Home > Outreach Case Studies > Thirst

Thirst (2004)

By Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman

In this Case Study
The Film
Strategy & Goals
Resource Materials
Outcomes

Campaign Outcomes

The broadcast of Thirst reached over one million households, with some of the highest ratings in Austin, Cleveland, New Orleans, Sacramento, and Seattle.

The film and book brought national attention to the issue and to the specific dramatic debate in Stockton, which ceded control of its water, sewage and storm water systems to a multinational consortium made up of Colorado-based OMI and London-based Thames Water in a $600 million, 20-year agreement, the largest public-private partnership deal in the West. The local citizens group profiled in both the film and book, the Concerned Citizens Coalition, brought the suit along with the Sierra Club and the League of Women's Voters, and on July 18, 2007 the Stockton City Council in California voted to undo the privatization of its water utilities.

PROMOTION

The media campaign was developed targeting environmental, African American and South Asian writers, television critics, and California and Atlanta area media in print, radio, television and online. P.O.V. worked with filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman to increase coverage on national radio news broadcasts.

As a result, P.O.V. secured radio coverage on the nationally syndicated Leonard Lopate Show, the KPFA Morning Show in San Francisco, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Westwood One (comprising 1,700 stations on the NBC, CBS, Source and Mutual Networks). Print placements included features in E-The Environmental Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, the San Diego Tribune, The Asian Reporter, Jewish Week, and Alternet, as well as highlights in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly TV Guide, Houston Chronicle, The Hartford Courant and Sierra Magazine, among others.

OUTREACH

P.O.V. partnered with seven public television stations, 13 educational institutions and 10 community-based organizations, including youth-serving organizations targeted by our Youth Views initiative, to present over 27 screening and discussion events in 22 cities in 16 states. For example, public television station WPBA-WABE in Atlanta, GA, hosted a screening of Thirst sponsored by 10 organizations, including: The Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Human Rights, The Georgia Environmental Council, The Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, The Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility/Atlanta, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Georgia Kids Against Pollution, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition and United Nations Association/USA/Atlanta. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former civil rights leader Dr. Joseph E. Lowery gave introductory remarks prior to the screening, which was followed by a panel discussion. Felicia Davis of the Benjamin Mays Center moderated the panel, which featured Neil Herring, Chapter Lobbyist of the Sierra Club; Na'Taki Osborne of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance; and filmmakers Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow, focused on localized concerns for the future of water in Atlanta and the state of Georgia.

TOP OF PAGE