Meet our first Certified Filmmaker!
“My goal as a filmmaker is to create a positive impact in my community and the lives of people I touch, and so an asset-based storytelling approach is how I believe stories should be brought to life. That means the focus of the narrative is not on the trauma, struggles, or mistakes that happened in the past, but instead, is on how individuals overcome their challenges and use resilience, hard work, and positivity to create change in their lives. The result is inspiring and positive, and a source of pride and accomplishment to the participant, who can use their film as a reminder to continue their growth, as well as a source of strength.”
Brenda T. Feldstein, owner of A Special Story, in Buffalo New York is our first Ethical Narrative Certified Filmmaker. We are inspired by how courageously she faced the tough topics presented in our program and we applaud her for her compassion. She has exemplified ethical storytelling in action and we are very proud to support her work.
What does our certification mean?
Each filmmaker that we certify has demonstrated understanding of ethical storytelling principals and has created a plan to incorporate them into their storytelling business. We recognize and support the individuality and creativity of each filmmaker as they navigate this evolving field of practice.
For this certification each filmmaker has completed the following.
Created an asset-based film.
Asset-based stories are the cornerstone of ethical storytelling. They focus on uplifting the people who are being featured, highlighting their strengths, talents and aspirations. An asset based film explores life challenges from a perspective that celebrates the way in which people rise to meet them.
Excavated their biases and incorporated principles of Social Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging into their businesses.
We all carry implicit biases. Approaching them head on is the best way to ensure that they don’t creep into your storytelling work.
Created a plan to address trauma and emotional care while producing stories of a sensitive nature.
Being filmed about your past traumas can cause re-traumatization if not approached with enough care. By enacting a trauma-informed plan for filming, this risk can be greatly reduced.
Addressed each phase of video production to provide a more equitable footing for the sharing of personal stories with the public.
In each phase of film production there are opportunities to address ethical storytelling. Our certified storytellers have studied existing issues within each phase and have developed their own plan to infuse their business with more ethics and compassion.