Documentaries & Social Change
The renaissance of documentary films is having real impact and influence on social change. How can documentaries best achieve this purpose? How can filmmakers be best equipped to operate in today’s vastly expanded digital space, including navigating difficult issues of “fair” and “transformative” use? Hosted by: Jeremy Kagan, award-winning filmmaker and founder of Change Making Media Lab at the School of Cinematic Arts at USC. With: master filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, (Racing Extinction, The Cove); Jennifer Taylor, multiple award-winning documentarian (Paulina, Home Front, New Muslim Cool); Shaun Spalding, leading intellectual property attorney at New Media Rights; Stephen Most, award-winning writer, filmmaker, playwright and author of Stories Make the World, Reflections on Storytelling and the Art of the Documentary.
Sausalito Room
October 18th | 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Panelists
Jeremy Kagan
Director, Writer and Producer
USC’s School of Cinematic Arts
Jeremy Kagan, an award-winning, internationally recognized director, writer, and producer of feature films and television, is a tenured professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and runs its Change Making Media Lab. Jeremy has directed 12 features including his most recent, Shot. His past films include: Heroes, The Big Fix, The Chosen and The Journey of Natty Gann. Jeremy’s many awards include the Humanitas Award and an Emmy.Louie Psihoyos
Executive Director
Oceanic Preservation Society
Louie Psihoyos, award-winning filmmaker and Executive Director of the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), is one of the world’s top photographers whose work has often appeared in National Geographic and on hundreds of magazine covers. An ardent diver, Psihoyos’ most passionate mission is to reveal the dramatic decline of the oceans and to work to save the planet. His films include the Academy Award-winning documentary, The Cove, Racing Extinction, and The Game Changers.Shaun Spalding
Assistant Director
New Media Rights
Shaun Spalding, a former commercial filmmaker, is a highly experienced IP attorney specializing in digital entertainment transactions and licensing and the Assistant Director of New Media Rights, a non-profit representing creators and startups otherwise unable to afford legal services. He is also a professor at California Western School of Law and teaches highly popular online courses in legal basics for creatives.Stephen Most
Writer/Producer
Stephen Most, a writer, filmmaker, and playwright, is the author of Stories Make the World, Reflections on Storytelling and the Art of the Documentary and River of Renewal, Myth and History in the Klamath Basin. The writer/producer of River of Renewal, Nature's Orchestra, and Wilder than Wild, he has writing credits on four Academy Award-nominated documentaries and five Emmy winners.Jennifer Taylor
Associate Professor
UC Santa Cruz
Jennifer Taylor, a filmmaker, Associate Professor in the Department of Film and Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz and Director of that school’s Graduate Studies of the Social Documentation MFA program as well as a Sundance Documentary Institute Fellow, makes colorful, character-based films about real people with extraordinary stories. Her work has been shown at Sundance and a wide range of film festivals nationally and internationally.
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