Taylor: Where did your interest in film and activism begin?

Andy: I always go back to a memory when I was in high school. I watched a documentary, Bowling for Columbine, which is about gun rights and gun control. That memory always stands out because it was one of the first social justice documentaries I had seen. I remember thinking, wow, there's really power in documentaries to inspire people to take action and to get involved in certain issues. Watching it helped me see the power in film, and I remember talking to my mom and being like, “I think I want to do this kind of stuff!”

Taylor: How did you come to work for Working Films?

Andy: After being inspired by documentaries and their power to advocate for social and environmental justice, I at first, was really excited to make them. But then being in school at UNCW, one of my realizations was that there's actually a lot of really good filmmakers, and I don't know that I need to fulfill that role. At that same time, I was also becoming familiar with organizations like Working Films, and through volunteering or through working with Visions, I found this idea of film exhibition.  I was really excited about the idea of impact producing and looking at what you do with the documentary once it's finished...not just distribution, but all the ways that films can help organizers and activists reach their advocacy goals. I was really happy to find an organization like Working Films, where that was their whole focus. Obviously we have deep appreciation for filmmakers because that's a lot of what allows us to do what we do, but the excitement of connecting those films with activists and then putting those films to work is the most exciting thing. 

Taylor: What does your typical day look like?

Andy: My job is finding out what people want to do and then connecting with other folks to put those plans into action; it's a lot of bridging partnerships between filmmakers and organizers. I'm often talking to both of those groups, working with people on my team to talk to organizers about their priorities and their goals, making sure that our programs reflect those, and working with filmmakers to see if their films will be a good fit. My day involves a lot of brainstorming and Zooms of course. Nowadays I could also literally just do 40 hours a week of replying to emails!

Taylor: What challenges have you faced in your career?

Andy: When I first started working there was a little bit of skepticism from organizers and activists about “Why would we want to use documentaries? Why would we invest time and resources into them?” I think over time there's been more of a cultural media literacy around the purpose of documentaries and that they can be useful. So, it was certainly a challenge in the beginning of my work at Working Films to proselytize the idea of using films and why they  should be embraced by folks with social change goals.

Working films is a nonprofit, so I think we struggle like any nonprofit, although we've had a lot of prosperity and luck over the last six or seven years. As any non-profit, you gotta raise the money, you know? And that's certainly true of filmmakers in general. At Working Films, we're bridging the world of nonprofits and the world of filmmakers, which are both famously under-resourced. We've had to adapt and evolve over the last 20 years and especially the 10 years that I've been there. It's a challenge, but it's also a lot of opportunities. I feel like we've always seen challenges as opportunities, and I've been blessed lately with being able to try new things. What's been nice is that a lot of our programs are multi-year. It's nice to know that we're doing programs that are going to happen on an ongoing basis so that we can make sure to reflect, innovate, refine, and do better next time.

Taylor: What has been a turning point in your career?

Andy: In the world of documentary engagement, a lot of organizations are filmmakers first;  the filmmaker will hire them and then they will then go and find organizations and other people who can use their films to meet the filmmaker’s goals. Working Films flips that model. We identify an issue that's important. We first partner with organizations and then those organizations tell us what kind of films we need. That's been a turning point for us. I've been very proud of it this year, especially because we've been able to take decisions typically made by foundations and given it to people who are on the front lines of issues, who can decide as a movement, ‘these are the films that we need’. It's very recent, the idea of moving decision-making power completely to the impacted people. If you're a social justice filmmaker or foundation, if your goals are around those concepts, then the people with the most at stake should be making those decisions. 

Taylor: Do you have any advice for someone who wants to enter your field and tips on how they can stand out from the rest of the crowd?

Andy: I would say the two things that you can do to stand out is to have a high level of accountability to the people that you're filming and to move away from extractive storytelling. For the people that are in front of the camera, it’s making sure that they have agency and that you're not just stealing or taking their story...especially if you're filming a community that you're not a member of. Be an accountable filmmaker! Make sure that the people in your film--you know, even saying the word “subject” can be icky -- are giving you feedback? 

The second thing is if you're making a film about an issue, you have to recognize that you're not the expert, but there are lots of experts that you should be reaching out to. Sure you have your own theory and lens, but if you're making a film about climate change, talk to some climate change organizations.  Ask them, “What kind of films are needed right now? What kind of stories are missing? What does the media get wrong? What do you think would move people?” because you're not the first person to make a climate change documentary. The history of documentary is so steeped in this concept of extractive story telling where filmmakers helicopter in. We have to stop the harm that's happening just from the filmmaking itself before we can start talking about what kind of good can come from these films.

Taylor: What excites you about being involved with this year’s Visions Film Festival & Conference?

Andy: Well, I was a visionary person--I don't know if y'all have a term yet for people who are a part of Visions or if I’m just making it up, but I was a part of visions in 2011. It's just super exciting to see Visions continue to grow, expand its offerings, and continue to be more and more bad-ass...especially all virtually. There's so many film festivals that did not know what to do during COVID and could not figure it out --no shade to them, shit's hard-- but to see Visions do it is like, hell yeah! I just love the Vision space in general; the combination of the academic and conference side with the production side. 

It's a nice time to stop what you're doing again and celebrate the artwork. That, ultimately, is the main reason why I do what I do.

To learn more about Andy and his work, please follow @workingfilms on Instagram and Facebook