Supporting Emerging and Diverse Filmmakers
ABOUT US
Films With Purpose provides the opportunity for filmmakers of diverse backgrounds to tell their stories. Through funding, mentorship and consultative work, we seek to support artists who will shift the spotlight to a much larger conversation.
FWP is committed to driving social change and expressing the urgency of current issues through deeply rooted messages found within film. Emphasizing the struggles and joys of life, our films highlight topics such as race, family, history, human rights, conflict and health.
We believe that our goal of social change can be reached through a the empowerment of our artists throughout the entire filmmaking process. The first step is to tackle the diversity problem in Hollywood through the production of films by storytellers who have been restricted from the resources necessary to develop their narrative.
By producing films that tell the stories that matter, we seek to inspire more artists to pursue their goals to share their vision. Along with assisting individuals in their path to create a powerful film, we aim to simultaneously give our filmmakers the tools they need to ensure they are set on a path to a promising future.
Despite our focus on filmmaking, our work goes far beyond pushing films over the finish line. We build comprehensive impact strategies which ensure that the communities who are portrayed in our the films are crucial collaborative partners and beneficiaries.
Films with Purpose is not an empty phrase.
We don’t just focus on the bottom-line. We focus on the real impact our films have in the world.
MEET THE FOUNDER
Sandra Evers-Manly
Sandra Evers-Manly is a noted corporate executive, community activist and patron to African-American artists. She has been making a difference in diverse communities across the nation or more than 25 years.
Through the founding of the nonprofit organization, Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC), Evers-Manly and her team advocates, educates, researches, develops and preserves the history and future of Blacks in film and television. With the addition of Films With Purpose, she brings a viable tool that individuals and communities can use to support and promote diversity in front of and behind the camera.
Making a difference is simply in her blood; “I came from a civil rights family. We were raised by the letter L. Love. Lift. Lead. Learn. Laugh. Listen with your heart—. I would always ask my mother, ‘Why don’t you see us on TV?’ My mother finally said: Change it.”
Evers-Manly was executive producer for five short films in 1990 about Gang Violence through Fight Back with Films, another Evers-Manly organization. She established the S.E. Manly Short Film Festival, and the Sista’s are Doin’ It For Themselves, Reel Black Men, and Youth Diversity showcases which take place annually in Los Angeles, CA.
“Our films empower, educate, inspire, and sometimes even make you mad. While a lot of people came to Hollywood to be actors and actresses, I came to bring about change with more images of people of color in front of and behind the scenes.”
