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Scott and I are working and reworking our Girlworld pitch. You know, what we tell people when they ask us what we’re doing.

We are getting better and better, the more we do it. One thing that is becoming very clear is that for funders we really need to explain how our documentary will bring change — will do capital G-Good for the world. Why give to a film, when you can give to an organization that’s already helping girls go to school? What does a documentary film do that an established NGO cannot?

Great questions! For a documentary aficionado, the answers are clear: Documentaries have the potential to bring an issue to the surface on a large scale. This means inspriring individuals to take action, which in turn empowers NGO’s to broaden their impact and pressures governments to put a cause at the top of their policy change list.

We are thinking of Girlworld as a huge PR campaign for how girl’s education can dramatically change the developing world for the better in a short of time.

Girlworld is a well-told, character driven story.

Girlworld is anthropology.

Girlworld is art.

Girlworld is a really beautiful infomercial for everyone working towards empowering women through education.

Girlworld is a tool to ignite change–at the personal, NGO, governmental and global levels.

Girlworld, the documentary series, is ALL THAT!

How do I know? Scott and I BELIEVE in the Power of Story.  A well-told story  allows one to enter a usually inaccessible world through a character or characters. A well-told story can essentially become an experience. And experience can bring you closer to understanding. Understanding leads to empowerment.

Girlworld, the documentary series, by following the lives girls in Nepal, will give its audience ownership over the issue of girls’ education and empower them to take action.

Girlworld will bring about

curiousity

knowledge

empathy

action

and CHANGE to Girl’s education: the best thing we can do in the world is educate the girls.

A popular, well-distributed documentary can make an issue common knowledge. Born into Brothels is a great example of this. The year it was released everyone was talking about sex slavery, and all over the world, not just in India where the movie was filmed. More money was given to NGO’s working on ending sex slavery. There was policy change at the international level. Born into Brothels made a BIG DIFFERENCE.

Since Born Into Brothels came out in 2005, the idea that documentary film can be used to actively increase social justice has gained some real teeth. There are outfits dedicated themselves to creating social impact campaigns for documentary films. The Fledgling Fund and Working Films are two incredible orgs on the cutting edge of getting documentary films out there to be seen and to do real Good.

The Fledgling Fund has put together a white paper on how documentary can make change — it is a good read. But if you don’t have time, you can watch the main points in this video.

Girlworld is on the radar of the Fledgling Fund and we have a phone meeting with Working Films next week. It feels so good to be doing this project with advocates like these believing in us (or, at least, getting ready to believe in us!).

This is time for Girlworld to be made. It is so exciting we can barely sleep at night.

Now it is time to babyproof the  house. Our 15 month old son just started walking. He is the other reason we can barely sleep at night.