New Film Release ByPasses Theaters and Goes Straight to College Campus

Online, August 10, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Essentially, this is a research method used in anthropology and sociology to describe the nature of a people. "It places the focus not on what we think but on what they think and value," explains Bill Oechsler, EGM's president.

EGM hired Josh McQueen, who retired from Leo Burnett as Worldwide Head of Research Services Group, to conduct the study. It found that a few basic core values predict life satisfaction for millennials: autonomy, connectedness, and purposefulness. Basically this means that EGM's target audience wants three things: to make up its own mind about what to believe; to be a part of a community that shares its values; and to live lives that matter.

But there are some challenges. This age group is notoriously distracted and on an hourly basis is flooded with more information than their parents faced in a month. They are exposed to a bewildering barrage of opportunities and choices. Though they are anxious to engage in important causes, they are media-savvy and can smell propaganda a mile off.

Oechsler says that "the study showed that millennials are connected to an experience. It convinced us that our goal should not be to create community but to enter existing communities. So, we decided to bring the film experience into the community to which they are connected." After that, the choice of the college campus as the primary venue to screen EGM's films was obvious. "By doing so we allow every student group to become a theater."

The college is the perfect environment to screen the type of movies EGM produces-films that address the hardest topics creatively and objectively. "On university campuses there is a commitment to questioning everything," explains Cary McQueen Morrow, director for Grassroots Empowerment. "It is where our target audience is making crucial choices and thinking about complex issues. And, they are in a context that recognizes that ideas matter."

Morrow is heading up a grassroots movement focused on screening EGM's most recent film, Little Town of Bethlehem, on college campuses ("from Boston to Berkeley"). This documentary addresses the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a fresh perspective-that of the nonviolence movement. "We are simply bringing our films into a context where dialogue already exists," Morrow adds. "We want to open doors for constructive conversation and create openness to other points of view."

"EGM is an educational organization not an activist group," Oechsler explains. "As such, our job is not to change minds but to open them." But their research has shown them that its target audience places a high value on meaningful and active engagement. "While our films don't tell the audience what to do, we want to encourage them to live out their beliefs," Cary states.

"The biggest challenge is to create an experience that is big enough and compelling enough to attract the students." That is where extensive promotion is key. Cary calls it "shock and awe." From committed faculty and students, posters all over campus, as well as nearby campuses collaborating with the screenings, the strategy is to create a buzz that cannot be ignored. On nine select campuses that will be hosting Little Town of Bethlehem, the three protagonists, a Muslim, a Jew, and a Palestinian Christian, will take part in discussions on nonviolence along with faculty experts.

After the screening, dialogue and engagement will be encouraged and facilitated at every venue. Oechsler states, "It is the work of the film to bring people together and reward their search for meaning and insight, but after that the audience becomes part of the story. On the Little Town of Bethlehem microsite, there will be links to organizations that are making a difference. Students will be able to blog their questions, ideas, and responses to the issues raised by the story they have just witnessed. And they can experience for themselves the difference they can make when they live what they believe," he concludes.

The launch window is set for September 21, World Peace Day, and ends on October 2, Gandhi's birthday, the International Day of Non-Violence.

For more information regarding screenings contact Cary McQueen Morrow cmorrow@egmfilms.org
For a review copy or to set up an interview contact Diane Morrow dmorrow@tbbmedia.com