From the Executive Director

In the chaos of these times, we have managed to celebrate a summer of Storytelling. Our partner organizations have been leading powerful community programs. Emerging artists have been training across the country and developing their portfolios, wondering if their dream jobs might be available one day, or if they will need to make them up as they go along. Dedicated artists and cultural producers have stepped into the work of mentorship with us — a practice of listening and sharing emergent and evolutionary stories. Visionary filmmakers have been taking their documentaries on the road and connecting with audiences in new ways. The Alliance leaders have been working together on a new strategic plan, telling stories of past, present and future to help figure out where we are going and what the future holds for the organization.

Over the next three years, The Alliance will continue to advance systems change by scaling and deepening our core programs — Arts2Work, Innovation Studio, Communities of Practice, and the Open Archive Initiative— across a growing national and international network. We will expand access to creative technologies, ethical AI, and culturally grounded workforce training in under-resourced communities. We will strengthen and protect our members — community organizations, media artists and culture bearers — who are creating powerful work at the intersection of storytelling, equity, memory, and imagination. We will cultivate and align cross-sector partnerships to mobilize new resources for media organizations, artists and archivists, and build non-extractive, regenerative creative ecosystems. What does this even mean? A safe world where any kid who dreams of a creative career can build one, where jobs for storytellers mean more than a line on a movie credit roll, and where artists are valued as sacred frontline workers.

Our Strategic Plan will be a guide for the next three years — and we know the future is far from fixed. If our member organizations and artists are targeted for deportation, silenced by legislation, denied crucial funding, or otherwise harmed by political violence or repression, The Alliance will activate our networks of solidarity. We will defend freedom of expression, elevate creative resistance, and leverage our national and global partnerships to support those most vulnerable. Our commitment to equity, community, and courage will not waver.

As always, please join the Alliance, read the Storytelling Matters blog, submit a project to the Power of Storytelling Film Festival, listen to the Arts2Work CONVERSATIONS podcast, check out the amazingness of the organizations and artists in the Alliance network.

Reach out and connect with us, we’d love to hear from you

~ Wendy

wendy@thealliance.media

Notes from the Field

People’s Media Camp Announced in Philadelphia
Archivists, media makers, and grassroots activists are invited to attend the People’s Media Camp, October 3rd-5th, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. The gathering will feature workshops, skill-shares, roundtables, film screenings, and a vendor market. The camp aims to promote grassroots archival activism through media arts.

BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship Accepting Applications
First- or second-time documentary directors with bold, socially impactful projects can apply to the Bay Area Video Coalition’s MediaMaker Fellowship. The nine-month program offers workshops, mentorship, and a $10,000 stipend. Applications are due Monday, September 29.