Call It Democracy: Continuing the Debate After November 2nd
October 25, 2004
An interview with Producer Dan Efram
By Shira Golding
Matt Kohn’s Call it Democracy is one of many documentaries making the rounds in this election season. While many of these political films strive to galvanize a particular voter bloc, Call it Democracy is an examination of the American voting system itself — it’s goal is to inspire analysis and transformation rather than to put a particular candidate in office. Using the chaos of the 2000 elections as a starting point, with an amazing collection of on-the-ground footage from around the country, the film delves into the complexities of our voting system with a mixture of historical reflection and visions for future reform.
Call it Democracy offers non-partisan analysis of the 2000 elections.
I had an opportunity to speak with Producer Dan Efram earlier this Fall about outreach, documentaries and everyone’s favorite American institution, the Electoral College.
Shira Golding: What is Call it Democracy’s message and what makes it different than other political documentaries in this election year?
Dan Efram: Call it Democracy is certainly riding the wave of other documentaries, but it was vital to us that it be timely and new. Unlike Robert Greenwald’s Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election, we strove to make a non-partisan film. The message of the movie is not “Bush stole the election” — it’s that our democracy has been damaged, the car needs to go to the shop. We want to get people involved and interested in the political system, not just in voting someone out of office.
SG: So how does the film involve audiences in the political system?
DE: Well, we go into the whole history of the electoral college, how it breaks down. There were discrepancies in other elections before 2000 including Nixon-Kennedy and Ford-Carter. By taking a broad look, the film is in a different league. Our goal is for Call it Democracy to serve as a historical record that can stand the test of time, not just left-wing propaganda. We want it to have a shelf-life of thirty years and to be part of college curricula.
Call it Democracy features a range of prominent pundits including Alan Dershowitz.
SG: Wow — that’s ambitious! What is your distribution plan?
DE: Well, we’ve actually got these two great relationships. We are working with Seventh Art Releasing for general distribution. We really respect Udy Epstein and Brian McNelis [of Seventh Art], and we wanted them to have a creative stake in the film so we brought them in as Executive Producers. They hired an editor and brought Matt [Kohn, the Director,] to LA to rework the final cut.
We also have a separate arrangement with OnCampus Booking for bringing the movie to college campuses. They primarily book music gigs, but they are really into Call it Democracy’s message. So far, over fifty colleges are booked and another one hundred and fifty are waiting to be confirmed.
The tour is scheduled to go through the elections and Matt will be at a bunch of them. These events will also include panels focused on local voting issues with representatives from the local legislature, student government, political science departments and any other organizations that can contribute to the discussion. There will also be voter registration and Rock the Vote is officially endorsing the tour.
We also have screenings at a bunch of festivals planned. The film premiered at the Imagine Festival, of Arts, Issues and Ideas during the Republican National Convention. We also have a screening planned at Demos, a nonprofit venue.
SG: What about partnerships? I’m sure that there are a lot of nonprofits who would be interested in utilizing the film for voter registration and education.
DE: Yeah, we’re totally into forming relationships with key groups. We are targeting People for the American Way, the NAACP and the League of Women Voters. But it’s really challenging — you need to find the outreach person and get them on the same wavelength. Every one is under-funded and things are pretty crazy. To be honest, the Greenwald films aren’t helping; people think that all documentaries are left-leaning and so they are resistant.
SG: Right, it must be a challenge to convince people that the movie is non-partisan. But the film does have an agenda, right?
Filmmakers Matt Kohn and Dan Efram hope that Call it Democracy will inspire discussion and action on the US voting sytem for years to come.
DE: Yes. The ultimate goal is to get people to support a constitutional amendment that dismantles the Electoral College and makes one person equal one vote. But the first step is to start the discussion. We’re launching a new Web site where people can get screening locations, watch the trailer, get more info and learn about our partners. We’re also planning to do some shooting during the upcoming election and edit together an epilogue for the DVD.
SG: Do you have any advice to filmmakers planning their outreach?
DE: You need to be creative and realize that you can combine philosophical and business agendas. You can make a difference and make money.
