"Not Another @#% Politician?! New Civic Leaders on TV" (Season 11)

Cinereach, The Civic Leadership Stories Project, and ATX TV Festival present a look at how storylines about civic leadership and actions can break stereotypes, engage audiences, and maybe even help save democracy. Panelists also provide a first look at "Watching Out for Democracy," an unprecedented study of civic storylines in top-rated entertainment TV shows during 2020, led by the Center for Media & Social Impact (CMSI) in collaboration with MTV Entertainment Group and When We All Vote.

This panel was recorded at ATX TV Festival Season 11 (June 2-5, 2022) in Austin, TX.

PANELISTS:

• Melvin Mar (Producer, Speechless, Fresh Off The Boat)
• Paula Weissman (Lead Researcher, Center for Media & Social Impact)
• Pooja Sethi (Chief of Staff in the Texas House of Representatives)
• Will Jenkins (The Civic Leadership Stories Project)
• Candice McFarlane (Cinereach)

ABOUT THE CIVIC LEADERSHIP STORIES PROJECT

The Civic Leadership Stories Project supports scriptwriters, showrunners, producers, talent, and other creatives telling storylines about people who are shaking up how things are done in places of power. These storylines (which are not just in “political” shows) can inspire audiences to get involved with voting, advocacy, and public service. The Project offers show consulting with real life civic leaders, story and character libraries, writers workshops, and more. As part of the Project, researchers at the Center for Media & Social Impact, in partnership with MTV Entertainment Studios and When We All Vote, recently released an unprecedented study of how voting, civic engagement, and civic leadership are shown in the top scripted and unscripted entertainment programming.

Find out more at https://www.civicleadershipstories.com.

Learn more about Cinereach: https://www.cinereach.org/

Learn more about the Center for Media & Social Impact (CMSI): https://cmsimpact.org/

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