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DADDY & PAPA Outreach Campaign Interview with Filmmaker Johnny Symons
JS: The backing of nationally recognized organizations and community groups with strong local reputations helped build enthusiasm and name recognition of DADDY & PAPA. People showed up for community screenings in part because there was a coordinated effort to promote them by organizations they respected. One of our most successful partnerships was with Family Pride Coalition, a national organization of gay and lesbian families. Hundreds of parents and kids viewed the film at the annual get-togethers they sponsor for families across the country. CCP: What did you find most challenging about implementing an outreach campaign? JS: Most community organizations are strapped for time and money. Even though my film fit the mission of many of the organizations and might help them to achieve their aims, it was hard to get some of them involved in outreach because they felt they couldn't dedicate the resources to it. CCP: What did you learn about outreach? JS: Prior to being a filmmaker, I managed a community outreach program for youth around HIV prevention. For me, documentary filmmaking was a natural outgrowth of this work – it's about taking a message to a larger group of people and getting them motivated to make change. Doing outreach, formally and informally, is a key component of why I make documentaries. CCP: What advice would you give emerging filmmakers interested in community outreach and educational development? JS: Network with community organizations during pre-production and production. Keep track of your contacts and keep them apprised of how your film is evolving. A lot of people involved in community work are enthusiastic about social issue documentaries and will help you get the word out about your film. CCP: What was one of the desired outcomes you achieved through your outreach? JS: Although the primary focus of DADDY & PAPA is about gay men raising kids, there are many secondary issues, one of which is foster care. There are thousands of foster kids currently waiting for homes. In most states it is legal for gay men to adopt, yet many kids who might otherwise be placed in these permanent homes end up being bounced from one foster home to another because people who work in the system have fears about how placements with gay men might work out. Through our outreach efforts, DADDY & PAPA is being used in awareness training for judges, social workers, public health professionals and foster parents to help them understand how gay dads and foster kids can form wonderful families. It's heartening to me to know that the film is having an impact in changing attitudes, and very important to me personally because my partner and I have two kids who we adopted from the foster care system.
JS: The ITVS community organizer in Philadelphia pulled together a collaboration between a huge range of local organizations, including the Department of Human Services, Family Pride Coalition, The Center for Lesbian/Gay Civil Rights, PFLAG Philadelphia and the Central Baptist Church. Each co-sponsor was asked to commit to publicizing the event through newsletters, e-mail and flyers with the goal of producing 10-15 people from each organization. Each co-sponsor received 50-100 flyers for distribution. The screening was promoted by the head of the DHS on TV and radio. DHS created a fabulous print ad for the event which ran for three weeks prior to the event in the Philadelphia Gay News – the newspaper with the widest distribution to the gay male community. A key goal was encouraging social workers to consider gay men as adoptive parents, and for gay men to consider adoption as a means of forming a family. CCP: What is the next step of your outreach campaign? JS: We will continue to screen the film wherever it can spark discussion and create community change. At the moment we have upcoming screenings scheduled in university classrooms, LGBT family organizations, an exhibit on family relationships in a museum in Massachusetts and a conference on bio-ethics in Germany. Meanwhile, organizers and educators continue to download the DADDY & PAPA discussion guide from the web – allowing them to carry the conversations triggered by the film into the community. |
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