Inspiring Social Justice through Film: Odyssey Impact®™ Illuminates & Challenges Societal Issues, Winning a Peabody Award in the Process

In just four years, the not-for-profit organization has won the Human Rights Award at the Venice International Film Festival as well as over 50 other awards for its documentary films grounded in the human experience

New York, NY – April 25, 2018 – Odyssey Impact® and its production company Transform Films announced today a series of awards, upcoming films and growth for the Spring into Summer 2018. The national non-profit organization – that has won an unprecedented nine major awards including a 2018 Peabody Award and 2017 Venice International Film Festival Human Rights Award – has a mission to inspire social change through the power of film. Recent and upcoming works are slated to compete and screen at prestigious film festivals throughout the world including this month at Tribeca and The Melbourne International Film Festival in August.

“As we strive toward achieving a more just world, our production company Transform Films is proud to work with some of the top documentary filmmakers including Nancy Buirski and Kim Snyder to produce inspiring films that lift up the human stories behind the front-page issues driving the debate on what sort of society we want to be. We’re honored to be selected, along with our production partners Kim Snyder Productions, Maria Cuomo Cole Productions, ITVS and Artemis Rising, as recipients of the prestigious Peabody Award for the film Newtown.” said Nick Stuart, President & CEO, Odyssey Impact® and Transform Films.

Recent and upcoming news about productions by Odyssey Impact® & Transform Films includes:

  • NEWTOWN, directed by Kim Snyder, is the recipient of a Peabody Award, which will be presented at a ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on May 19, 2018. The film – which took four years to produce – is the story of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history. The film has had over 1000 impact screenings, from communities and congregants to the White House and Congress. The film and its inspired impact campaigns have prompted two additional productions about the effects of mass shootings: NOTES FROM DUNBLANE and #WeAreAllNewtown.

 

  • NOTES FROM DUNBLANE: LESSONS FROM A SCHOOL SHOOTING, from the team that produced Newtown, will be the subject of a ‘Tribeca Talks panel discussion led by AMC Mad Men’s John Slattery, with the film’s Director Kim Snyder, Producer Maria Cuomo Cole, along with a Sandy Hook survivor, a Parkland Student and film subject Father Bob Weiss from Newtown, CT on April 29, 2018. The film debuted at Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2018.

 

  • THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR is among eight exclusive first-run documentaries acquired by STARZ. The film’s National Television Debut on STARZ will take place on July 2, 2018. Transform Films was sought out as the co-producer of this film by acclaimed director Nancy Buirski and Augusta Films, LLC. The Rape Of Recy Taylor has inspired an impact campaign slated to launch in September 2018. The film won the Special Prize for Human Rights Award at the 2017 Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards.

 

  • MILWAUKEE 53206, the story of the U.S. zip code with the greatest percentage of incarcerated African American males, made its National Television Broadcast premiere on WORLD Channel’s America ReFramed on April 3, 2018 and is currently screening throughout the U.S., and streaming on WORLD Channel. This film has won Special Recognition Award at the 2017 (In)Justice for All Film Festival; the National Council on Crime and Delinquency Media for a Just Society Award and Best Documentary at the 2017 Urbanworld Film Festival. Odyssey Impact® secured over 200 screenings at venues as diverse as local congregations, the ACLU, and the Google NYC Creative Lab.

 

  • SERVING LIFE was the first original documentary commissioned for the Oprah Winfrey Network Documentary Club in 2011, and is Executive Produced by Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker. The film has won over 10 awards, including the 2012 CINE Golden Eagle Award and the 2012 Humanitas Prize.

 

Transform Films’ most recent documentaries have been selected to screen in contests at major film festivals such as Sundance, Venice Film Festival and Tribeca, a remarkable feat for a company who entered the feature documentary scene just four years ago.

For more information, please visit Odyssey-Impact.org.

ODYSSEY IMPACT™ is a team of exceptional film and social justice professionals who believe that powerful documentaries can motivate people to do great things. We strategically build and execute social impact campaigns around award-winning documentaries to inspire people of all faiths and good will to engage with their communities on important issues in their lives. Our uniqueness lies in our ability to mobilize individuals, communities of all faiths, change makers, influencers, and private sector partners to nurture justice, hope, compassion and understanding. Our social impact campaigns address issues at the heart of our society such as: poverty, gun violence, mass incarceration, racial justice, intolerance, hate crimes, and gender violence to name a few. Odyssey-Impact.org.

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Media Contacts:

Ashley Morales, ashley@odyssey-impact.org,929.379.3416

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