Washington DC – A new documentary, SHIFT CHANGE, highlighting a successful and growing business sector in the U.S. will have its D.C. premiere on December 17th with two screening events: daytime screening and panel discussion on worker cooperative and job creation at the AFL-CIO, and an evening screening and Q&A with the filmmakers at the E Street Cinema.
At a time when many are disillusioned with big banks, big business and growing inequality in the United States, employee ownership offers real solutions for workers and communities. SHIFT CHANGE visits thriving cooperative businesses in the U.S. and Spain; sharing on-the-ground experiences, lessons and observations from the worker-owners on the front lines of the new economy. Watch the film’s trailer here: http://shiftchange.org/video-clips/
WHAT: Special Daytime Screening of SHIFT CHANGE
WHEN: Monday, December 17, 2012, 11:00 AM
WHERE: Gompers Room, AFL-CIO, 815 16th Street, N.W.
WHO: Prescreening panel discussion on worker cooperatives & job creation
Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers
Gar Alperovitz, Democracy Collaborative
Liz Bailey, Cooperative Development Foundation
John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies
David Madland, Center for American Progress
Michael Peck, Mondragon
WHAT: Evening Premiere of SHIFT CHANGE & Fundraiser, Q&A with Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young, filmmakers
WHEN: Monday, December 17, 2012, 7:30 PM
WHERE: Landmark E Street Cinema, 555 11th Street, N.W.
WHO: Introduction by Omar Freilla, Green Worker Cooperatives (NYC)
NOTE: $10 suggested donation to benefit cooperatives recovering from Hurricane Sandy
More information about the film and links to RSVP for the daytime event and to purchase tickets to the evening screening can be found here:
http://community-wealth.org/shiftchange
Worker-owned businesses are on the rise, with hundreds of coops in the U.S. today, representing thousands of individual worker/owners. SHIFT CHANGE highlights some of the vibrant worker-owned companies across the nation: from bakeries to solar energy to manufacturing and engineering. Through in-depth interviews with worker-owners, attendance at coop meetings and visits to the factory floor, the film conveys the promise that these businesses offer to reinvent our failing economy, provide a pathway to long-term stability and nurture a more egalitarian way of life.
SHIFT CHANGE is being released during the U.N.-declared International Year of Cooperatives (2012.coop). Co-sponsors for the DC premiere include: American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), Coop DC, Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF), DC Labor FilmFest, Democracy Collaborative, Institute for Policy Studies, Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO, Mondragon USA, National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), NCB Financial Group, New Economy Working Group, ONE DC, Taylored Communications and United Steelworkers (USW).
ABOUT THE PRODUCERS:
Seattle-based filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin have produced many documentary films on social justice and environmental issues in North and South America, winning prestigious awards from CINE, Houston, Columbus, Prix Leonardo, International Wildlife, Women in Film/Seattle, Chicago, NW Film and Video Festivals, among others. Their productions are known for diverse examples of regular people helping create positive change. Young and Dworkin’s films are in broad circulation in academic and activist settings. Five have been broadcast on PBS, most recently, Good Food [2010], an intimate look at the growers and businesses that are creating a local, sustainable food system in the Pacific Northwest. Released earlier this year is We Are Not Ghosts about rebuilding Detroit from the ground up.
**High resolution images are available on request**
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Contact:
Amber Taylor, 703-201-4893, amber@taylored-communications.com
Natasha Dworkin, 206-715-1696, natashadworkin@gmail.com