The Invest Early Alabama Film Festival was a project of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance with the Alabama Association of School Boards and the Business Council of Alabama. PNC Bank sponsored the festival.
The first film, No Small Matter (aired January 4-17), lays out the overwhelming evidence for the importance of the first five years and the dire consequences of our country’s failure to act on that evidence.
The second film, Starting at Zero: Reimagining Education in America (aired January 18-February 2), focuses its lens on Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program. This nationally recognized program funds and supports quality four-year-old classrooms in a variety of early care and education settings. Starting at Zero was produced by the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation for the Harvard University School of Education. The documentary features numerous interviews with Alabama state and business leaders, including Governor Kay Ivey.
In addition to the on-demand showings of both documentaries, ASRA and its partners hosted a series of virtual “Lunchtime Conversations” throughout the film festival with stars from the films, the state leaders responsible for managing our early childhood system, state lawmakers, and others.
The idea for the film festival evolved out of conversations with members of the Alabama State Legislature. ASRA previously shared highlights from both films with lawmakers on the Alabama House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means Education. Some of the lawmakers planned to host public screenings in their districts before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled all in-person events. Since then, ASRA has been working with the filmmakers to procure rights to the films for extended online screening.
“The Alabama School Readiness Alliance is excited to partner with the Alabama Association of School Boards, the Business Council of Alabama, and PNC Bank to bring these important films to Alabama,” said Allison Muhlendorf, executive director of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance. “The end of the pandemic gives us an opportunity to reverse trends holding our children back, but we will only be successful if we invest early and wisely. The Invest Early Alabama Film Festival will show us how.”
Longleaf Strategies advises on communications strategy, leads media outreach, develops messaging, and produces collateral materials for the Alabama School Readiness Alliance. Longleaf helped produce the Invest Early Alabama Film Festival.