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The world environment needs help. That’s where you come in. But individual activism alone will move things only so far. That’s where Reel Community Action comes in.

Reel Community Action produces and provides compelling films, as well as tried-and-true sustainability models and other essential tools and resources for multiplying your activist efforts. The result? Immediate, lasting, significant, and beneficial environmental change. The kind that can only come from a community united.

Real Films

Use our entertaining and award-winning environmental films to educate, galvanize, and spark your community into local action. That action may be guided by one or more of the sustainability models gathered on our site.

Real People

It’s all about you—local community action is the catalyst for global change. What’s important to you and your community? Use our resources—films, sustainability models, staff expertise, and more—to drive specific actions that meet those environmental challenges.

Real Change

This stuff works. The simple act of sharing a powerful film not only raises awareness; it encourages others to join together in effective sustainability projects. Successfully green your community and other communities will learn from the example you set. And so on.

Mission and Goals

Mission: “To empower local communities through compelling social and environmental films that inspire awareness, action, and positive change. Through storytelling and visual narratives, we aim to catalyze dialogue, foster empathy, and mobilize grassroots efforts towards a more sustainable and equitable future.”

Goals:

  1. Raise Awareness: Create films that shed light on pressing social and environmental issues affecting local communities, ensuring that people are informed and engaged.
  2. Inspire Action: Motivate individuals within local communities to take meaningful action towards addressing these issues, whether through advocacy, activism, or personal lifestyle changes.
  3. Promote Empathy and Understanding: Foster empathy and understanding among community members by showcasing diverse perspectives and experiences related to social and environmental challenges.
  4. Amplify Voices: Provide a platform for marginalized voices within the community to be heard, enabling their stories and concerns to reach a wider audience and drive meaningful change.
  5. Build Partnerships: Collaborate with local organizations, activists, and community leaders to amplify impact, leverage resources, and foster a sense of collective ownership over social and environmental issues.
  6. Educate and Empower: Offer educational resources and workshops alongside film screenings to empower individuals with knowledge and skills to address local challenges effectively.
  7. Measure Impact: Continuously evaluate the impact of our films and outreach efforts on local communities, tracking changes in awareness, attitudes, and behaviors related to social and environmental issues.
  8. Catalyze Dialogue: Facilitate constructive dialogue and collaboration among community members, stakeholders, and policymakers to develop sustainable solutions and address root causes of social and environmental problems.
  9. Celebrate Successes: Highlight and celebrate successes and progress made within local communities towards achieving social and environmental goals, providing inspiration and motivation for continued action.
  10. Promote Sustainable Filmmaking Practices: Lead by example by adopting sustainable filmmaking practices, minimizing environmental impact throughout the production process, and advocating for industry-wide change.

Get Involved

Reel Community Action recognizes the power of local community action, and gives community leaders the tools they need to drive specific campaigns that address environmental issues. We identify proven sustainability models to help drive measurable and dramatic change, as well as produce documentary films to support these efforts.

Reel Community Action works with environmental organizations, community groups, schools and educators to produce powerful, themed film events that may include workshops, discussion panels, social media strategies and educational curriculum and programming.

Our mission is to help community leaders educate and inspire audiences so they become active participants in local sustainability campaigns and programs—such as community gardening projects, restoration efforts, climate action campaigns, and green energy cooperatives.

For available films, as well as our current and ongoing projects, see Films and Projects.

How Do I Plan a Film Event?

  1. Read this page—and check out our Program Guidelines, Sustainability Models, Action Guide, Event Packages, and Activist Toolkit
  2. Choose a film from our guide—or,  for recommendations, contact us
  3. Pick a date, secure a venue, and flesh out all the details
  4. Download and submit your RCA Project Application
  5. Once accepted, use the toolkit we’ll deliver to support the film and focus your audience on a specific campaign

Application Process

Applicants must be community leaders, with experience in successful environmental projects/campaigns, who have built coalitions and relationships with other community groups and leaders. Applicants can choose from our Sustainability Model Library—or, with our guidance, develop their own community-specific plan.

  1. Read the guidelines for applicants
  2. Fill out the application

Community Viewing Rights

All public screenings of a film require community viewing screening rights and depend on the distributor of each film for the screening fee. You’re welcome to seek sponsorships or partnerships in your community to cover the costs.

How we can help

Our staff, advisors, and volunteers bring a wealth of experience in PR, media, branding, events organizing, and more. For example, we co-produce fundraising events so communities can pay for their efforts; we deliver award-winning filmmakers and environmental leaders to facilitate events and inspire action; and we put together film programming specifically designed for your environmental conference and forum.

Rely on Reel Community Action for:

  • Setting Event Strategies and Goals
  • Creative Concepting
  • Event Production and Management
  • Budget Management
  • Marketing Production and Management
  • Audience Acquisition
  • Vendor Selection and Management
  • Sponsorship/Partner Acquisition and Management
  • Film Festival Programming
  • Panel Moderation
  • Post-Event Reporting
  • Fundraising

A partial list of companies and organizations we’ve served include:

  • ecoAmerica
  • American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment
  • Microsoft Corporation
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
  • Tourism Australia
  • Gap Inc.
  • Kodak
  • Honeywell International Inc.

Social Networking: Reel Community Action uses, and recommends, social networking platforms such as WiserEarth, a community directory and networking forum that maps and connects non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals addressing the central issues of our day. These issues include climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, and human rights. Content is created and edited by people like you. More information.