The Corporation (33)
By Katherine Dodds On November 28, 2012 | 0 Comments
In Vancouver? C'mon down this Sunday...
Come and have a festive treat, and get great deals (and no shipping charges) for items from our Online store! The more you buy, the more we bargain!
Not in Vancouver? No problem, there is still a deal for you! Use the promo code PopUpShop2012 at the checkout for 10% off EVERYTHING on our online store!
Thanks for you support for all our grassroots campaigns!
Katherine Dodds AKA "Kat" is the founder of Good Company Communications and HelloCoolWorld.com. Trained in renegade advertising & branding through her work with Adbusters in the '90s, Kat's early induction into the possibilities of the web-world was inspired by the term hypertext, which she immediately found comforting. She is dedicated to cause-related communication and to the development and use of tools that promote democratic processes.
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By Katherine Dodds On September 18, 2012 | 2 Comments
BE PART OF THE STORY. SO THE STORIES GET TOLD.
Once upon a time, when we were working with Velcrow Ripper to launch Scared Sacred (The first film of his trilogy which is being completed by the new release of Occupy Love), the tag line 'Be part of the story, so the stories get told' emerged in our mass email template for Hello Cool World - it's still there for those of you that are on any of our 'lists'. It proved to be prophetic, as the entire marketing world has not only cottoned on to 'story telling' as the hot new buzzword (oh but it's actually ancient) for all the cool young campaigns.
But it's true, story has a power that moves people more than moralizing or rational arguments alone. But when a story well told, with emotional appeal, is backed up with both compelling facts and a call to action - it's heart, mind, and world changing. And of course this is what the best of documentaries do with the added audio visual vocabulary to bring to the proverbial table.
Which is why we've taken a documentary storytelling (and discovery) approach to all our projects, even the ad campaigns!
I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO SHAMELESSLY PROMOTE FOUR FINE FILMS COMING TO VIFF!
(Listed here in screening order.) I've already got my tickets to the following films, made by fine filmmakers who are friends and colleagues. If you are in Vancouver get your tickets now!
1. The Last White Knight • Dir. Paul Saltzman (Prom Night in Mississippi) • Premieres Sept 29, 8:45pm Empire Granville 4
2. Occupy Love • Dir. Velcrow Ripper (Scared Sacred, Fierce Light) • Premieres Oct 4, 9pm Empire Granville 1
3. Shadows of Liberty • Dir. Jean-Philippe Tremblay • Premieres Oct 5, 3:20 p, Empire Granville 5
4. Blood Relative• Dir. Nimisha Mukerji (65_RedRoses) • Premieres Oct 6, 6:45pm Empire Granville 2
Our ongoing work on The Corporation has been a calling card, but that project is by no means over for me. I am still balancing my desire to truly have an impact on the corporate form itself, and to build a movement out of the consistently growing numbers of supporters who contact us. As happens at this time every year I have had a lot of filmmakers who are also fans of The Corporation inquiring about working with us.
This blog began as a letter to one of these filmmakers, and as it turned into a manifesto of sorts I decided to blog-i-fy it for all to read. This season, this contemplation is being tempered with the need to create a real live business plan for growth as part of the VanCity Women Entrepreneurs program I was accepted into. Currently, I am getting support to work on this growth plan and will be give the opportunity to pitch it to potential lenders and investors.
As happens every time more filmmakers want us to take on their projects I do a lot of soul searching about what exactly we did for films before, and what I can realistically do for them. I've been backward engineering the successes and challenges fo the work with The Corporation...
The Corporation has been a project now for me, for over a decade. I was involved with The Corporation before it was even in production, and my role was far more than that of someone brought in after the fact. My roles were as producer and creative director of the website, and Creative director for the branding (we created the signature logo) plus "Director of Corporate Communication" - an ironic title reflective of my role not as a publicist but as the producer/director of the entire grassroots outreach.
All efforts were centred around having the website as our communications hub and tool. With Mark Achbar's help I raised 100K for the website and leveraged 100K more from distribtuors in four countries, who collectively spent a million in advertising all directing traffic to our website, which continues to have a significant amount of traffic ten years later. In essence, a campaign needs to be produced and directed, and the resources required, as well as the timeline are much the same as making a film!
Tag(s):
Hello Cool World,
Environment,
Film Launch,
The Corporation,
Fair Trade,
Mark Achbar,
DVD,
Fair Trade DVD Distribution,
The Corporation Film,
Distribution,
Women Entrepreneurs The sun is finally out in Vancouver! And here at Hello Cool World we are preparing (we hope) for a growth spurt. So far we've spent the spring recovering from the extreme sport that was our end of fiscal year, and it's been nice to have a few minutes to reflect on where we want to go next.
When the office space of our Mad Men dreams fell through (we like to think of
ourselves, as having an affinity for the MM aesthetic but with more girls, queers, and food), I moved things back to my Chinatown warehouse, where I now find myself organizing the future from the inside out. Both literally (boxes of stuff) and figuratively, with some head space to envision my business future.
As I write this, I am embarking on the new adventure that is the Vancity and Status of Women Canada project formerly known as "WE-FOG" and now rebranded as the WE-Communty, and I am being afforded the luxury of being able to focus on my vision for business growth, while being part of a supportive community with access to the tools of business that have hitherto been a mystery to me.
You see, I have two art degrees, once was a practicing artist and poet, and I am now 'in recovery'. ; )
So to be more specific, the 'Women Entrepreneurs, Financing Opportunities for Growth' program is a pilot project by Vancity Community Foundation with funding from the Status of Women Canada and I am honoured to be among the first 10 women-run businesses chosen to participate. I'm in excellent and exciting company!
What I have to do to be part of this is produce a business growth plan over the next six months, and the support of my assigned business coach Jill Earthy I couldn't be more excited to do this. At the end of it all we are expected and to present our plan for growth, and given the opportuntiy to pitch it to financiers.
Admittedly it's a recent dream but nevertheless it has come true and it couldn't be at a better time.
What I am asking of you, my readers of this blog, who I hope include friends, colleagues, clients, fans of Hello Cool World who I do not yet know, newly found mentors and advisors, and yes, also critics - is to join me on this journey and give me your feedback.
By Katherine Dodds On June 07, 2012 | 0 Comments
Soon school will be out... But here at Hello Cool World we already have 'Back-to-School' on our minds...
Over the summer we'll be working on the educational distribution plans for both the new cut of The Corporation for high schools and getting 65_RedRoses out to schools first in BC, then across Canada, and we are very excited about both these prospects.
With both these films we are striving to find ways to fund added-value. Our vision is that through partnering with stakeholders to develop issue-based study guides and online materials we can subsidize the licensing costs so more teachers and students can use these resources.
We're doing distribution differently, with a social outcome holding equal weight with the bottom line.
By Sandy Haksi On January 20, 2012 | 2 Comments
We've (finally!) released another issue of our News of the Cool e'Zine. The release is timed to coincide with today's Occupy the Courts national day of protest, and includes articles on Joel Bakan's new book — Childhood Under Siege — with a review by Occupy Parenting's Eric Curren, as well as pieces on tackling corporate giants and social branding. We also did a short Occupy-themed vlog that ties it all together. Check it out below and please share it!
In the vlog, Joel Bakan talks about corporate personhood and how the Occupy movement is really a call to be a citizen, with all the rights and duties that entails. Hello Cool World founder Katherine Dodds discusses how branding can be used for social good and not just to maximize profits, and Move to Amend's Steve Justino gives us some background on Occupy The Courts.
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Sandy Haksi is the Web Campaign Manager and Sr. Writer at Good Company Communications.
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