The past year has been an exciting set of firsts for us here at CMG. We'd like to take a minute to reflect on our amazing CMG community and give thanks before launching into what 2016 has to offer.
Last February marked a new chapter for us with the hiring of Director & COO Liz Smith. Liz hit the ground running and organized our very first Catalyst Workshops, held in July. Under her direction last year and with the support of our then new Program & Communications Coordinator, Amy Files, we launched our first Blue Initiative Grant, our first 2 Filmmakers-in-Residence, and our first 9 Action Grants. We also placed our first CMG Fellow. In addition to making sure that all of these programs went off without a hitch, Liz has been collaborating with Founder & Director David Conover to grow and expand on CMG's vision—developing a strategy for how to best build on our successes, meet the needs of our community & partners, and connect with more amazing filmmakers and activists.
In June we worked with our first CMG Filmmaker-in-Residence (FIR) Elicia Epstein to meet a demanding project timeline that culminated in a 26-minute documentary this fall. Elicia's film, Tracing the Pass, follows Elicia as she embarks on a story-telling adventure: by car, bike, and foot she travels the route of New Hampshire's proposed (and hotly contested) electrical transmission project, the Northern Pass. Elicia captures not only the issues surrounding the project, but also the relationship that people have to the land on which they live. The project was screened at multiple locations this past fall and is available for viewing online.
In July we held 2 one-week workshops—the first focusing on ocean health and the second on sustainable energy. During the workshops we had the pleasure of meeting over 20 participant filmmakers, social strategists, and organizational leads—all of whom came together to create fantastic capstone projects—as well as a handful of captivating speakers. All seven of the workshop capstone projects went on to be used by the organizations for whom they were created, and three of those projects resulted in CMG Action Grants to fund further development.
In August, working off of the workshop momentum, we geared up for two separate Action Grant pitch sessions—one at the Camden International Film Festival and the other at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. The call for proposals resulted in an impressive roundup of talented filmmakers and activists and we invited 8 finalists to each pitch session. By the end of October, we awarded six Action Grants, totaling close to $50,000 in funding for some amazing ocean & energy focused video projects.
In September, we placed our very first CMG Fellow at Sailors for the Sea (SFTS) in Rhode Island. After pairing filmmaker Ayla Fox with SFTS's Social Impact Director Hilary Kotoun at our July Oceans Catalyst Workshop, the collaboration was too good to stop there. As part of their workshop capstone project, Ayla helped to develop a video concept for SFTS that they were eager to continue after the workshop. The CMG Fellow position places Ayla at Sailor for the Sea to work with them on marketing and audience research, social media analysis, and further development of the video campaign into the new year.
Since then, we've had the pleasure of following the progress of our Action Grantees. Production photos and reports continue to come in, each with new information and updates that make us proud of the work our community is doing: workshop attendee and grantee Windustry launched their #StickWindHere campaign, The Ocean Foundation just wrapped up production on their Sea Grass Grow video campaign, excerpts from grantee Shalini Kantayya's feature film were screened at the Paris climate talks, Sally Snow began work on her Philippine's-based eco-tourism educational campaign, and grantees Tierney Thys and Noé Sardet partnered on an art-based campaign to educate on ocean pollution, just to feature a few of the incredible happenings.
Last, but not least, our CMG Directors had quite a year of meeting new faces, spreading the word about CMG, and fundraising for our action-focused programs. A few highlights include... David Conover traveling to the COP21 Climate Talks in Paris to meet with new CMG grantees and attend Shalini Kantayya's screening. Liz Smith speaking at the American Conservation Film Festival's filmmaker workshop on how how to create conservation films with impact. And CMG raising over $6,000 from individual donors (thank you!) as Liz rode her bicyle with 150 climate activitsts from Bar Harbor, Maine 275 miles down to Boston on the Climate Ride.
We start the new year grateful for the connections we've made and the work that is being done by all of our grantees, fellows and filmmakers-in-residence out in the field. We couldn't be happier to be in a position to help you #MakeShareChange in the world of ocean health and sustainable energy. In that light, we want to offer a very gracious (and understated) thank you to our founding sponsor, the Lewis Family Foundation; to our donors, the Grand Circle Foundation and Pinnacle Leadership Center; and to our strategic partner, The Ocean Foundation. CMG wouldn't be possible without your continuing support.
Thank you to everyone in our CMG family and have a healthy and productive New Year! We can't wait to see what happens next...
The past year has been an exciting set of firsts for us here at CMG. We'd like to take a minute to reflect on our amazing CMG community and give thanks before launching into what 2016 has to offer.
Last February marked a new chapter for us with the hiring of Director & COO Liz Smith. Liz hit the ground running and organized our very first Catalyst Workshops, held in July. Under her direction last year and with the support of our then new Program & Communications Coordinator, Amy Files, we launched our first Blue Initiative Grant, our first 2 Filmmakers-in-Residence, and our first 9 Action Grants. We also placed our first CMG Fellow. In addition to making sure that all of these programs went off without a hitch, Liz has been collaborating with Founder & Director David Conover to grow and expand on CMG's vision—developing a strategy for how to best build on our successes, meet the needs of our community & partners, and connect with more amazing filmmakers and activists.
In June we worked with our first CMG Filmmaker-in-Residence (FIR) Elicia Epstein to meet a demanding project timeline that culminated in a 26-minute documentary this fall. Elicia's film, Tracing the Pass, follows Elicia as she embarks on a story-telling adventure: by car, bike, and foot she travels the route of New Hampshire's proposed (and hotly contested) electrical transmission project, the Northern Pass. Elicia captures not only the issues surrounding the project, but also the relationship that people have to the land on which they live. The project was screened at multiple locations this past fall and is available for viewing online.
In July we held 2 one-week workshops—the first focusing on ocean health and the second on sustainable energy. During the workshops we had the pleasure of meeting over 20 participant filmmakers, social strategists, and organizational leads—all of whom came together to create fantastic capstone projects—as well as a handful of captivating speakers. All seven of the workshop capstone projects went on to be used by the organizations for whom they were created, and three of those projects resulted in CMG Action Grants to fund further development.
In August, working off of the workshop momentum, we geared up for two separate Action Grant pitch sessions—one at the Camden International Film Festival and the other at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. The call for proposals resulted in an impressive roundup of talented filmmakers and activists and we invited 8 finalists to each pitch session. By the end of October, we awarded six Action Grants, totaling close to $50,000 in funding for some amazing ocean & energy focused video projects.
In September, we placed our very first CMG Fellow at Sailors for the Sea (SFTS) in Rhode Island. After pairing filmmaker Ayla Fox with SFTS's Social Impact Director Hilary Kotoun at our July Oceans Catalyst Workshop, the collaboration was too good to stop there. As part of their workshop capstone project, Ayla helped to develop a video concept for SFTS that they were eager to continue after the workshop. The CMG Fellow position places Ayla at Sailor for the Sea to work with them on marketing and audience research, social media analysis, and further development of the video campaign into the new year.
Since then, we've had the pleasure of following the progress of our Action Grantees. Production photos and reports continue to come in, each with new information and updates that make us proud of the work our community is doing: workshop attendee and grantee Windustry launched their #StickWindHere campaign, The Ocean Foundation just wrapped up production on their Sea Grass Grow video campaign, excerpts from grantee Shalini Kantayya's feature film were screened at the Paris climate talks, Sally Snow began work on her Philippine's-based eco-tourism educational campaign, and grantees Tierney Thys and Noé Sardet partnered on an art-based campaign to educate on ocean pollution, just to feature a few of the incredible happenings.
Last, but not least, our CMG Directors had quite a year of meeting new faces, spreading the word about CMG, and fundraising for our action-focused programs. A few highlights include... David Conover traveling to the COP21 Climate Talks in Paris to meet with new CMG grantees and attend Shalini Kantayya's screening. Liz Smith speaking at the American Conservation Film Festival's filmmaker workshop on how how to create conservation films with impact. And CMG raising over $6,000 from individual donors (thank you!) as Liz rode her bicyle with 150 climate activitsts from Bar Harbor, Maine 275 miles down to Boston on the Climate Ride.
We start the new year grateful for the connections we've made and the work that is being done by all of our grantees, fellows and filmmakers-in-residence out in the field. We couldn't be happier to be in a position to help you #MakeShareChange in the world of ocean health and sustainable energy. In that light, we want to offer a very gracious (and understated) thank you to our founding sponsor, the Lewis Family Foundation; to our donors, the Grand Circle Foundation and Pinnacle Leadership Center; and to our strategic partner, The Ocean Foundation. CMG wouldn't be possible without your continuing support.
Thank you to everyone in our CMG family and have a healthy and productive New Year! We can't wait to see what happens next...