Half the Sky
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Director Maro Chermayeff on the Independent Lens Doc A Path Appears
Two years ago a team surrounding journalists Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof and producer Maro Chermayeff released a four-hour documentary and multimedia project called Half the Sky, a companion to WuDunn’s and Kristof’s book of the same name. It dealt with basic human rights issues for women, focusing on topics like women’s healthcare, domestic violence and rape, and girls’ education in countries like Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Somaliland, and Cambodia, and I wrote a piece for Filmmaker about its transmedia components and outreach efforts. Late last year WuDunn and Kristof released their follow-up book, A Path Appears, shifting their focus from women in extreme […]
by Randy Astle on Feb 2, 2015 -
Storytelling for Social Change at Facebook
Tuesday night Facebook hosted a panel discussion about social issue-oriented transmedia at their office in midtown Manhattan. The event was co-sponsored by the Tides Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit that funds philanthropic ventures, and featured Beth Janson, executive director of the Tribeca Film Institute and representing its All Access program, Didi Bethurum of the social action campaign 10×10 and the documentary Girl Rising, Michelle Byrd of Games for Change, and Libby Leffler, Facebook’s Strategic Partner Manager who interfaces with nonprofits, charities, and philanthropic causes. A lot of the work discussed by the panel comes in the wake of the Half […]
by Randy Astle on Mar 22, 2013 -
Half the Sky & Social Documentary Transmedia
One of the most intriguing things about transmedia when compared to traditional film, particularly documentary, is that through its multiple entry points and interactive experiences it has the potential to more fully engage viewers in causes. It doesn’t just inspire people to action, in other words; at its best, it gives them the tools and initial opportunities to take action then and there. Such is the case with Half the Sky, a four-hour film and transmedia property that airs in two parts tonight and tomorrow on PBS. In fact, it may be possible that Half the Sky is the most […]
by Randy Astle on Oct 1, 2012
