FILMS FOR ACTION

Comic: How Big Media Is Killing Democracy, But The Solution Is Up To Us

By Symbolia and YES! Magazine / yesmagazine.org
May 30, 2014
5

Today, six corporations own most of our media—but we could be poised to take it back.

Symbolia Story 1

Symbolia Story 2

Symbolia Story 3

Symbolia Story 4

 

 

This comic was produced by Symbolia Magazine and YES! Magazine for The Power of Story, the Summer 2014 issue of YES!

As co-founders of Symbolia Magazine, Erin Polgreen and Joyce Rice work together to merge true stories with illustration and comics. Rice specializes in illustration, sequential storytelling, interactive content, and publication design. When she’s not drawing or designing, she rides her bike around the country and reads lots of books. Polgreen is editor and publisher of Symbolia and works at the intersection of audience engagement, media innovation, and entrepreneurship. An internationally recognized strategist and consultant, she also works on the Media Ideation Fellowships. She loves motorcycles and makes a mean Manhattan. 

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Films For Patrons: Donate $5/mo to Gain Access to These Great Films

Films For Action is a library for people who want to change the world.

 

Our mission is to provide citizens with the knowledge and perspectives essential to creating a more beautiful, just, sustainable, and democratic society.

Films For Action was founded in 2006 by a few friends in Lawrence, Kansas, after realizing how essential healthy media is to a healthy democracy.

Over the last 15 years, we've reviewed and curated over 1,000 free documentaries and 4,000 short films, plus over 150 pay-per-view documentaries, spanning 34 topics related to changing the world.

During this time we've been able to reach tens of millions of people - not by owning a TV network or spending truckloads of cash on advertising, but because millions of awesome people keep sharing 'films for action' with their friends on social media - in particular, our 850,000 supporters on Facebook and 70,000 site members. 

One of the coolest things is, thanks to our patrons, our library is ad-free and 100% supported by member donations, while 99% of our library is free to access and always will be. The pay-per-view films on our site, of course, help support the filmmakers, and 90-100% of the revenue for PPV films hosted by us goes to the filmmakers. 

To thank our $5/mo patrons, we partner with filmmakers and distributors to provide access to a growing number of films that are normally pay-per-view. With just 24 highly curated films at the moment, it's basically a mini "Netflix for world changers," but its main function is to support the library as a whole.

If you'd like to know more, want to help out, or you're a filmmaker or distributor looking to collaborate, drop us a line via our contact page. 

Cheers,  
Tim Hjersted
Co-Founder & Director
Lawrence, KS