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Members on Outreach 2: Raindancer Media

Published on August 20, 2001

Raindancer Media

by Katherine Knight

Raindancer Media is a non-profit corporation dedicated to helping grassroots environmental and social justice groups with media campaigns. All of our work is outreach, but each of our projects is unique.

We generate each project based on a specific need: Is there a food safety issue that the public needs to know? Is there a group struggling for civil rights? A neighborhood wetlands issue? And each documentary has a target audience. The trick is to touch hearts, to open minds and create dialogue.

Our Films

We All Live Downstream, Knowing Our Coastal Redwoods, Food for Thought, Beneath the Surface, Our Land Our Future, Nuestra Tierra Nuestra Futuro

Outreach Examples

We produced FOOD FOR THOUGHT in 1999 after learning that nearly 65 percent of the food on supermarket shelves is genetically engineered, but nobody seemed to know this. We completed the 30-minute documentary in three weeks, with no budget. The video has been shown in 18 countries and on PBS and network affiliates, and is being distributed by numerous groups.

In 1992, we were on a beautiful island in Panama that lies within a national park. Two magnificent red macaws flew overhead, and the local children started throwing rocks at them. These children had no idea the birds are an endangered species. So we produced a 10-minute video about rainforest ecology and biodiversity in Spanish (this was a challenge; the director spoke only English) and convinced the Sony corporation to donate a 12-volt tv/vcr. We presented the documentary and the tv to the Panamanian park service. They drove to all the schools, hooked the tv to the car battery, and showed the childen the video. The kids loved it, and it is credited with starting Panama's environmental education program. For us, the best part was, when we returned to the island, the children pointed to the sky and said "Look, OUR macaws."

Goals

We learned that there are many groups with vital needs--food, shelter, education, land sovereignty--whose voices have never been heard; and that, when we give these groups voices, we can shake the world.

Tips and Tricks

Let your sources talk; don't exert too much control over interviews.

Approach an issue with a commitment of the heart.

Good camera work and editing are a prerequisite for a successful documentary.

Digital video allows us to provide broadcast-quality works without exorbitantly priced equipment. The visual medium combined with truth is the most powerful tool we have.

Funding/Resources

We work on a grassroots level, frequently without a budget. At some level, however, this gives us the freedom to respond with our creativity, rather than become bogged down with funding issues. The objective is to create a powerful tool that is responsive to an imminent need.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to orchestrate a campaign. People care, and,in our case, local groups are always helpful. The Patagonia stores offered us free space and use of equipment and sometimes helps us with publicity. Our local natural foods market always donates food for events. Local business people donate merchandise so we can hold raffles. Musicians donate their magic. Thus, we can offer attendees free attendence to an event with music and food.

Share resources. When we do receive a small stipend, we share with our sources and pay our people as much as we pay ourselves.

We are a non-profit corporation. Our friends make small donations, we hold fund-raising events, ask and accept help. People pay us in rice and beans. Funding is always a big issue. I always tell people to be creative in fundraising - there is no one way to make a video. Not having money is always a drag, especially when we have to scramble for tapes, duplication, and graphics. Of course we should be paid for our creativity. However, there's a difference between being paid and being bought. In too many media campaigns and "non-profit" endeavors, the money leads the project. Then, creative freedom is lost.

What Worked

We held a genetic engineering forum in our home town (Santa Cruz, CA). We showed the documentary, after which a panel of experts (the people in the video) answered questions. This format is wonderful; we use it in all our campaigns (watersheds and water issues, redwoods, sea otters, indigenous land rights): the documentary gives the audience a level base of knowledge and sparks interest and questions.

This was the only showing that we orchestrated, others have been produced by natural foods cooperatives (Canada, Arizona, northern California, New Zealand) and environmental groups. Food for Thought is being distributed by The Video Project and is being broadcast by Free Speech TV and PBS. People either saw the documentary on TV or read about it in The Video Project's catalog.

Raindancer Media

Contact: Katherine Knight

raindancer@saveourplanet.org

a non-profit project of S.E.E.

http://www.saveourplanet.org/

20178 Rockport Way

Malibu, Ca 90265