MEF: How did you first learn about the Media Education Foundation?

KGS: In 2003, an old friend attended one of your house parties in Massachusetts, raising funds for the production of Hijacking Catastrophe. He called, excited, and said, “You have to hold a party in Bloomington!” I said “yes” without even knowing anything about MEF!

RS: Obviously, something caught our friend’s eye, and if he was excited about it then we wanted to look into it, too.

MEF: What happened to make you move from that initial spontaneous “yes” to actually hosting an event?

KGS: I found that I had a hard time explaining the idea of holding a house party for MEF to our son, Ari. So, I called MEF and said, “Help!” And the response was incredible. I told you I needed help talking about MEF, this film, and hosting a fundraiser. After we spoke, you sent us MEF literature and the 8-minute preview of Hijacking Catastrophe. We immediately watched the preview and said, “This is the real deal. This is something we can really get behind.” Both talking with you, reading about MEF, and seeing actual footage, we said, “These people really know what they’re doing.”

RS: When we watched the film — even in its rough form — these ideas really resonated with us. We learned things we hadn’t known and, it really sparked us.

MEF: What happened next?

RS: We started showing it to others, and everyone we showed it to felt the same way — “Wow, I want to see the final film!” Pretty much right away, we decided we would go ahead and have the house party.

KGS: We organized the house party with your help, designed invitations and used MEF literature. We sent out handwritten, personal invitations to about 150 people, and quite unbelievably 70 people showed up! That’s almost 50% of the invitations we sent out, which was pretty remarkable.

RS: We were packed tight.

KGS: We had good food and great conversation, and when we showed the preview, people were totally stunned by the quality of the film. Word just started spreading. The next day, Rob and I decided we needed to take it to the next level. That’s when we started looking for space in Bloomington, and asked MEF if we could host the world premier of Hijacking Catastrophe! MEF agreed. Rob and I had both been involved in renovating the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, which seats over 600 people. We looked at it, and pretty much took a gulp and said, “Well maybe we can get 200-300 people in there.” We decided we could do it, and went ahead and rented the theater. We’d never done anything like this before.

We just started asking questions and talking to everyone we knew who had organized events, and then realized we needed to reach the press. Again, with your help, we made up press packages, hand delivered them all around Bloomington, and reserved an auditorium in the library for a special press screening. Eight people showed up and they loved it! (I think they liked the refreshments too!) A local columnist who was going out of town wrote a review before he left for vacation. I think his column had a lot to do with what happened. We had widespread coverage, including the Indiana Daily Student. We also got press time on local radio. So much was going on. It just went way beyond what we ever imagined.

When the staff at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater told us that we were probably going to sell out, we made arrangements with student access TV to simulcast the screening of Hijacking Catastrophe event. We just tried to cover every base.

RS: We had created an organizing committee from many different constituencies. We didn’t just do this alone.

MEF: How many people actually showed up at the theater?

RS: The show was sold out! The line went around the block with a crowd of more than 800 people. We quickly talked to the theater manager and technical people, and they all immediately agreed to work a second show. I stood up on a big planter outside the theater,summoned my loudest voice, and announced that we could not get everyone into the theater and that we would do a 10:00 PM show. I also announced that people could see the event on cable access TV. At least 250 people were turned away. Some went to friends’ homes to watch it on cable, and about 200 people came back for the 10:00 PM show. This was on a Monday night! The atmosphere in the theater was absolutely electric.

MEF: What do you think motivated people to get behind this event?

KGS: I think it’s the brilliant work of MEF. We all saw a tool we could use to educate people on the issues leading up to the 2004 election.

RS: People kept asking us, “What can I do to help?”

KGS: This event gave people something to hold onto, even if it was just putting up a poster. People felt like they were involved. I think that was really important because that’s what drove people in. It’s empowering that something so simple as a phone call, hanging a poster, or helping with a mailing can make you feel like you’re really participating rather than being passive.

MEF: How has your own involvement with MEF impacted your life?

KGS: We had already been involved in our community, but before planning the house party and the premier, we had always been part of the choir. What happened here is we stepped in to lead the choir. The tools that MEF has given us have been extremely instrumental in our being able to take that step because MEF is a support system for information. You have done the research, and put it into a form that is easily accessible and understood. MEF has given us tools to help share information and take leadership.

MEF: MEF has returned to Bloomington for other events as well. Would you say something about your involvement with us since the premier?

RS: In 2004, I also became involved with issues of the uninsured and healthcare. Being so public with MEF, introducing the film and facilitating discussion during the Q&A, helped me be a little more comfortable on stage.

In the winter of 2005, Karen and I learned that MEF was just completing a film about the pharmaceutical industry, Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease & Pushing Drugs (BBBP). At that time, we were part of an organizing committee for National Coverage of the Uninsured week. We decided to screen BBBP. Being involved in this next project was another opportunity for me to express my views, and once again with help from MEF.

KGS: Ronit Ridberg, producer of BBBP, came to Bloomington for the screening and discussion. She was brilliant. Again, here was somebody representing MEF who had just done a very good job, coming into a community barely knowing us, and being quite at home. It was remarkable.

MEF: How has MEF’s work supported your activism around healthcare issues?

RS: I tried to see that for me this issue about healthcare and the uninsured also feels like an idea whose time has come, just like understanding of the role of the neo-cons leading up to the war. These are all issues that are so important for people to understand, to grapple with, and to figure out ways of responding. I have become active with the national organization, Physicians for a National Health Program, and have become the state coordinator. Along with others in Bloomington, I have formed an Indiana chapter. I am the director of that chapter.

KGS: I’d like to inject here that Rob was just recently named (along with two other doctors) Outstanding Activist of the Year Award. Being involved with MEF really helped propel him in being a recipient of this award.

MEF: How would you say it helped propel you, Rob?

RS: It’s similar to something Karen said earlier. I remember when I was preparing for the premier of Hijacking Catastrophe, thinking about the Q&A, I thought the question might come up: “Aren’t you just singing to the choir?” And I thought, sometimes someone gets up and leads the choir, and also sometimes the choir sings loud, the choir is strong. And that’s it, I’ve been in the choir for a long time, but my involvement with MEF really helped me to be more comfortable leading the choir.

MEF: You’re still involved with MEF, and we with you. What moved you to make a donation to MEF, in addition to your many efforts sharing our work in Bloomington?

RS: We started learning more about MEF and realized how broadly based your work is. Your ability to explain things understandably and graphically on film in many different areas was really compelling. We said, “We’ve got to support this!” Not just raise money for one film, but for MEF’s work in general.

MEF: We are very grateful for all the ways you have each chosen to support MEF. Would you talk about your decision to make a multi-year pledge to MEF rather than a one-time gift?

RS: There are a number of organizations that we support with three or five-year pledges, and it made sense to us to do this for MEF, because we really understand how important it is for planning your budget and priorities.

MEF: What do you imagine for MEF’s future, and do you see yourselves playing a role in it?

KGS: Oh, without a doubt! We’ll play a role in it. We’re looking forward to what we do next. Depending on how the world turns, I see this as a lifetime commitment. It is gratifying and a joy to be involved with MEF. We are motivated in being involved in our community, with having a voice in what goes on in our world, and MEF has a lot to say about what goes on in the world. It’s a source of both information and entertainment, and we want to be part of it.

MEF: We have come to the end of our time. Once again, thank you very much for agreeing to be interviewed. We can’t do this work without you and others who so generously support our mission and help move our work forward in the world.

KGS: We are very happy to have had the chance to talk with you, too.

RS: Thanks to everyone at MEF for all you do.

END

If you are interested in contributing to the Media Education Foundation, you can visit www.mediaed.org/wp/donatenow or contact donations@mediaed.org or 413.584.8500 x2203.