Last week, Nieman Lab published an article about The Counted, a new endeavor from The Guardian to track shootings by police in the United States. This project is more than just muck-racking data journalism. It’s also an exercise in crowdsourcing and community building, with plenty of takeaways for Kindling Group’s work in documentary film and impact production.
Writing for Nieman Lab, The Guardian’s Audience Editor Mary Hamilton explains why the newspaper invested in this project and how they made it work. Here’s an excerpt:
As a global media organization, The Guardian has a great starting point for finding an audience for a project like this… But we know that’s not enough to sustain a community where people take part. We need to build a community around The Counted that is keen to follow this issue longer-term, and who are able to spread the word.
So we’re building a multilayered approach. We want the journalism itself to reach the widest possible audience who are interested. Then we want the people within that who care deeply about this issue to develop a longer-term relationship with the project. We want people who have something important to contribute to be only a few steps away from our reporters (in Kevin Bacon terms) so that information reaches us promptly. We have a tips form, but that’s only part of the equation: A tips form is no good if no one knows where to find it.
In journalism, long-term projects like this are few and far between. On the other hand, documentary film has the longest production period of any kind of reporting. Imagine how documentarians could benefit from this constant communication with their audience and community during production:
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Your audience members help you gather the information you need to make the film
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You keep your audience interested and engaged from the very start of production, all the way through distribution and screenings
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You’re not waiting until the film is out to motivate your audience members to make change. They have already become active participants in your cause during production
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You already know your audience well, so you can use their feedback to create the most useful film possible
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Your audience members are invested in the film before you even ask for money (via crowd-funding or ticket purchases)
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As collaborators, they are more likely to spread the word about your film to others
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When you court distributors or apply for grant funding, you already have concrete proof of an engaged audience
At Kindling Group, we pair documentary production with engagement campaigns, because we want our films to turn audiences into changemakers. The Counted is a great example of how closely intertwined production and engagement can be. The project has connected with communities well beyond The Guardian’s typical audience, engaging people of color and activists around the country who are combating police brutality. It’s a great model for filmmakers who want to expand their reach beyond public television and the arts house cinema.