Just Marriage

Nov9 by D Gregory Smith

I’m really proud of my dear friend Drew Emery and his film. His passion and vision were priceless in the approval of this measure to legalize Marriage Equality in Washington State- and all around the country. From him and our friends at The True Stories Project:

We can think of no better way to celebrate this amazing day than by releasing our latest video: Just Marriage: from Outlaws to Inlaws.

For a long time, our audiences have been asking for an update on the lives of our storytellers. When we we were invited to bring Inlaws & Outlaws to public television, we decided this was the perfect time to do just that.

So enjoy. And as you reflect on how far we’ve all come these past eight years, give a moment of thanks to the thousands of people from all walks of lives who set the ball rolling but stepping up and telling their stories.

Note: If you haven’t yet seen Inlaws & Outlaws, be warned; this update is chockfull of spoilers!

Inlaws & Outlaws On Public TV! (dgsmith.org)
Inlaws and Outlaws (sapphospeaks.wordpress.com)
Same-sex marriage opponents concede likely R-74 passage (king5.com)
Five Qualities of a Healthy Marriage (jessejacksonmirega.wordpress.com)

Inlaws & Outlaws On Public TV!

Oct27 by D Gregory Smith

Delightful news from our friends at The True Stories Project:

WE MADE IT! We set a fundraising goal of raising $50,000 to bring Inlaws & Outlaws to public television – and thanks to over 120 of our supporters, we raised over $50, 246 – enough to launch us onto public television!

As of today, Inlaws & Outlaws is not ony available to 350+ PBS and public television affiliates around the US – but 15 stations have already scheduled the film in the next few weeks!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this happen!

We especially want to express our gratitude for the major support we received from our Executive Producer Bob Lemon, the Faygele ben Miriam Fund and four of our favorite outlaws – Jane Abbott Lighty & Pete-e Petersen and Frank Chaffee & John Gliessman. You put us over the top – and on TV.

Changing Hearts + Minds…

We’re still presenting screenings of Inlaws & Outlaws as part of ourHearts + Minds Campaign, including here in Washington where we’re using the film to support Referendum 74, but we’re about to reach a whole heckuva lot more people when the film is presentedFriday during primetime on KCTS 9 (Seattle) and KYVE (Yakima ).

Together, these stations reach over 75% of Washington residents – one of the reasons we were so determined to reach our goal of bringing Inlaws & Outlaws to public TV before Nov. 6th…

Wondering where else the film is being shown on public TV? Colorado, Ohio, Oregon, Illinois, West Virginia, New York… And we’re only just beginning.

Our new video: Just Marriage, from Outlaws to Inlaws…

Premiering Friday night following the film is our new 14-minute video short featuring director Drew Emery updating audiences on many of the stories in Inlaws & Outlaws.

It’s Just Marriage: from Outlaws to Inlaws, a snapshot of how far we’ve come. Check out the Sneak Peek of the video here.

Exciting times, yes? We think so. This is a critical time for marriage equality in the US – and the election will only raise the stakes even more. So we’re determined to bring our stories that much further to reach more hearts and minds, whether it’s with one of our community screenings in a school, church, temple or community center, or whether it’s on public tv. We’d love to have you on board!*

And to all the folks who made this big leap possible, we have nothing but love & gratitude.

*If you want to support our our Hearts + Minds Campaign, we welcome your tax-deductible donations. You can either donate safely online or send us a check. Your support makes all the difference in the world!

Help Inlaws & Outlaws Make It To Public TV! (dgsmith.org)
Tonight on KCTS: Inlaws & Outlaws (slog.thestranger.com)
Inlaws and Outlaws (sapphospeaks.wordpress.com)

Help Inlaws & Outlaws Make It To Public TV!

Sep7 by D Gregory Smith

One of the best (and most elegant) pieces of human understanding and compassion is Drew Emery’s film Inlaws & Outlaws. I’ve written about the Montana screenings we had this past spring and the fantastic impact it had on the audiences that gathered in Helena and Bozeman. It’s an amazing piece of work.

Now, this little gem has a chance for public distribution- and a better tool for compassion and understanding of gay relationships (and all relationships in my opinion) would be hard to find.

If everybody in America saw this film, opposition to marriage equality would melt away like a bad mood in a room full of puppies.

From the True Stories Project:

We’ve got terrific news! The National Education Telecommunications Association (NETA) has offered to distribute a full presentation of Inlaws & Outlaws on public television! That means that, if we act quickly, the film will be made available to virtually all public television stations in the US this Fall – including over 350+ PBS affiliates!

This is huge!

Public TV reaches over 117 million viewers a week. If we slice off even a modest amount of that, we’ll bring Inlaws & Outlaws to a much, much larger audience than it’s ever had. Just as same-sex marriage has finally arrived centerstage with President Obama’s support, we have the opportunity to reach millions of households with true stories we know change hearts & minds.

But to meet our deadline, we need your help — and we need it now.
Donate

We need our first $50,000 in underwriting by the end of September. Your support will pay for vital post-production for broadcast, closed captioning, station relations and more. Can you help?

You betcha. I’m in. Anybody else?