Q&A with Filmmakers: Behind the Scenes of Successful Impact Campaigns | Part 1

Impact Filmmaker Show

Your host: Ani Mercedes, Impact Producer and Founder of Looky Looky Pictures (https://www.lookylookypictures.com/), they have served over 1,000 filmmakers, and now serve filmmakers in their Guided Campaign impact accelerator program.

In this episode you’ll here from four filmmakers: Francisco Alcala - He is not only the proud father of Alejandra Alcala, the talented director of The Neighborhood Storyteller, but he is also deeply involved in the project as a producer, second camera, still photographer, and co-impact producer. In 2013, he made a bold decision to leave his well-paid job as VP of Kellogg's Latin-America Supply Chain to co-found the non-profit HOME Storytellers. Although some may consider his decision crazy, Francisco believes that money isn't everything, and he has gained invaluable experiences that he wouldn't trade for anything. Despite living in different countries, Francisco and Alejandra talk every day and work closely together. Above all, Francisco feels privileged to be making a positive impact on the lives of refugees, women, and girls in vulnerable situations, which brings him immense happiness.

Emily Branham is a filmmaker who specializes in unexpected, intimate, and deeply human stories about artists. Her first feature documentary, BEING BEBE, premiered at Tribeca Festival, was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, and won Jury & Audience Awards on its festival tour across 5 continents. She directs and produces short documentaries for clients, and is launching her new podcast this spring. The podcast is called You Can Fly Too, and is about how creative people build their lives around their art. Originally from Minneapolis, Emily studied Radio/TV/Film at Northwestern University and is based in New York City.

• Link Emily shared in the chat during the live event: https://beingbebemovie.com/impact-partnerships/

Lance Kramer is a DC-based filmmaker and co-founder of Meridian Hill Pictures. Lance produced THE FIRST STEP (Tribeca, AFI DOCS); CITY OF TREES (Full Frame, PBS, Netflix); and the Webby Award-winning documentary series THE MESSY TRUTH. Lance was selected to the 2018 Sundance Creative Producers Summit, the 2017 Impact Partners Documentary Producers Fellowship and was named to the DOC NYC “40 Under 40” list in 2021. Lance was awarded four Individual Arts Fellowships by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities between 2014-2022. In 2014, Lance received the DC Mayor’s Arts Award, the highest honor given to working artists in the city. Lance has served two terms as Board Member of Docs in Progress, and has been an active member of the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) since 2016. Lance holds a bachelor’s degree in history and film from Dartmouth College.

Mae Thornton Mehra is an oral historian and filmmaker who has collaborated with her husband and filmmaker, Atin Mehra on social justice and impact driven films for over 15 years at Orange Kite Productions. Mae serves as Producer on the award-winning BEING MICHELLE which premiered at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in 2022 and continues to screen to sold-out audiences across the US. Mae prides herself on openly creative collaboration between film participants and diverse production teams, where she believes that impact begins within the filmmaking process itself. In 2020 Mae and Atin co-founded the nonprofit Thriving Roots Initiative to further their work of social impact documentary filmmaking.