Lights, Camera, Action—Looking for Student Filmmakers

by James Parks, Feb 5, 2008

 Progressive students have been deeply involved in issues of worker justice on campuses and in their communities. Some students have taken their activism online, creating videos, such as those made by Stanford University students, featuring workers talking about why they need a living wage (see video). Now, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Jobs with Justice (JwJ) have launched a contest to further encourage students to put their creativity to work for justice.  

Students in high school, college and in graduate programs are eligible to submit a one- to three-minute “YouTube” style video highlighting the failure of U.S. labor laws to protect workers’ rights and documenting why America needs the Employee Free Choice Act. 

Up to 10 finalists will be selected, for the “There Ought to be a Law: EFCA” contest, with each receiving a $500 cash prize. The top three winners, who will be picked by online voting, will receive additional prizes of $1,000 for first place and $750 and $500, respectively, for second and third. 

The winning videos will be widely circulated through an electronic outreach campaign and posted on a special CWA website promoting the Employee Free Choice Act. 

CWA and JwJ will judge the initial 10 finalists based on creativity and effectiveness in telling the story of what’s happening to workers who try to exercise their freedom to organize and bargain in the face of anti-union employers and a broken labor law system. 

The video submissions can be serious or funny, they can be documentaries, or use actors, street theater, or animation to make the point about how the bosses try to control and intimidate their workers. 

The contest runs through March 31, 2008, and is open to students from high school through graduate school. Click here for more information and to enter the contest.    

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