Necessary Skills

Strategic Thinking
You know how to identify the objective of your efforts and the specific approach that could leverage opportunities and remove obstacles to enable you to achieve it.

Advocacy
You understand the levers of power that influence the policies you are trying to impact and can use that understanding to engage decision makers. You understand the science of moving audiences from awareness to action.

Issue Expertise
You have a strong grasp of the issues the film addresses and the landscape of players who are already working to address the issue.

Strategic Partnerships
You know how to identify people and organizations to work with to make your impact work successful, how to assess their capabilities and assets, how to support them to do their best, how to hold them accountable and to be accountable to them, and how to make the partnership as valuable to them as it is to your efforts.

Community Organizing
You can bring people within a community together to achieve shared goals. You know how to keep disparate groups and personalities focused and engaged.

Facilitation
You know how to encourage and manage a productive discussion among a diverse crowd of audience members or stakeholders, often about a contentious issue.

Event Planning
You know how to identify the right venue, develop a tight run-of-show, attract an audience, ensure everyone knows their roles and is supported to succeed, and ensure people can see and/or hear what they are mean to see and/or hear.

Distribution
Beyond being able to negotiate theatrical, broadcast, streaming, and educational distribution deals, you know how to think creatively about self-distribution, online platforms, influencer screenings, community screenings, partnerships and more to get your film out there and seen by the right people — to have an impact.

Budgeting
You can translate a plan into a budget that will enable that plan to come to life.

Fundraising
You can identify potential sources of funding from foundations, the government, and individuals whose strategic goals align with the objective of your impact work. You know how to approach them to seek funding, how to write grant proposals, and/or how to run donor and crowdfunding campaigns.

Online Engagement
You know how to build a community of engaged followers. You know how to use the film’s social media channels, newsletter, email distribution list, and website to effectively communicate about your impact work and mobilize your followers to act. You know how to work with influencers to amplify your message.

Writing
You can communicate effectively in writing to contribute to crafting materials that may be needed for the campaign like toolkits and discussion guides.

Evaluation and Assessment
You know how to measure the success of your efforts, not only at the conclusion, but mid-stream, to optimize when necessary and to develop a narrative to bring on new funders and partners.

Press
You can collaborate with the film’s publicist to determine when and how to incorporate the impact campaign’s message into promotion of the film. You can write an op-ed, develop talking points for spokespeople, and adhere to talking points when you speak to the press yourself.

Crisis Communications
You can anticipate and prepare for mis- or disinformation about your film, campaign, or the issue you are trying to impact. You know when to respond, when not to, and who should respond, and you know how to monitor for these potential pitfalls.