing the impact of race relations in America. His list of works includes Last Chance for Eden which isa three part documentary about racism and sexismas well as his most famous film The Color of Fear. Lee Mun Wah is now the Executive Director of Stirfry Seminars & Consulting, a diversity training company that provides educational tools and workshops on issues pertaining to cross-cultural communication and awareness, mindful facilitation, and conflict mediation techniques. 00:28 - Intro: Cinema and Race 01:27 - Why did you use a film for communicating race relations? 05:20 - Experiencing other racial viewpoints through film 09:45 - Can identifying with a character's journey change our own world? 14:07 - How white privilege can become accessible through a film 20:11 - Using films as educational tools 25:54 - The community benefit of documentaries 28:37 - How were people and institutions changed by your films? 33:58 - Can fictional films be as impactful as documentaries? 35:54 - Films can model our behavior 37:03 - Advice for other impact-oriented filmmakers 40:24 - Outro: The camera as a tool to reach deeper truths in a subject We hope you find this conversation interesting and insightful. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. Then turn it into cinema.

Lee Mun Wah: How Cinema Challenges our Perspective on Race

Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Linda Williams is a professor in the Film and Rhetoric departments at UC Berkeley. She teaches courses on pornography, melodrama, and “body genres.” In 1989 she published a study of pornographic film entitled Hard Core: Power, Pleasure and the Frenzy of the Visible (second edition 1999). More recently she published Screening Sex (Duke, 2008), a history of the revelation and concealment of sex at the movies. In 2001 Williams published Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White, from Uncle Tom to O.J. Simpson (2001, Princeton)–an analysis of racial melodrama spanning the 19th and 20th centuries of American culture. 00:27 - Intro: Linda Williams 01:04 - How does the depiction of female characters influence women? 02:45 - How can filmmakers avoid including their unconscious bias in their films? 06:14 - The power play between Hollywood and the serial format 10:05 - Can films go beyond entertainment? Do they have a utility in deconstructing ideology? 15:07 - How has "The Wire" impacted you and its audience at large? 18:30 - How does the viewer's position in society influence a film experience? 22:20 - What's the relationship between critics, theorists and filmmakers? 23:49 - Is Pornography an instructional tool for our personal sex lives? 26:02 - Relationships in film - do they influence our own romances? 27:44 - What is the role of Film Theory in pushing media? 28:40 - Outro: A collaboration between scholars and practitioners? We hope you find this conversation interesting and insightful. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. Then turn it into cinema.

Linda Williams: What Really Are Filmmakers Up To?

  Cinema of Change is a magazine and community, and you can join the conversation at cinemaofchange.com. We are dedicated to exploring the power of cinema and its ability to create change in the world. Join us for Mobilizing People Around Film with our guest Chris Temple. From living in a Syrian refugee camp to surviving on a dollar a day as a radish farmer in Guatemala, Chris and his co-founder Zach are pioneering a new style of documentary filmmaking. The vision for their non-profit “Living on One” is to use immersive storytelling to raise awareness and inspire action around pressing global issues. Having worked for three different micro-finance organizations, Chris brings a unique perspective to the films he produces. His first film “Living on One Dollar,” was #1 on iTunes for documentaries and has been called "a must watch film" by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. His current film “Salam Neighbor” shines light on displaced refugees. Introduction - How did you get to use film as a tool? --- 01:13 I'm just one person. I can't make a difference, right? --- 03:37 How will I know where to direct my energies to create change? --- 08:21 How about dead ends? Share what you learned to avoid. --- 10:55 How can you make your expert development insight accessible? --- 13:24 Balancing entertainment and understanding in a film. --- 17:31 Principles on making an audience care. --- 19:22 Should we consider the audience while making the film? --- 20:58 Why film, and not another medium? --- 24:28 How do you know that you actually made an impact? --- 26:28 What if you just engage an audience without a film? --- 28:44 Is there a danger in making impactful films? --- 31:51 Did people call the film propaganda? --- 34:46 What insights did you gain during post production? --- 37:57 We hope you find this conversation interesting and evocative. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode and visit the magazine at cinemaofchange.com.   Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. Then turn it into cinema.

Chris Temple: Mobilizing People Around Film

Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Join us for Empowering Social Storytellers with our guest Courtney Spence. Courtney Spence is an enrepreneur and storyteller. She founded Students of the World as an undergraduate at Duke University, and for the last 15 years has worked to support storytellers looking to make an impact in the world. In this episode we ask Courtney, what can you do starting out to create Cinema of Change? How can you best build community and allies around your projects? And how do you run a media company that fuels social change? In this episode: 00:27 – Intro: Social Storytellers 01:39 – What to do with your potential? 06:44 – Why create an organization that empowers filmmakers? 08:52 – Don’t wait until you’re powerful later – do it now 10:21 – How to deal with cynics and criticism 13:57 – How to make your nonprofit survive financially 16:37 – The Evolution of your own Impact 19:24 – How has the Impact landscape changed over the last 10 years 23:53 – How can we use Universities as breeding ground for Social Change Media? 29:39 – What makes Cinema so powerful and transformative? 31:39 – How can film help us reflect and learn? 34:58 – A decade of tips for starting your own film nonprofit 39:19 – Be financially wise with your nonprofit   41:18 – Outro We hope you find this conversation interesting and evocative. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode and visit the magazine at cinemaofchange.com. Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. And then turn it into cinema.

Courtney Spence: Empowering Social Storytellers

 Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Cinema of Change is a magazine and community that challenges the conventions of film and its ability to effect change in the world. Join us for The Psychology Behind a Cinema of Change with our guest Philip Zimbardo.   Professor Zimbardo was born in 1933 and taught Pyschology at Yale, NYU and Stanford University. In 1971, he conducted the world famous Stanford Prison Experiment where 24 students were put into a mock prisoner and guard situation for a week. The experiment escalated to such a degree that it had to be stopped, and is now a hallmark of psychological research in the effects that conformity and authority can have on people. Zimbardo went on to study the nature of evil and recently founded the Heroic Imagination project, where he studies how people can take effective action in challenging situations.   In this episode we discuss: 2:24 - Media and its influence. 7:50 - The dangers of influence and how people get corrupted. 12:10 - Bling propagandists. 23:09 - Power in systems and for filmmakers. 32:41 - Encouraging critical thinking. 39:43 - Commercial films & critical thought. 41:43 - Involving the leveling power of the audience 49:56 - The Standford Prison Experiment Movie & films that work 58:16 - Challenging audiences 1:01:16 - Presenting uncomfortable content 1:06:03 - What a Cinema of Change should be 1:14:27 - A final recommendation to filmmakers. We hope you find this conversation interesting and evocative. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode. Until next time, be the change that you want to see in the world. And then turn it into cinema.

Philip Zimbardo: The Psychology Behind a Cinema of Change

Media has always played an important role around the globe. We live in a world of influence and social change - and as filmmakers, we want to contribute to a better world. The question is: How can we make better films that accelerate progress and help people become stronger critical thinkers? How can we expose issues that are important, and publish content that challenges popular conceptions? These podcasts along with the cinema of change magazine take a multidisciplinary approach and interviews filmmakers, psychologists, researchers and academics. It analyzes success stories of films that had an impact, and portrays companies that are following this path. Cinema of Change is a platform to bring impact filmmakers together to share ideas and to challenge our assumptions through debate.

hubhopper

Cinema of Change

hubhopper