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 Diversity Talks: ITVS Think Tanks Solicit Feedback from Filmmakers of Color 
—F.C.C.Commissioner Michael J.Copps The 2000 census reported that minority groups account for more than 30 percent of the total U.S. population — up from less than 25 percent in 1990. For ITVS, with its continuing mission to champion voices and views not usually seen on commercial television, these numbers act as a compelling guide, a reminder and also a question: What’s next in the quest to continue to bring diverse perspectives to public television? One recent answer: think tanks. “We have to continue to take a proactive approach and do aggressive outreach to establish a dialogue with diverse filmmakers,” said Claire Aguilar, ITVS director of programming. “The think tank concept is one important way to talk with diverse communities about how we can help each other — and bring even more of their voices to public television.” Organized by ITVS, diversity think tanks are brainstorming/feedback sessions targeted at independent producers from communities that continue to be underrepresented in the mainstream media. An African American think tank was held in 2001, followed by one focused on Native Americans in 2002. An Arab American think tank is slated for later this year. The idea to create a formal meeting grew out of other ITVS outreach activities aimed at recruiting proposals from diverse filmmakers. Program Manager Richard Saiz, who travels the country offering proposal workshops, found that many filmmakers from diverse communities still felt cut off from public television — despite the success of past ITVS projects, the creation of a new CPB Diversity Fund and the continuing work of the Minority Consortia, five ethnic organizations funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to champion films about specific minority cultures. Why not convene media leaders from these communities to talk about what’s working, what’s not and where to go from here? Think tank participants agree on one thing: there’s plenty to talk about. Over the last 10 years, 30 percent of ITVS-funded producers have come from communities of color, a percentage that has matched or exceeded the demographic realities of America. When it comes to content, however, the scope of ITVS programming spans much wider, with 65 percent of the programs treating topics related to ethnic minorities (an additional 16 percent treat topics related to disability, gender, sexual orientation, rural areas, class or seniors). “There’s a gap there between diverse content and diverse makers,” Saiz said, “and we need to keep talking with the right people about how to close it.” Think tanks consist of 15 to 20 independent producers and producer advocates trading views about the opportunities for and barriers against their communities producing for public television. These conversations have covered territory that ranges from the unique strengths of minority communities to the minute details of the PBS process to concrete suggestions for the future. They also are an opportunity for producers to communicate directly with ITVS about the application and panel process. “Young filmmakers [around my office] are either intimidated by the process of an ITVS application or feel they won’t make the cut,” said Dorothy Thigpin, executive director of Third World Newsreel, at the African American think tank. “Maybe [ITVS] should fund more projects from the ground up to help producers of color develop work,” said independent filmmaker Kathe Sandler, another think tank participant. Many participants stressed the paramount importance of having African American producers read applications and serve on the final decision panel. According to Aguilar, input like this has helped shape the way ITVS works — both internally and externally. Between 2001 and 2002, ITVS almost doubled the number of its diversity-focused outreach initiatives. Twenty-five events were held at colleges, film festivals and conferences in 2002. One of these events was a series of workshops at Chicago’s Columbia College targeting young filmmakers of color just emerging from academic programs. A similar event at Howard University in Washington, D.C., is in the works for fall 2003. At the same time, ITVS increased the diversity of its Open Call application readers by 30 percent and the finalist panels by 35 percent. As always, the ITVS programming department provides a feedback service for producers whose projects are not among the 1 to 2 percent of proposals funded each year. This process provides advice, a constructive critique or even leads on finding money elsewhere. ITVS also gives research and development funds or seed money for certain films at earlier stages in the creative process. For ITVS, the think tanks are part of this constellation of ongoing strategies to extend and strengthen communication between PBS and filmmakers of color. Other efforts include ITVS’s continuing partnerships with the members of the Minority Consortia, which provide their own funding as well as proposal workshops to help facilitate the application process for their constituents. Creating culturally diverse programming is not only an initiative supported by ITVS and the Minority Consortia, but is also part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s legislative mandate, noted Cheryl Head, CPB’s director of outreach and diversity programming. She sees the think tanks as part of an ongoing effort by the public television world to improve its connection with diverse filmmaking communities — and to improve producers’ understanding of the PBS process. “We’re conscientious about looking at the ethnic background of the producers, but our first criteria are the merits of the program and [the filmmakers’] ability to articulate the value their project would bring to PBS,” Head said. Another important ITVS initiative is the mentorship program for filmmakers of color, in which selected ITVS-funded filmmakers serve as mentors to aspiring filmmakers or are themselves mentored over the course of their project. Founded in 2000, the mentorship program also has benefited from the recent input of the think tanks. “The think tank participants made clear the absolute importance of matching mentees of color with mentors of color,” Aguilar said. Recent examples of ITVS-supported mentor projects include Jasmine Dellal’s GYPSY CARAVAN, whose mentees have included Margarita Jimeno and Kelvin Dickerson; A FISHBOWL AND SOME DIMES where producer Kayo Hatta is mentoring Leah Kihara; A HARD STRAIGHT, whose producer Goro Toshima was paired with mentor Avon Kirkland; and THE SURVIVORS, a project produced by Filmon Mebrahtu with the mentorship of Louis Massiah. The think tanks also have provided an opportunity for producer solidarity in the often isolated and competitive world of independent filmmaking. “Our communities lack people who come back and tell us that we can be a part of that world,” Dustinn Craig told his fellow producers at the Native American think tank in November 2002.“We need to contribute to that awakening.” Carol Patton Cornsilk, director of programming and production for the Native American Public Telecommunications consortium, also attended the 2002 think tank and said the participants shared ideas about improving their access to public television. One idea: give more weight to a project’s cultural representation and accuracy in the application process. “I think this would give Native producers a leg up,” Cornsilk said, “because it puts the importance on representing Native stories from perspectives of members of the culture.” Both think tanks also proved fertile ground for a continuing conversation about the larger and more complex question: authenticity, and the need for diverse communities to tell their own stories. “Maybe white makers can make the show as well as African American makers,” producer Marco Williams said at the African American think tank. “But why not let us catch up and be given the opportunity to tell it ourselves?” At the Native American think tank, independent filmmaker Victor Masayesva echoed these concerns. “We’re beginning to become voyeurs, looking at our experiences from the outside. We need to create for our own communities, from our communities.” Both groups also talked about the difficulties they see in finding public television support for some of their preferred genres, including dramas, satires and experimental work. As ITVS continues its work of funding and serving diverse media makers, the lessons of these think tanks continue to inform long-range planning, logistics and outreach efforts, said ITVS President Sally Jo Fifer. “Diversity is the mandate of public television. By ensuring diversity is a throughline of all of our efforts, we can be responsible and accountable to that mandate.” Eric Martin is a staff writer at ITVS. Geneva Collins also contributed to this article. |
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