Screen A Movie, Make A Difference: A Media Model for Mobilization

two-angry-moms.gifJust as “What are you doing?” sparked a social media revolution with the evolution of Twitter, “How can I make a difference?” has the potential to be answered swiftly with a brilliant media model from “Two Angry Moms.”

Shaping Youth is proud to partner with documentary producer Amy Kalafa and Susan Rubin (seen here yesterday on the Rachael Ray talk show) to support their film that’s been in the news spotlighting the sorry state of our national school lunch programs. (here’s Two Angry Moms Redbook feature, NPR radio interview and Good Morning America video from awhile back too)

Care about junk food concessions and cruddy school lunches? Want better school food? They make it easy and empowering for parents and kids to host screenings anywhere from a school gym/PTA parent ed night to a house party with turnkey ease to champion change. The lyrics from their short music video say it all…And…

They’ve even added “how to start a school wellness council” in their resources, and movie clips and trailer promos! This is my kind of ‘just do it’ model with national outreach in a snap, complete with marketing materials all set to go and a step-by-step primer on how to host a screening.

I’ve been impressed with Two Angry Moms’ indie film model for replication and distribution, as it gnaws at the barriers for participation to set up a ‘no excuses’ marketing model that’s digestible, adaptable and scalable to a wide array of venues. I particularly love that there’s no dinkin’ around with power-whining and shoulder shrugs in ‘what can I possibly do’ fashion, as the movie screening itself becomes an action step! Here’s Shaping Youth’s marquee to RSVP!

kalafa.jpgPleasure to team with this dynamic duo of gal pals, as they clearly know about marketing and care about kids’ nutrition, two big passions of ours here at Shaping Youth.

We’ll run this film by our own Shaping Youth nutrition correspondent Rebecca Scritchfield to deconstruct the film’s nutritional components. Rebecca is a trusted dietary resource ascribing to the Healthcare Blogger code of ethics with 10 years as a certified personal trainer, 6 years of training in nutrition, a master’s degree and an expected registered dietitian credential in the coming months. (plus all kinds of ‘pedigree’ power from The Johns Hopkins University)

Therefore, my caveat here is that Shaping Youth is supporting the film from an advocacy, grassroots media mobilization standpoint, rather than having dissected with full analysis the national school lunch program at various stages of overhaul throughout the nation, or even the producer’s background details. Our own middle school, just last week put in a new policy so kids don’t snag a la carte items without a ‘main course,’ since kids were chomping cookies and Gatorade on the go—And…

It still seems to be in a constant state of flux, as the junk vendors remain. If I read it right, pizza now has shifted to being a main course? (like I said, need further delving, pls. feedback from your own regional experiences with school lunch programs)

Passionista parents aiming to proactively take on the need for healthier options are clearly worth backing for that reason alone! These ladies hopscotched right over bureaucracy into a viable action plan, with a smart mashup of grassroots activism and media savvy, making use of core networks already actively engaged in children’s health.

I’d say Two Angry Moms are “two savvy media mavens” …they’ve essentially turned national school lunch awareness into one-click cause-marketing to mobilize fast.

The use fees to screen the film are affordable for most every organization or individual house party. (Shaping Youth readers, use promo code SY0100 on the AngryMoms.org site for deeply discounted screenings, now until April 15th)

I definitely will bring their film with me to Boston in a couple of weeks for the CCFC summit where I’m holding a workshop on “Using the power of media for positive change” on April 4th in the hopes of sharing it in an impromptu showing to spread the word among those child advocates and educators as well.

supersize-me.jpgSuperSize Me Director Morgan Spurlock is the guest of honor at CCFC’s opening summit session…so you can’t get much more appropo than that!

Seems this is screaming for a tie-in from a grassroots level to spread the distribution in spoke and wheel mode…I want to catch these CCFC leaders while they’re ready and inspired to go back into their own communities and proactively DO SOMETHING!

We’re excited to support ‘Two Angry Moms’ any way we can, through co-branding, spreading the word when speaking about our counter-marketing programs, like our Dare to Compare: Gross Out Game for Good Nutrition and cross-promotions with other organizations and affiliations that care about kids’ health.

Shaping Youth is using their turnkey promotional toolkit as a teen media literacy lesson in itself, since our interns will learn how to plan, market, calendar and get press for an event in ad-blitz style, from posters to pragmatics. (Nothing like a double-purposed event, eh?) If you’d like to lend a hand, or have your organization help as a co-sponsor drop us a note in the comments section…Meanwhile:

delancey-screening.jpgShaping Youth is proud to host our first large (150 theater) screening of Two Angry Moms tackling the school lunch program at the spectacular Delancey Street Foundation theater in San Francisco on the Embarcadero, May 14th from 6:30-8:30.

As S.F. Bay area locals know, Mimi Silbert’s Delancey Street is a worthy cause in itself, so we’re thrilled to host the screening in their state-of-the-art facility, home to the Director’s Guild monthly screenings, especially since they fit us in during the busy film festival month of May.

For earlier showings of ‘Two Angry Moms’ check their screening schedule at Brave New Theaters, I know there’s a local screening slated for Half Moon Bay 3-31 which I want to attend too.

Tween/teen volunteers in the Bay area who would like to help promote our May 14 Shaping Youth/Two Angry Moms event with ‘word of mouth’ at your lunch tables in Bay area schools, let me know by posting in our comments. (hint: we could use some youth mobilization to pay it forward in social media style too; great for ‘service credits’ on the ol’ college apps, too, kids! 😉

champions-for-change.jpg We’ll no doubt tap into some of our recent conference contacts at Champions for Change to attend, and pull our local Bay area ‘sister orgs’ into the schools-n-screening mix via Girls Are Champions,(GACtv) San Mateo Starlings Volleyball USA, and Rona Renner’s great Childhood Matters radio show.

I’ll also be speaking at the Preteen Alliance health/nutrition/body image panel on May 1st with Kaiser Permanente and the Lucile Packard Children’s Health Foundation, so this is all good timing.

To get involved in overhauling school lunches and offering healthier choices in your own city, check Two Angry Moms’ scheduled screenings, or better yet, host a screening yourself and join us in our fight for the health of America’s children in your home, local library, corporate conference center, school gym, you name it.

Kids love to help and learn from the media side of organizing, and it’s great for youth to pay it forward for children’s health in peer to peer style rallying for better food for all.

We’ve proven the “power of one” (appropo poem here) …this time we’ve got two strong voices, and just look at the waves they’ve already made. It’s quite an honor to give a nod to these ‘women making history’…You go girls!

Later, stay tuned for another indie film ‘rockumentary’ on the national circuit, as Shaping Youth tweens react in exit poll style to the new film, “Girls Rock!”

Update: Here’s the link to RSVP for the May 14th event in S.F., and we’ll also be offering registration through Brown Paper Tickets  soon throughout the Bay Area.

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Comments

  1. Amy, this is terrific. Thanks for sharing it. We’ll see what we can get going here in Minneapolis.

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