An explorative documentary about the climate of trust in contemporary society
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Post-Truth [pōs(t)ˈtro͞ oTH] adjective: relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief: in this era of post-truth politics, it's easy to cherry-pick data and come to whatever conclusion you desire | some commentators have observed that we are living in a post-truth age. ~ Oxford Dictionary’s 2016 Word of the Year
CURRENT CLIMATE OF TRUST Trust today is being assaulted like never before. The New York Times is creating TV advertisements for the first time in its centurylong history centered around the importance of truth in democracy. Republican Senator Bob Corker is publicly calling the leader of the free world (and his own party) a liar saying “The President has great difficulty with the truth. On many issues.” Only 18% of Americans say they trust the US government to do what is right, contrasted with 77% in 1964 when Lyndon Johnson was President, according to 2017 data by the PEW Research Center. Outside of politics, twelve of sixteen Tour de France winners in recent races were confirmed dopers including Lance Armstrong. Recent investigations into the Catholic church revealed that 3,400 children are confirmed known victims of sexual abuse, with that number rising everyday. Even more disturbing were the systematic coverups. But, it’s not just the stories that make the news. In the posttruth era ‘improving’ one’s narrative is becoming the norm, from unearned degrees appearing on resumes to embellishing online dating profiles.
THE FILM A s t h e c o - f o u n d e r o f Tr u s t i f y, a Washington, D.C -based private investigation firm, Danny Boice has dedicated his career to seeking the truth. In the current age of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” it seems that the line between fiction and reality is blurred. Post-truth follows Danny on his journey to understand why this is happening at an alarming pace and the high-stakes implications if we, as a society, continue to stray. In the process, he must learn how to be honest about his own dark truths and defeat his demons using the one tool that has been devoid nearly his entire life: trust.
THE MISSION The main plot of this film follows Danny’s mission to understand why we’re seeing deceit on a large scale. Danny will interview top industry voices such as Brene Brown, Ph.D. whose research dissects the anatomy of trust, how to build it and why it breaks down; author Ralph Keyes who argues that ethical relativism, boomer narcissism, the decline of community, and rise of the Internet are all contributing factors to the rapid decline of trust; NYT columnist David Brooks who argues that the omnipresence of social media has created a new kind of shame culture that quickly demonizes those with dissenting views creating fear of being authentic; and best-selling author Glennon Melton who aptly describes the bravery of facing the pain of honesty. Other contributors might include historians who can shed light on the consequences of governments’ distortion of the truth with examples of Nazi Germany and the Prague Spring. But Brene Brown’s robust data points suggest that trust starts in the small, everyday moments between two people. In that spirit, the call-toaction of this film is for every viewer to understand the nature of trust and how to begin rebuilding it in our society from the grassroots level.
DANNY’S STORY
To examine this topic authentically, Danny must first examine his own story. On the outside, the Boices look like a polished, successful, put-together American family with five kids, a dream home, and a thriving company. Both have resumes that are long with achievements, sprinkled with sweet nuggets of humanitarian and philanthropic deeds that round them out as seemingly perfect humans. But their entire world hinges precariously on one idea: trust. You wouldn’t know it from a glance but almost all of Danny’s life has been devoid of trust — both in others, and in himself. This film will explore Danny’s journey to come to terms with childhood trauma and the absence of trust that led him
along a crooked path of abuse, daymares, drugs, sex, and betrayal until he found a miracle in his wife, Jen. She grew up in a stable, loving world where trust was a foundational pillar. Her gift was the ability to immediately see to Danny’s core where she saw not a liability, but a beautiful human put here for a greater purpose. She knew he could flourish alongside her once he learned to trust her, and more importantly, to trust himself. Through one another, they found their destiny in a business providing private investigation services, often times for vulnerable populations that include children like Danny, who was once trapped in the dark shadow of predatory abuse.
HOW IT WEAVES TOGETHER If the meat of the story is research and experts providing the basis for trust, how to build a better society, and the stakes of continuing on this Post-Truth path, then the core of this film is Danny’s personal story which will weave in and out of the academic chapters and provide the backbone of the narrative arc culminating in a big moment of truth that we as filmmakers and Danny will discover along the journey. Could it be a moment with his estranged father who punished him for being himself; with his mother who betrayed him at his divorce trial;
with his wife who has supported him through his darkest moments but at times has reached her breaking point; with an internet troll who is determined to expose him as a liar; or through his company where his ident it y is intertwined and the financial stakes are the highest? To interject humor but also answer the question of how honest is too honest, Danny will experiment throughout the film with oversharing in cringe-worthy moments of honesty to see what happens when he’s completely transparent.
WHY NOW ? Open any newspaper today and you are guaranteed to find a headline relating to the subjects of truth and trust. We are inundated with information, but with news outlets presenting conflicting 'facts', it’s hard to know what to believe. It’s this very reason that we need this film now more than ever. Social scientists have argued for years that documentary film is an effective vehicle for social change (Clark & Abrash, 2011). For example, a 2013 study using rigorous qualitative analysis identified a positive correlation between documentary screenings and public perception, which led to direct policy change (Vasi, Walker, Johnson, & Tan, 2015). Danny’s journey will help build empathy and trust amongst viewers. His vulnerability on camera will speak to their own. We’ll establish credibility by making sure both sides of the aisle are heard. We hope that by highlighting the important nuances of truth, viewers will be left with a greater appreciation of whats currently at stake, and how their own actions can help change the course.
THE CORE TEAM
Darren Durlach Director As a co-founder of Early Light Media, Darren’s tireless focus on refining footage into a captivating narrative stems from more than a decade of meticulously crafting impactful award-winning films both independently and as a journalist at The Boston Globe. Darren codirected 5 Runners, an Emmy nominated feature documentary about the Boston Marathon bombings, was the director of photography on Confluence, a feature highlighting environmental concerns in National Parks and most recently Darren co-directed “Throw,” a moving short-film that won Director’s Choice award at Telluride Mountain Film and a Vimeo Staff Pick. Darren has taught filmmaking to students and professionals alike all over the world.
Angela Malley Executive Producer Angela has dedicated her career to producing films that make a social impact. She’s worked on a range of projects from large-scale commercials to feature-length films, including How to Survive a Plague, the 2012 Oscarnominated documentary about HIV/AIDS activists. She has a talent for bringing people together to create, advocate and inspire change. As a team leader and project manager, Angela believes everyone brings unique skills to the table and that creativity is a collaborative process. Angela holds a Masters of Public Health from John’s Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she specialized in Social and Behavioral Science.
Jessalyn Haefele Producer Jessalyn Haefele has produced several shows for Discovery and the Smithsonian Channel. Her awardwinning short films have played at Cannes, ComicCon, in Australia and Israel, and widely across the United States. A graduate of the Gallatin School at NYU, she has worked for producers Scott Rudin and Ismail Merchant, in addition to work on numerous films and TV shows, including My Blueberry Nights, Definitely, Maybe, Rescue Me, Damages, and over 60 hours of programming for National Geographic Television. She is a contributing author of the college textbook, "Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video" (Focal Press), in use at NYU and other film schools around the country.
TIMELINE PRE PRODUCTION (5 weeks) February 5 - March 9 : Interview and hire producer candidate; research and gather archival materials including film footage, photos and documents; start pre-interviews, start scheduling first round of interviews.
PRODUCTION (12 weeks) March 12 - June 1 : Set up shooting schedule with Danny, book interviews, begin writing script, gather correlating archival footage
POST PRODUCTION (16 WEEKS) June 1 - October 1 : Finalize script, edit rough cut, set up test screenings with stakeholders, 2nd and 3rd cut revisions, picture lock, equalize audio track, refine and color correct, gain licensing approval for archival footage, apply to film festivals, start outreach campaign.
DISTRIBUTION Our goal at the completion of the film will be to sell the North American and/or International Rights to one of our target distributors: HBO, SHOWTIME, NETFLIX, or HULU.
DISTRIBUTION
We plan to release the film to various national and international film festivals such as Full Frame, Sundance, IDFA Amsterdam and SilverDocs as a way to reach an extended audience and build recognition for the film. This is where most distributors will see the film for the first time. Hiring a publicist will be essential for the larger festivals, so that we can maximize media and press exposure. We will work with a distribution and sales agent to develop a strategic plan for getting the film in front of the right buyers and to negotiate the best deal. We’ve already worked with Submarine Entertainment on this front and hope to engage them on this project as well. They’ve been involved in the sale of dozens of critically acclaimed documentaries, including several Academy Award wins and nominations.
RESOURCES posttruthpledge.org ⁃
The system works as long as we have trust on others’ knowledge, skills and intentions.
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Lack of interest in evidence, worse, an erosion of trust in the fundamental norms and around people’s accountability for things we say.
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We can’t afford to dismiss the testimony of those with scientific and technical expertise.
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In much public discourse, identity outranks argument.
Posttruthinitiative.org ⁃ ⁃
Sydney Research Excellence Initiative examines fake news, alternative facts, lies, bullshit and propaganda, with the aim to understand them, and to advise how the truth might survive in this climate. CONTACT: nick.enfield@sydney.edu.au
Trusttalks.org - The Trust Talks offers an innovative dialogical model for key stakeholders in communities around the country to utilize the power of storytelling and problem solving to find what we call community sourced “small wins” to solve our most pressing issues in policing and community development. - The Trust Talks was created in January of 2015 by a team of faith and community leaders in collaboration with police officers in Downtown Los Angeles, California - https://www.facebook.com/trusttalks/?fref=mentions
“Trust is choosing to make something important to you vulnerable to the actions of someone else.” - Charles Feltman
“We are highly likely to believe or at least accept and repeat statements that support our established views, even when little or no evidence is given to support those statements. Yet we are unlikely to accept or repeat statements that go counter to our established views, even when they are well-supported by evidence.”
- posttruthpledge.org
“When we trust, we are braving connection with someone.” - Brene Brown
Dear Danny, Thank you for reading our proposal and giving us the opportunity to tell an extraordinarily important story that we truly believe the world needs to hear as soon as possible. Now let’s make this film! With sincerest gratitude,
Darren Durlach | Director