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Outreach Journal: 90 Miles

Published on June 14, 2002

How to do an Outreach Campaign with very little funds. Creative Solutions.

Film Description:

"90 Miles" is a personal documentary about how the relationship within my Cuban

family are strained by the rift between the United States and Cuba.

With "90 MILES," I attempt to repair the damage that my relationship with my

father suffered when we made the decision to leave Cuba in 1980 on an

overcrowded boat. The film puts a face to a politically charged topic and

serves as a testament to the Cuban and Cuban-American experience.

Filmmaker Juan-Carlos Zaldivar

My Incentive to do Outreach:

During the making of "90 Miles" I came across many films about Cuba. I found that most of the films that had attained visibility on this subject: 1) Were not made by Cubans and 2) Were serving a political agenda that was strongly for or against the US trade embargo against Cuba, Fidel Castro, communism, etc.

I became aware of the strong need for platforms that allow people to speak about how the political rift between the US and Cuba has affected and continues to affect their lives without the pitfalls of political rhetoric. This need, fueled by how this issue has played a part in my life and the relationship with my father, became my call to action. I strongly believe that the most effective, humane solutions to conflict can always be found in analyzing how larger issues play a part in our day to day lives. Any government currently in place on this earth has room for improvement and it is imperative that the reality of day to day life be transparent to politicians, social workers and the media at large in order for these governments to serve their people as they are meant to do. Yet it is precisely the average individual who still doesn't have a public voice. Our stories are still absent in the media.

Identifying the Issues:

Shot over a period of five years, "90 Miles" looks at issues of trust, pride and responsibility and how the complexity of these issues shapes the attitudes of Cubans towards the world and the people that we love. In addition, though a seemingly small part of the film, my father's acceptance of my homosexuality underscores the documentary as an example of how love and acceptance can provide us with the support to face seemingly insurmountable circumstances such as the political conflicts between two nations.

Funding/Resources:

Having to raise funds for the completion of the film made it difficult to also raise funds for outreach efforts. But once I had a feature-length version of the film, I made an unorthodox decision: I decided that I would start showing the film on the festival circuit in the hopes that a distributor would help us financially to complete the film. Audiences reacted so passionately and positively to the film in the festival circuit and I found that I could not wait for completion of the film in order to start using it in communities all over the US. I wanted to use the momentum of these audiences and decided to start an outreach campaign immediately. But, in many ways, it proved to be the chicken before the egg, so I had to come up with my own creative solution.

What I Learned:

1) Use the Web, especially if you are short on funds:

I couldn't afford a Web designer so I asked around and borrowed books on html code. My friend Mila helped me with the basics and in three months I had a web site, www.NinetyMiles.com up and running. The cost for registering a URL is about $20 for 2 years and the cost for a hosting account for the web site is about $74 every three months. I always mentioned the web site during my introduction of "90 Miles" at every screening. I received a large number of hits after each screening. I also printed the URL on my business cards.

A) Create a "Become our Organizational Partner" Page:

(http://www.ninetymiles.com/partners.html) Through this page, visitors of

the web site can identify themselves and provide background on who they are and the work that they need done. This provides the basic information you will need from them to help them to organize a panel or event revolving around a screening of the film.

B) Build a mailing list:

I created a "Sign our Guest Book" Page.

(http://ninetymiles.com/ardguest.php)

The Guest Book feature of the web site provides a growing list of people who are willing to be on our mailing list and would pass on our newsletters and

other information regarding upcoming screenings, etc. E-mail newsletters are effective in creating a "wildfire effect." Please Note: Make sure to always give an option for readers to be removed from the list if they chose to. Do so promptly if this is the case. Invite them to come back and visit your web site at a later time.

C) Write E-mail Newsletters:

I created a Newsletter, which initially went out monthly and later became

bimonthly. In these Newsletters I announced our upcoming screenings and

events, shared press reviews and asked for different kinds of support. The newsletter

is also an easy way to keep your funders, supporters and partners up to date. Being in the loop makes them part of the team and you can't underestimate how important that is.

2) Interns can be free and can work from anywhere:

In our newsletters I also asked for volunteer interns that could help with a couple of hours of outreach from the comfort of their own home. Most of this activity

happened via e-mail. The intern's job was simple. They were to help me do outreach for a particular city where the film was about to screen. I asked them to search the

nonprofit database at MediaRights.org and to make a contact list of organizations working on the different issues raised in the film: e.g. immigration, family relations, cultural identity, gay and lesbian issues, Cuban issues and so on. Then they were asked to contact the groups to see if they were interested in inviting their constituency to the screening. I haven't been able to pay the interns so I make their job short and to the point. I assign a city/screening to each intern as a short-term goal. By keeping their goal manageable, they always have given 200% more than I ever expected.

3) Postcards help promote

Postcards are a good investment. I printed postcards, which were distributed at film festivals and community screenings. Postcards cost about $250 for 5,000 to print and you can have a friend design them. One side of the postcard is usually a composite-type image, like a mini poster of the film. It could simply be a provocative frame from the finished film. Make sure to include all your contact information in the back of the postcard and leave half of it empty so that you can reuse them. Most likely, you will not use the 5,000 postcards during one event. By leaving an empty space in the back of the card, you will be able to print stickers in your home computer with say, another event's information which would allow you to distribute an up-to-date postcard at several different festivals or events.

4) Festivals can be outreach

Before attending a festival, I asked the director of the festival if there was someone in the staff working on community outreach. Usually there was. These people became key in providing contact information to local organizations that would promote the screening. I always tried to meet with them when I was finally in their hometown for the screening. These organizations can become outreach partners of your film and your efforts. About two weeks before the screening, have your intern send an e-mail or call them. Follow up a few days from the screening.

5) One thing leads to another:

Soon after the premiere of "90 Miles" on the festival circuit, several individuals began to identify themselves as community organizers. These were individuals (some invited by local NGO's to a festival screening) who were moved by the film and wanted to bring it to their communities themselves.

To get around the fact that there were no funds to offer them to develop these events, I immediately asked them to locate a College, University or other educational facility in town. These entities tend to have a budget for panels, symposiums

and other educational projects that involve their local communities. Once we

were able to identify an institution, we approached a department (Language

Dept., Music Dept., Latin-American Studies Dept., etc.) which might also have

use for the film and the issues that it raises. Note: It is most important to respect

the vision of the individual organizing the event so that interests do not come into conflict when a University becomes involved. These associations

have always worked for me so far.

All of these screenings were spearheaded by individuals in those communities and were funded by educational institutions and/or community groups.

What Could Have Worked Better:

Having a bulletin board feature on the web site would have been great instead of just linking to my email. Responding to E-mails is overwhelming and has become a full time job for me. A bulletin

board makes it easy for visitors to start discussions and will provide the means

for you to moderate the discussions in your free time. A bulletin board will also eliminate the need to answer every personal e-mail sent to you in response to the film because all these responses will then become public. A bulletin board can also help individuals and organizations to connect with each other outside in the real world.

Other observations:

If your social media piece contains or will raise highly debatable issues, I

strongly recommend that you find sanctuaries to conduct your community

screenings. By sanctuaries I mean neutral spaces such as Public Libraries,

Colleges, High Schools and Universities, etc. These are spaces that generally are not associated with extremely biased points of view and usually make people feel safe to voice their opinions.

I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck, and stay tuned for my next journal entry when I will break down one outreach event.

Juan Carlos ZaldÃvar 90 Miles LLC www.NinetyMiles.com info@NinetyMiles.com