Our Ethical Storytelling Policy

The Stories We Tell

 

We tell stories of hope, resilience, and stewardship:

 

 We bear witness to remarkable human journeys, from surviving to thriving, and
choose to focus on the joy and meaning found through hardship. We design our
films to wholeheartedly support our subjects and bring to life a part of their
narrative that contributes positively to their journey.

 

 We are on a quest to understand. We navigate sensitive topics with great care,
seeking to uncover deeper understanding of what occurred, why, and who is
responsible. We don’t fight human nature. We accept the light and darkness of
humanity, and seek to understand it.

 

 We earn the respect of communities by taking care of people and hold sacred
their stories. We deeply value our subjects, teams, and funders, and care for
people beyond what they contribute to our projects. We consciously lift up lives,
stories, and narratives that our subjects are proud of, and take our time to tell
stories right.

 

 We commit to telling the truth, engaging a fair and balanced view, and ensuring
our stories are well researched, educated, grounded, and curiously navigate. We
accept our responsibility to tell stories well, and actively address exploitive
storytelling tactics.

 

 We balance entertainment and education, seeking to share an informed point of
view that adds to the historical record of humanity.

What Informs Our Work
Our work is informed by feminism, trauma informed practice, cultural humility and safety, asset-based community development, and justice, equity, diversity, inclusion
and accessibility frameworks.

 

Ethical Storytelling

 

Ethical storytelling is a conscious approach to build effective, safe, and dignified stories.

 

Ethical stories are honest without being graphic or exploitive, educational and well
researched, have informed and living consent, inspire engagement not shock, and
result in responsible consumption.

 

Our Commitment to Ethical Storytelling

 

 We are committed to uplifting voices and communities in ways that positively
contribute to the record of humanity.

 

 We acknowledge, historically, our industry has used storytelling in ways that has
exploited people and caused harm.

 

 We reject unethical storytelling approaches, including but not limited to trauma
pornography and tourism, hero theft, slacktivism, coerced advocacy, and story
washing.

 

 We accept our responsibility to lead projects ethically, ensuring they are safe,
equitable, free of exploitation, and dignified throughout the lifecycle of our stories.

 

 We actively take steps, evaluate, and grow our practices in ethical storytelling.

 

 We engage tools and assessments throughout our projects to uphold the highest
standards of care, such as risk assessments and subject safety and wellness
plans.