Announcer:
This episode is brought to you by the University of Louisville.
Greg Wright:
Welcome to Social Work Talks. My name is Greg Wright. Social workers do a lot of things, but did you know that they are also accomplished filmmakers and film producers? Today we talked to two social workers who have done the film festival circuit. They are Gerri Matthews, who did a film called "Justice Denied," that looks at sexual abuse in the military, and Matt Anderson whose documentary, "From Place to Place," delved into the lives of aged out foster children. Welcome to Social Work Talks, Gerri and Matthew. How are you doing today?
Gerri Matthews:
Good morning.
Matt Anderson:
I'm doing great.
Greg Wright:
Were you a social worker first or a filmmaker first? Gerri?
Gerri Matthews:
Before I had my MSW back in the '80s, I did some background stand-in work in New Mexico. I always had an interest in film, and when I was getting my undergraduate degree, I had taken some video classes. This is back in the '70s. Then I got my MSW in 1994, and I've always been an advocate, even prior to being a social worker. So that was just something innate. I was still interested in film, but needing to pursue my career. I had a family and, you know, pay the bills. Film had to be put on the background because it's not always a full-time career.
So later on down the road, I found a topic that was very personal to my husband and myself. It's about military sexual trauma. We did some research, and we were engaged in working on a documentary that screened at Sundance Film Festival called "The Invisible War." And we were contributors to the film as well as in the film. We went on to slowly develop our production company and purchase equipment, which we did not always have. And we made our first documentary, "Justice Denied," back in 2013. Then since then we've gone on to purchase more equipment and get involved in the film community here. I went on to become a board member of New Mexico Women in Film, and it just blossomed from there.
Greg Wright:
Matt?
Matt Anderson:
My experience is also in documentary film, although, Greg, I'd be hard pressed to call myself a filmmaker. I think that takes on a role where you at least know how to operate a camera or be able to do editing, have some technical skills. I would consider myself a documentary film producer. But whether that came first or social work came first, it's actually one and the same. I did my master's of social work at the University of Montana, and at the time I was working with kids aging out of foster care. My foray into filmmaking was producing a feature documentary about America's foster care system, through the stories of three kids who aged out of foster care. These were three kids that I actually worked with in the program that I worked in. The idea for the film came from one of the young men that I was working with, Cody. And I brought that idea to one of my classes in graduate school. I was not a social worker prior to my MSW, and so my MSW was my entry point into social work, and that MSW class was my entry point into filmmaking. So we ended up taking it from a class idea to a real life idea. Long story short, I met Paige Williams, who is a filmmaker. She was the director of the film. She was the founder of Porch Productions and I became a co-owner with her of Porch Productions when I came out of graduate school. So we did that project together and we did a number of other projects together, as well as producer/director team.
Greg Wright:
Why is film an effective way to actually communicate an issue? What is it about film that that actually resonates with people?
Gerri Matthews:
I think film is a great vehicle to educate, advocate, to create and change policy. It gives our clients an opportunity to have their voices heard and to speak to a particular topic. It also is a great opportunity for legislators to hear those concerns.
Matt Anderson:
I would agree with that. Film as a medium as opposed to a lot of other things, I think they have longer shelf life. They can take on a life of their own. So the extension of their reach to an audience and their ability to have impact, I just feel is greater than some other things that you might do, such as writing an article or producing content in some other medium. Film is just storytelling, and if you want to create change in the world, one great way to do that is through storytelling. So I've always felt like, at least what we tried to do with From Place to Place was to tell a story that would get people at the head and the heart. Give them the facts of the matter and then use the personal story to hit somebody in the heart in a way that can compel them to actually change behaviors. People change behaviors based on their feelings; our feelings drive our behaviors, and a story is a great way to make somebody feel something. It's that feeling that can drive their behavior change. So documentary film is a powerful tool to do that. I'll quote another social worker out there that people might know, Brené Brown. Brené Brown says, "Stories are just data with a soul." That's what documentary film can do is bring a different data set to the decision-making process. In a way, it's really, really powerful, I've found.
Greg Wright:
When you both launched these projects, did it take longer than you at first thought?
Gerri Matthews:
When Michael was at Sundance with me, my husband got sick, and he said, "I think we should make a film about this topic." I just said, "Oh, yeah, honey, we're going to do that," because he wasn't feeling well, and I wasn't about to argue with the man that was on a morphine drip. So we get back to New Mexico, and he was quite ill for a year. We almost lost him. And in that process, we were both very frightened. He said, "Can you make the film?" I said, "Sure, honey, I can make a film," and I'd never made a film in my life. So I reached out to the film community here, and it happened to be a film on veterans. One of the filmmakers who was a director, he said, "I'll work with you." So we created this film together. I had no idea what I was doing, what I was getting into. None. It's probably good that I didn't know because had I known, I might've shied away. We just stepped in and got into it. And what I find is I never let whether I have a certain amount of money or no money at all get in my way; whether I have the perfect equipment or not, stop me from creating the opportunity to have the subjects tell the story.
Greg Wright:
Matt?
Matt Anderson:
Yeah. I mean, similar. I just jumped into it too. I mean, I was having a conversation with Cody about his foster care story and experience, and he inspired the idea. He said, "My life matters, and people need to know what happened to me." And then he said, "We should make a movie about my life." I said, "Let's do that. Let's make a movie about your life." And in that conversation, we named it "From Place to Place." I didn't know what it was going to take. I had no clue, but I knew that it was the right thing to do. Anything that's worth doing is going to be hard. There are going to be challenges, and so that should never deter us. Actually, it should inspire us. The hard things are probably the best things to do. It definitely was. When Cody and I met with Paige the first time and pitched her on the idea, the plan was to make like a seven-minute short film and maybe that would take, what, a couple months or something to put together. So that's where we started. And three years after, that we released an 80-minute doc. So, yeah, it went from an idea sitting on Cody's couch talking about his story to a seven-minute film to a three-year project.
Greg Wright:
How did you find the funding for these projects?
Gerri Matthews:
Initially, we had zero dollars. We had very generous friends and family, and then I reached out to some nonprofits and they were very generous. They believed in the topic. They believed in what we were doing, and they gave us a generous donation. I mean, was about $10,000, which might seem like very little for most films. But we were determined with or without the money this was going to get done. There are lots of ways to do things. There's crowdfunding. There's Seed & Spark. There's GoFundMe, which I'm not a big fan of. There's a lot of ways to get it out there. There's four-walling your film, which basically means you test it out in different venues. There's the NASW conference. We have a lot of opportunities as social workers to get our films out. We would literally go door to door downtown Albuquerque to different businesses and pitch what we were doing. We picked certain venues like law firms, physicians, depending on the topic we were doing. We were going to do whatever it takes to get it done.
Matt Anderson:
Similar situation again, I mean, you do what it takes. We were in a place when we got started, I was working on something on a different sort of project. But I was able to free up some funds from that project to get started, so I think we had $5,000 to start. As it grew, we knew we had to raise more money. One of the things that we did right out of the gate that was really smart was IDA, International Documentary Association. They have a program for filmmakers that don't have a nonprofit, where you can run your fundraising through their nonprofit. So you can write grants and take tax deductible donations, and they work with you to do that. Anyway, we did that. And then we were able to start writing grants, do fundraisers, similar, local businesses. I had a friend who was part of a record label, and that record label had an interesting connection to what we were doing. Early on, they gave us $10,000 and access to their artists to do music for the score. So we had some free music that came out of that. They actually ended up producing the whole soundtrack to the film, so we had that in distribution as well when the film was completed. Then it just kind of snowballed from there, and we just found different ways to raise money. I think we raised close to $300,000 cash and then had a lot of in-kind free music or people getting reduced rates because they believed in the project. You just kind of hustle and scrap and make it happen.
Greg Wright:
I've actually seen the films. They are wonderful. They are powerful ones. How'd you get it in front of policy-making people?
Gerri Matthews:
Oh, boy. That's a good one.
Greg Wright:
Because both of you did that well.
Gerri Matthews:
Retired General Woodward had invited Michael and I to the Pentagon, to SAPRO, to discuss our film and to discuss our input on military sexual trauma. This quite an honor and an opportunity. So we did that. And while we were in Washington, DC, we looked at each other and said, "You know what? I'm going to reach out to Senator Gillibrand." On a whim, I just picked up the phone and I spoke with her secretary, and we told her who we were. We were over at her office that afternoon, and we spent about an hour with her, which is highly unusual. She really was behind us and got on board with what are attempting to do, which is change policy regarding the Military Justice Improvement Act. It just mushroomed from there. Then she invited us to set up a screening with her at the Senate, which we did. So we had a lot of really great opportunities on the Hill, where we were really trying to elevate awareness about this terrible crime that's occurring over and over again in our armed forces. So we had a lot of allies on the Hill, which was wonderful. And they were very receptive and supportive, and they still are. So that's one way to get it in front of policymakers, which is reach out if they're not reaching out to you. And believe it or not, there are a lot of people on the Hill that are aware of the value of documentary film and how that can change policy. The more you get involved in documentary filmmaking, you will see the very close connection between doc filmmaking and what does or does not happen on the Hill.
Greg Wright:
Matt?
Matt Anderson:
Number one, relationships, networking. Maybe that's not number one. Super important, though. Our pathway to the Hill came through a series of relationships that we built along the way. Because as we were making the film, we are intent on building its audience. So it's not like make the film, then go find the audience. Know who your audience is as you're making the film; start to build a relationship with your audience. And that sort of relationship building, networking, led us to the Hill. But I think the most important thing is that the documentary that we made, it wasn't about me. It wasn't about a social worker. It wasn't about a professional. It wasn't about any kind of talking head expert. It was about three kids who had an experience, and the film was just the truth of their story. It was just the power of their voice. It was their pure desire to be heard. So when folks on the Hill, Becky Shipp being the primary person, saw what we were doing. They knew that they wanted to bring these young people, these kids and their stories to the Hill. And so Becky Shipp was really the champion of that to make that work. The reason it worked was a little bit timing too. The Senate Caucus on Foster Youth had just started, and it was being led by Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Mary Landrieu, so they had the ability to bring people together. Becky was working for Senator Grassley at the time. So we had pretty incredible access to Senator Grassley senator Landrieu, a number of others where we had similar, we had multiple long meetings with them and ... But it's really Raif and Mandy who were talking to them. What ended up happening from that was really impressive. My philosophy as a social worker is you listen to the people that you work with. Mandy and Raif, for my example. You listen to them, you learn from them and you act with them. So it's not up to me to go solve problems. It's really need to create partnerships with Mandy and Raif and work together with them to solve problems. Becky Shipp is a similar kind of person; she took a similar approach. She listened to these stories. She learned from them. Then she acted with a bunch of other young people and advocates from around the country and did this series of listening sessions that led to what became ultimately the Family First Prevention Services Act. It's one of the biggest pieces of child welfare legislation ever, really. Transformational piece of legislation that we're seeing its impacts now in the field. So, yeah, I agree. I mean, documentary film, folks on the Hill need some way to learn about what's happening on the ground. And a documentary in process and in completion is a great way to bring new insights and new information to policymakers.
Greg Wright:
Gerri, you have also with your film made a few positive changes as well.
Gerri Matthews:
Yeah. There have been changes, definitely, that are occurring and they're still going on. And changes, sometimes things can appear to be slow. But we have built up a huge group of advocates, male and female, and the Pentagon is clearly aware of what's going on. So are individual SAPRO offices. Yes, change is definitely coming. It may not be as fast as we would like, but there's been momentum. I mean, even as far as what's been going on in the media lately about military sexual trauma, it builds momentum and it just keeps growing. We've also been able to use social media and local media and national mediums to get the word out, writing articles and getting interviews with local television stations. And then we were wound up and then using the daily news and the New York Times. So it just mushrooms. Once the word got out what we were doing, the wire was picking it up and people were calling us for interviews.
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Greg Wright:
Is this a skill that every social worker should have?
Gerri Matthews:
When I was working full time as a social worker doing traditional social work, I didn't have a lot of time to pursue something like this. I was raising my child, who's now grown adult, and I didn't have a lot of free time.
Now I'm in a different stage of life, a different stage of development, where I have more time to take my skills as a social worker and parlay them into something different. I consider it to be another form of social work mixed with creativity, if you will, and an opportunity to hopefully make more macro changes, if you will. So I wouldn't encourage people to shy away from it. If you have an interest in anything that's creative or trying to get the word out in a different way or advocate in another way, I would say definitely give it a try, and see what it feels like for you. I wouldn't say shy away. I think there's a lot to it, that we could probably spend a few more hours talking about the ins and outs of how to do this without having it cost a lot of money and take up a lot of time. But I would definitely say give it a shot. If you have the inclination to do it or something you just want to give a shot to, I would say go for it.
Greg Wright:
Matt?
Matt Anderson:
I'm not going to disagree with that, but I'll take this in a little bit of a different direction. I have a different answer to that question.
I would say for all social workers run as fast as you can to social media. Figure out how to put it to work for you as much as possible. For everybody; it doesn't really matter what kind of practice you do, what kind of social work you do. Even if you work for a government agency and you're thinking like: "Why would I be on social media?" What are your career ambitions? Who do you want to know? Who do you want to meet? How do you want to get connected to the next opportunity? Social media's sitting there waiting for you to be able to take advantage of opportunities to build your network and get connected. Or if you're a therapist: "Why would I be on social media?" Well, it's a great way to market your practice. It's a great way to have online impact of just sharing resources that you know are good for everybody to know about, how to protect our mental wellbeing on the day-to-day basis. If you're a macro social worker, the opportunities are limitless, really, in terms of how you can leverage the power of social media to build coalition, to advance ideas, to create impact in very real ways. So, yeah, I think it's for everybody, but it's not easy. So you have to learn. You have to take the time to commit to learning how to use it. But if you do, it's a powerful tool, I think, for all social workers.
Gerri Matthews:
I totally agree with what you just said, Matt. I don't know if you've had this experience, but you were talking about how to get the word out about your documentary and so forth. I find that social media was a great resource to build your audience right from the beginning, from the inception of the idea of whatever the film is that you might want to create.
It is a great way to develop a following, and that's what we did from the very beginning. We created a film page, and we kept people abreast of what was going on and where the interviews were and what was happening. We have built a very big following that way, so I would encourage people to use that for getting your film out there.
Matt Anderson:
When we did "From Place to Place," it was 2008 to 2011. That was still pretty early social media. And we were able to find ways organically to grow an audience without ... I don't think we did any paid media back then. I don't know when Facebook ads started, so ...
But there are new things happening now: TikTok, Clubhouse, LinkedIn, still opportunities to do organic growth without paid media. Facebook, yeah, you have to do paid media to grow your audience there now. Is really no other option. But it's really affordable. So yeah, I mean, as a filmmaker, social media is your best friend, I think, to build your audience.
Gerri Matthews:
Vimeo is a vehicle where you can store your films, and you can also get them out to the public. Then you can also create a viewing venue where people can come and watch your films, and you can do a Q&A. So there's a lot of opportunity there too, to get the word out.
Also, that vehicle is used by a lot of filmmakers to share projects and look at different films. And also while you're working on creating your film, like I have a music person in New York, Patty Lee Stotter. When I'm done with the film and I want her to help me with the music, I sent it to her on Vimeo. So it's a communication tool as well.
Matt Anderson:
It's a similar product or platform to YouTube. It has a little bit of a different set of features to it. But, yeah, pretty similar to YouTube.
Greg Wright:
What are the projects that you're working on now?
Gerri Matthews:
We just wrapped "Tsunami in the Middle of the Night," which was supposed to be filmed using traditional cameras, movie cameras with a crew, and we had a location. And then we had our own tsunami with the pandemic, so we had to shut everything down for safety reasons.
We thought, "Okay, what are we going to do?" We wound up using iPhones, smartphones, any smartphone that any actor had, and we actually did it remotely. So we just finished that. Right now, I'm not working on anything at the moment. I guess you could say I'm in the middle of a creative break just trying to get my footing again.
Greg Wright:
Yeah. And "Tsunami" is a documentary, Gerri? Or ...
Gerri Matthews:
Tsunami started out being a slam rap poem that I had written at the inception of Trump becoming president. When I couldn't sleep at night, I started writing poetry in the middle of the night. A few other filmmakers said, "Wow, this would make a great film." It took me a few years to finally get the nerve up to turn it into a film after I had gone out there and performed it a few times. And it became a very multicultural project where the casting had to include people of different ethnicities, different gender persuasions. It was a creative opportunity for people to have their voices heard. And so that's my most recent project.
Matt Anderson:
Yeah. So for the last nine years I've been at Children's Home Society of North Carolina, so I live in North Carolina now. It's interesting. We do have a videographer on staff, which is pretty unusual for a child and family services nonprofit organization.
So I've been lucky. I've been able to work with him a lot on short video content that we use for like education and advocacy, that sort of thing. That's been great. But so a couple of things. One, we're at the 10-year mark, almost at the 10-year mark. 2021 is 10 years after the release of "From Place to Place." So we're re-introducing that, sort of re-releasing that to the world again right now. We're actually doing that through what I'm launching right now, which is called the Institute for Family. So if people listening to this, go to instituteforfamily.org. They now can watch From Place to Place in its full length for free on our website. And then, yeah, the Institute for Family is this really interesting initiative that we're launching within Children's Home Society to really take our mission to the national stage. It's really all about elevating and prioritizing family wellbeing so that all families can thrive. So it's really this acknowledgement of the important role that family plays in the lives of kids and society and communities. We want to do everything we can to make sure that families are strong so that our country is strong. It's coming out of this recognition that we serve so many families that are facing real conditions that are issues in their ability to thrive. The biggest indication of that to me is 700,000 kids in foster care. 700,000 kids in foster care end up there because their family is suffering in some sort of way. The Institute is all about how are we going to begin to strengthen families, invest in communities in a way that can reduce those or eliminate or mitigate those kinds of conditions that families face that lead to things like child maltreatment. So it's a pretty ambitious effort that we're launching. We're excited about it. We're just three months in. We did a Unlearning of Child Welfare webinar series that's on our website. That was our first thing out of the gate. And now, yes, we're developing podcasts right now and definitely working on video content. There is probably a documentary in our future. But COVID kind of put any real planning effort around that on hold. Yeah, there'll be video production coming out of the Institute for Family. So, yeah, we're excited about it.
Greg Wright:
Thank you, thank you. Well, it was a wonderful conversation. I thank you for being our guests on Social Work Talks. Gerri and Matt, thank you.
Gerri Matthews:
Thank you so much. Nice to talk to you all.
Matt Anderson:
Yeah, thanks to both of you. This was fun.
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