Values & Principles

There are many ways to make media and many reasons for making it. The Center’s work is guided by a strong commitment to offering non-threatening production environments in which the process of creating digital work is just as meaningful as the stories created. We support the individual learning styles of workshop participants rather than insisting on uniform methods, we stress the importance of understanding why and how stories are being produced, and we encourage our storytellers and collaborating partners to share their stories in ways that support positive individual and collective change. The following core values and principles inform all of the work that we do:

1. Everyone has many powerful stories to tell. The ritual of sharing insights and experiences about life can be immensely valuable both to those speak and those who bear witness. People who believe they are mundane, uninteresting, or unmemorable possess beneath this mask a vivid, complex, and rich body of stories just waiting to be told.

2. Listening is hard. Most people are either too distracted, or too impatient, to be really good listeners. In some parts of the world, this has resulted in a profusion of individuals who get paid to do the emotional labor of listening – researchers, therapists, social workers, etc.). And yet anyone can be reminded to listen deeply. When they do, they create space for the storyteller to journey into the heart of the matter at hand.

3. People see, hear, and perceive the world in different ways. This means that the forms and approaches they take to telling stories are also very different. There is no formula for making a great story -- no prescription or template. Providing a map, illuminating the possibilities, outlining a framework – these are better metaphors for how one can assist others in crafting a narrative.

4. Creative activity is human activity. From birth, people around the world make music, draw, dance, and tell stories. As they grow to adulthood, they often internalize the message that producing art requires a special and innate gift, tendency, or skill. Sadly, most people simply give up and never return to creative practice. Confronting this sense of inadequacy and encouraging people in artistic self-expression can inspire individual and community transformation.

5. Technology is a powerful instrument of creativity. Many people blame themselves for their lack of technological savvy, instead of recognizing the complexity of the tools and acknowledging that access and training are often in short supply. But new media and digital video technologies will not in and of themselves make a better world. Developing a thoughtful approach to how and why these technologies are being used in the service of creative work is essential.

6. Sharing stories can lead to positive change. The process of supporting groups of people in making media is just the first step. Personal narratives in digital media format can touch viewers deeply, moving them to reflect on their own experiences, modify their behavior, treat others with greater compassion, speak out about injustice, and become involved in civic and political life. Whether online, in local communities, or at the institutional/policy level, the sharing of stories has the power to make a real difference.