Job Description

PRODUCTION INTERNS

“RECKONING WITH TORTURE” NATIONAL FILM PROJECT

PEN American Center is assembling a team of regional production interns to help director Doug Liman, PEN, and the ACLU gather footage for Liman’s innovative “Reckoning With Torture” national film project.

“Reckoning With Torture” is the story of ordinary Americans standing up and doing what our government so far has failed to do—telling the truth about the scope and human cost of America’s post-9/11 torture program. Over the past 2 years, Liman, PEN, and the ACLU have staged and filmed readings from formerly classified documents and other materials featuring some of the country’s leading writers and actors alongside former military and intelligence officers. This spring, Liman launched the website www.reckoningwithtorture.org and issued a national call for footage, asking people of conscience throughout the country to film themselves reading these same documents. Later this year, Liman will intercut scenes from this crowdsourced footage with the staged readings, creating a film that is both a rolling national performance of the RWT script and the record of a citizen-driven movement to demand accountability and to honor the many servicemen and women who stood up to stop the torture.

PEN is seeking 10 production interns around the country with a passion for film, and a keen interest in the way new media and grassroots filmmaking are reshaping social activism, to conduct outreach and help orchestrate the collection of crowdsourced footage in their regions.

The internship period runs from June 1 through August 15, 2012. During that time, RWT production interns will:

• Use existing networks and discover and develop new networks to spread the word about Liman’s national call for citizen-generated footage
• Encourage the production and submission of RWT clips featuring readers of diverse ages and backgrounds in a variety of settings
• When necessary, assist in the creation, uploading, and cataloging of RWT footage
• Participate in weekly skype conference calls with the RWT production team and other production interns to share progress and develop additional outreach strategies

Toward the end of the two and one-half months, interns will produce personal, 5-minute videos in which they reflect on their experiences, intercutting clips that demonstrate their work at its best. Although the internship is unpaid, all interns who successfully complete the internship will receive credit in Doug Liman’s “Reckoning With Torture” film and a recommendation from the RWT production team. Exceptional interns will receive an invitation to attend the film’s premiere.

Successful candidates will have a solid knowledge of filmmaking and digital video production; exceptional facility with social media and a willingness to help build a national network of RWT advocates; and a strong interest in film and new media as vehicles for social action. They must also be self-motivated, dedicated, imaginative, and committed to the RWT project.

The application:

To apply for an RWT production internship, please send a one-page resume along with your answers to the following questions:

1. Where do you live?
2. What is your experience with film, social media, and advocacy?
3. What are your three favorite films? (Your choices don’t have to relate in any way to the RWT project; just give us a sense of what you like and who you are.)
4. What are three things you would do to stimulate participation in the RWT project?
5. Describe how you would stage and film two RWT readings: location, time of day, readers, and any other details you can think of. Be creative—we hope to see your imaging inspired by the RWT materials

Submit your materials by June 1, 2012 to:

Leily Kleinbard at info@reckoningwithtorture.org