Filmanthropy - Ted Leonsis & The Sundance Film Festival

When you want to get an important message out to millions of people and a 30-second PSA just won't do, why not make a movie?

In a recent article by the Washington Post, Ted Leonsis describes his new business model of "filmanthropy." It's no surprise to me that Ted has coined such a trademarkable phrase and concept - he was in my 2006 POP! Hall of Fame. Why? A year ago, Ted Googled himself and was unhappy to discover several unflattering articles featured first. Rather than passively complaining about this, he proactivTEd Leonsisely initiated his own blog, Ted's Takes, so he could control his professional persona. Click here to find out what happened as a result of him joining the blogosphere.

Ted describes this new term "filmanthropy" (what I call a Half and Half Word in my book POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd), and how satisfying it was to make "Nanking," a movie with a cause that made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in last Saturday.

"It's where you can shed light on a big issue. You raise the money around your charity and make something that can drive people to understand an issue," said Leonsis. "It brings together philanthropy and understanding how media works. You're going to see a lot of people doing this because a studio probably wouldn't do a story like this."

The blog On Philanthropy.com featured a post describing how socially conscious films are not new - however "filmanthropy" is an innovative way to give donors a more tangible vehicle to bring awareness to a favorite cause. Instead of simply writing a check and having it "disappear" into a foundation's budget, contributors get to see the fruits of their labor of love.

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Sam Horn, author of POP! Stand out In Any Crowd (Perigee)
Want more? Visit http://www.SamHornPOP.com
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