Media Impact

Incoming Co-Director at CMSI, Brigid Maher, announced today the acquisition of her upcoming documentary The Mama Sherpas, by BOND/360 and executive producers Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein. The Mama Sherpas will premiere on May 27^th in Los Angeles, followed by regional, VOD and DVD releases.

"I'm humbled and honored to have Abby and Ricki come on board as Executive Producers," said Maher, associate professor in American University’s School of Communication. "Their 2008 film The Business of Business Born had a groundbreaking impact on how women made choices around birth and inspired me to tell the story of hospital midwives who are working to bring the C-section rate down through their women based approach. Read more...

When it comes to games, what exactly do we mean by impact? How do our different interpretations hold us back, and how can we bridge them to move forward?

These questions have spurred a new Games for Change research project (see http://GameImpact.net), which seeks to create shared language around impact games and improve collaboration between designers and researchers. The first report of the series, titled “Impact with Games: A Fragmented Field,” lays out the challenges the series will address. Read more...

Guest Post by Kaitlin Whitman

At the 18^th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival,  Angelica Das, associate director at CMSI, joined filmmakers and funders to discuss best practices for high-risk storytelling. Using the Center’s recent report “Dangerous Docs” as a catalyst, this conservation looked specifically at the relationship of funders and risk. Read more...

At this year’s Media That Matters conference, American University School of Communication Executive in Residence and Center for Media & Social Impact Co-Director Caty Borum Chattoo spoke about humor as “an incredibly powerful way to communicate about social issues.” On Friday, April 17 at 6:45am EST, she will be taking this message global.

Borum Chattoo has been invited to speak at the 2015 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship’s session “What’s So Funny? The Role of Comedy in Social Change,” moderated by Jess Search of BRITDOC. Listeners are invited to “explore the power of humor to spotlight issues in a serious world.” Read more...

New research proves that established and traditional cultural institutions--museums, orchestras and libraries--are adjusting to a new digital reality. Looking to accommodate the public expectation of engaging with culture without sitting through a long performance or attending an exhibit, these legacy institutions are changing traditional ways of thinking and operating. Read more...