MEDIA ROOM > PRESS RELEASES > CVF Backgrounder
CREATIVE VISIONS FOUNDATION
Unlike other notables who died young,
Dan Eldon died trying to engage the world,
Not escape from it." USA TodayCreative Visions Foundation is a vital Network for Change that supports creative activists, individuals who use media and the arts to create awareness of critical issues and catalyze positive action. Through its three divisions, Inform, Inspire and Empower, CVF, a publicly-funded 501 (c) 3 helps creative activists transform the world around them.
· CVF INFORM: Produces documentaries, films, television series, theatrical productions and other projects that inform, inspire, and empower audiences to take action;
· CVF INSPIRE: Produces exhibitions, screenings, seminars and other events using film, photography media and the arts that not only inform audiences about important issues, but also provide information to empower individuals to impact the world around them;
· CVF EMPOWER: Through our fiscal sponsorship program, CVF supports creative activists using media and the arts to inform others about critical social, economic, environmental, or humanitarian issues, and inspire and empower them to take action to make things better. CVF mentors individuals and provides assistance with fund-raising, grant-writing, network-building, distribution and other issues.
The Creative Visions Foundation was inspired by the life of Dan Eldon — a young Reuters photojournalist who was killed in 1993 while covering the conflict in Somalia. Dan embodied the spirit of creative activism through his use of photography to draw attention to the famine and conflict in Somalia. Since his death, his life and belief in the “power of one” has inspired countless individuals around the world to believe they have a role to play in positively impacting the world around them. CVF was founded in l999 to help spread Dan’s message of creative activism to the world.
Since its inception in 1999, CVF has assisted more than 45 projects and productions, including award-winning films like Oscar-nominated Genghis Blues, and the multi-award winning, Abduction, the Megumi Yokota Story, about Japanese youth kidnapped to North Korea, which has literally changed policy between the two countries. CVF has helped launch a number of successful organizations, including Video Volunteers, now the largest provider of community videos in India; Shine on Sierra Leone, which uses media to create awareness of the plight of diamond workers and raise funds to build a school; The Name Campaign, which has been featured in many media outlets, including Oprah Magazine and funded the rehabilitation of more than 1000 child soldiers in Uganda and Culture Collective, a unique website dedicated to distribution of films about indigenous people around the world.
Creative Visions Productions furthers the mission of CVF by producing, developing and supporting media that empowers audiences to create positive change. CVP works across all platforms including movies, documentaries, reality series and web content. Among CVF completed projects to date are: Dying to Tell the Story, presented by Amy Eldon, which studies the motivation of journalists in conflict zones. The Emmy nominated documentary originally aired on Turner Broadcasting networks and has been seen in more than 200 countries; Soldiers of Peace, a documentary that chronicles the efforts of the Nobel Peace Prize nominated Children’s Peace Movement in Columbia to end the violence in that country. This film premiered at the United Nations and has been distributed worldwide by CNN International: and the groundbreaking PBS series, Global Tribe, hosted by Amy Eldon, which profiled ordinary people who are change makers for a better world in countries around the globe.
CVP is currently in production for a series titled Star Power: Ten Ways to Change the World, for VHI and MTV and is developing a series of specials hosted by Julia Roberts dealing with mothers and children around the world. Also in development is a motion picture based on the documentary Soldiers of Peace to be shot in Columbia, as well as a series directed at teens titled Rock Your World which celebrates kids making a difference around the world. Now readying for production is The Journey is the Destination to be directed by Bronwyn Hughes from a script by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jan Sardi, about the life of Dan Eldon starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter).
We are delighted with where CVF stands today and its ability to not only support creative activists, but also to bring greater visibility to creative activists and their work in the hopes of informing and inspiring others to actively improve the world in which we live.