As we move into fall, I’m excited to preview our beautiful Summer of Storytelling poster, designed by Colombian artists Alejandra Chacon and Valentina Vargas. We are planning to offer posters and note cards for sale in a few weeks – it’s never too early to secure some unique and artful holiday gifts for the storyteller in your life. Keep your eyes on social media and the Alliance website for links to purchase.

The other exciting announcement this month is that we welcome two new members of the Alliance Board of Directors, Cassidy Arkin and Edgar Burch.

Cassidy Arkin is an award-winning producer and storyteller with substantial experience in broadcast television production, digital media and live events. As a producer she specializes in magazine-formatted shows, entertainment, art & culture, documentary and music. Her work seeks to disrupt, engage, and find original ways of storytelling and reaching new audiences. Cassidy’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm has taken her from MTVNews and Specials to ABC’s Good Morning America, Weekend Vibe at NBC, and The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.  Awards include the NABJ Salute to Excellence as the producer for Best 2015 National Diversity PR &Marketing Campaign, J. Walter Thompson 2014 Innovator of the Year Award and IFP Documentary Lab Fellow. Cassidy served as a Producer  for the Alliance XR Culture Gallery last year, and the first VR exhibition for Oculus, Ancestral Futurism: Unapologetically Melanated.

Edgar Burch is a principal in The Raben Group’s Government Affairs and Policy Counsel practice area. With nearly two decades of experience advocating at the state and federal levels, he has developed a deep understanding of how to effectively build coalitions, engage on high-profile issues, and provide strategic advice to position clients for short and long-term success.  Prior to joining Raben, Edgar served as the director of government relations for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), where he engaged federal and state lawmakers on diverse policy matters impacting nearly a half-million student-athletes, one thousand schools, and the NCAA national office. Edgar worked with colleges and universities, higher education associations, and professional sports leagues on issues of common interest before federal agencies and the House and Senate Education, Commerce, and Judiciary Committees. Edgar has been a key advisor to the Alliance, planning our Arts2Work Congressional briefings and guiding equity and partnership strategies in our creative workforce program expansion.

I’m writing this month from Los Angeles and the International Documentary Association’s Getting Real Conference.  I’ll be on a panel on 9/29 at 3:15PM —  Evolving Mandates in Public Media. If you are attending in person, please come say hi at the Director’s Guild on Thursday.  I’ll be there all day and would love to connect with Alliance members and partners.

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As always, please be in touch.

wendy@thealliance.media

Notes from the Field

Times Union Feature’s Youth FX’s Arts2Work Fellowship
In a recently published piece by Katherine Kiessling for Times Union, The Alliance Arts2Work partner Youth FX’s new fellowship program was profiled. The piece included conversation with organizers and participants, showing how the program which offers cameras, computers, software, and mentorship to young Capital Region artists breaks through financial and technical barriers that keep marginalized voices from making films. “There’s a reason why films are made by mainly white people, why studios are run by white folks who have legacy history, historical money,” said Bhawin Suchak, Youth-FX co-founder and co-director to Times Union.

NBCUniversal Launches Creative Impact Lab
Last week NBCUniversal announced it was Launching its Creative Impact Lab. The Lab seeks to advance nonprofit storytelling by offering grants to media nonprofits representing under-represented communities to produce short videos for nonprofit partners. Those selected include multiple The Alliance members and affiliates such as Spy Hop,  RE:IMAGINE, PhillyCAM,Youth FX, and  Wide Angle Youth Media.