Are you working on an amazing Film/TV project that you hope will mobilize a community? In this masterclass, OTV's Executive Director and Co-Founder, Elijah McKinnon will take you through the basics of designing an Impact Campaign for a film project that will raise awareness and inspire action. Through this dynamic session, participants will learn from McKinnon and other industry professionals that are using impact production techniques and distribution strategies to build intentional communities that manifest social change.

This course will cover:

Reimagining “impact,” “reach” and “success”

The difference between an impact campaign, impact producer, and impact film and how they work together + apart

Tools to help you define what success looks like for your film, series or video project

Effective strategies for aligning your artistic practice and project with global/local conversations, initiatives, and platforms

How to secure resources that will help increase the impact of your project

Proven tactics that will reach the core audience of your film, series or video project

How to create non-negotiable strategies that center community during various stages of production

Elijah McKinnon is an award-winning strategist, creative director, entrepreneur, artist, and advocate from the future currently residing on planet earth. In addition to serving as the Founder and Director of People Who Care, Inc. — an independent consultancy that works exclusively with nonprofits and grassroots initiatives around the globe — Elijah is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of OTV – Open Television, an intersectional web TV platform. They are also the Co-Founder and Development Director of Reunion Chicago, an exhibition space and project incubator in Chicago prioritized for LGBTQ+ people and communities of color in creative roles. Elijah is constantly moving and shaking in an attempt to build meaningful relationships and encourage resource sharing.

Naeema Jamilah Torres is an award-winning, Chicago-area filmmaker originally from New York City. As a writer, director and producer, she aims to tell placed-based stories that unpack notions of womanhood, complex ethnic identities, and legacies in the Americas through visual and audio mediums. Her work has screened at a number of festivals, including New Orleans Film Festival, San Francisco Doc Fest and St. Louis International Film Festival. After receiving a BFA in film, she pursued a career in home entertainment distributistorytellingon, working for companies such as Cinedigm and HBO. Her passion for non-fiction led to impact producing, an MFA in Documentary from Northwestern University, and crafting documentaries from development through distribution. In addition to creative storytelling work, Naeema is an adjunct film instructor, a grant writer, and an advocate for BIPOC, femme-identified filmmakers of color in Chicago as part of the leadership of Mezcla Media Collective, a 600-member non-profit providing resources and equity for emerging filmmakers.

Whitney Spencer is the Director of Marketing at Kartemquin Films. Whitney gravitated towards the storytelling aspect of marketing because she enjoys the creative action driven by strategy and insights. She believes in the power of story to engage and organize communities. In her role, she explores and expands the ways to share Kartemquin's impact with as many people as possible, including all organizational and project-centered marketing strategies with a keen eye towards maximizing opportunities for distribution. Whitney has worked on the marketing for a number of Kartemquin Films including City So Real (NatGeo), Finding Yingying (MTV), and Unapologetic (POV).