DOK Industry Podcast 2023
What’s Up with Docs feat. Jennifer Crystal Chien – Keep on Keeping on
Filmmaker, activist and co-founder of Re-Present Media Jennifer Crystal Chien joins host Toni Bell in examining the need to generate new and more authentic representations and portrayals of BIPOC communities and expand those stories to other ways of storytelling.
This discussion engages the vital question of who is determining what is of interest and to whom. The question of an audience is an important one because it is often asked from the white dominant perspective, which influences the filmmaking process and limits topics and story arcs deemed acceptable for mainstream storytelling, thus barring some BIPOC filmmakers from accessing funding structures if they do not follow a specific type of mainstream narrative.
Jennifer's theory of change for the field is rooted in liberation and the spirit of the song she picked for this episode by the late great Curtis Mayfield, “Keep On Keeping On”.
Length: 82’48’’
Recorded in 2021
Toni Bell is the creator/host of the What’s Up with Docs Podcast. She is the Impact Producer for Re-Present Media’s “The Power of Personal Documentary Films” and “A Woman on the Outside”. She is also the Impact Partnerships Strategist for Odyssey Impact. She worked as an Impact Strategist for Looky Looky Pictures and the Hartley Media Impact Initiative. She has been a speaker, panellist, mentor, and juror at documentary film festivals and labs such as EBS, Dok Leipzig, European Film Market, Docs by the Sea, and many others. She is the former Filmmaker Services Manager at the IDA, where she handled the day-to-day operations of the fiscal sponsorship program and curated the DocuClub work-in-progress screening series. She holds an MA in Visual Anthropology from USC, an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University, and a certificate in professional screenwriting from UCLA.
Meet Brianna Jovahn, founder of What’s Good Productions and the What’s Good Podcast platform. She’s passionate about connecting with business owners and creatives, inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs nationwide to achieve their deepest goals and dreams. Through her podcast and production agency, Brianna motivates and supports individuals to pursue their passions and positively impact the world. Join her on this journey of inspiration and empowerment as we create a community of dream-chasers and achievers!
Jennifer Crystal Chien is a documentary filmmaker and the co-founder of Re-Present Media, a nonprofit advocating for personal storytelling from underrepresented communities in documentary film and nonfiction media. Her films feature the personal stories of immigrants and people of color and have screened at film festivals across the U.S. She is a recipient of the Center for Cultural Innovation’s CALI Catalyst award for creating greater equity in documentary film and the Investing in Artists grant for artistic innovation. In 2022, she was recognized as one of DOC NYC’s Documentary New Leaders. Previously, she worked in production management for films broadcast on PBS, appearing at Sundance Film Festival, and streaming on Netflix's YouTube channel. She has an MFA in Social Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts.
DOK Industry Podcast 2023 is realised in partnership with What’s Up With Docs Podcast and POC2 Programmers of Colour Collective, and supported by Docs-in-Orbit.
DOK Industry is realised with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a Decision of the German Bundestag.
