Oscars And Indices: Case Studies On Storytelling For Impact
Speakers
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Executive Vice President, Social Action and Advocacy, Participant Media
Chad Boettcher is Executive Vice President, Social Action and Advocacy at Participant Media, the entertainment company devoted to feature film, television, and digital content that inspires social change. Boettcher is responsible for leading the creation, development and execution of strategies that leverage Participant’s content and investments across all its lines of business for social impact.
Under Boettcher’s leadership, the company has worked with experts and influencers to create dozens of social impact campaigns for films like Lincoln, Snitch, Middle of Nowhere, A Place at the Table, Last Call at the Oasis and Cesar Chavez; and for TV shows like the Emmy®-winning HitRECord on TV, Human Resources and Please Like Me. His team also leads digital initiatives that activate communities on important issues of the day, and manages the 100+ NGOs who have joined Participant’s Social Action Network.
Prior to joining Participant, Boettcher developed social innovation strategies and community affairs programming at MTV, Nike and Weber Shandwick; and worked for the US presidential campaigns of both Al Gore (2000) and Barack Obama (2008).
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Producer, Strongheart Group
CORI SHEPHERD STERN is an Academy Award nominated producer focused on both documentary and fiction film projects. Her most recent film, which she wrote and produced, is BENDING THE ARC - a feature documentary about the epic arc of the global health rights movement through the intimate story of the extraordinary team who led the fight. The film, which premiered at Sundance 2017, was called by The Hollywood Reporter "a stunning documentary...a glorious and uplifting film."
Cori's past projects include WARM BODIES, a box office smash for Summit/Lionsgate and OPEN HEART, a 2013 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject. She has a first-look producing deal with Rocklin|Faust, producers of Oscar-winning Best Picture SPOTLIGHT. Current projects include THE ARIZONA PROJECT with Miramax and Adaptive Entertainment, a narrative feature. Cori has also executive produced two virtual reality films: COLLISIONS, which premiered at Davos and Sundance 2016, and FRANCIS, which premiered at the World Bank and WHO in support of world body policy change for global mental health.
In addition to film, her experience includes hands-on work as a social change strategist and social entrepreneur. She appeared in the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winning documentary SONITA, working to help the young woman/rapper escape child marriage in Afghanistan and pursue her art. Cori's social justice projects have been featured on BBC, NPR, The Today Show, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
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Founding Director, International Resource for Impact and Storytelling
Cara Mertes champions cinematic artists as leaders in society. Harnessing the power of cultural expression to support communities, policies and priorities rooted in dignity and justice, she is currently founder of the International Resource for Impact and Storytelling (IRIS), a new donor collaborative working internationally at the intersection of civic innovation, creative storytelling and narrative strategies. As Director at Ford Foundation (JustFilms), Sundance Institute (DFP) and as EP of P.O.V. on PBS, Mertes oversaw funding for hundreds of documentaries and envisioned a global network of independent film hubs. At Sundance, she co-created Stories of Change (Skoll Foundation) and co-founded Good Pitch (DocSociety). At POV, she received Emmy, duPont Columbia 's and a Webby Award for her original web series, POV’s Borders. Awarded Doc NYC Career, Doc Mogul and IDA Pioneer Award among others, degrees are from Vassar College, Hunter College and Harvard Business School’s OPM.
