Two entertainment industry insiders are making movies their mission–films to fund education
(Long Island, N.Y.) I recently learned about a new organization that’s about to take Hollywood by storm–and that’s a very good thing! ReDistribute was founded on the belief that by changing the way that audiences are connected to entertainment, they have the ability to not only make a quality film, but also to ensure that there is a substantial audience waiting for it when it is released. They believe that Hollywood can be an agent for good, not only in the products that it releases, but also in its distribution of wealth.
They began by finding a compelling script that will reach a wide audience. From there they chose a national social issue that their passionate about, in this case, education with a special emphasis on reaching children in grades K-6.
The organization then partners with exciting charities and organizations who have a regional or nationwide impact and are integrating innovative approaches to education. Each Charity is thoroughly researched to make sure that it has excellent organizational efficiency and a strong financial core. Once the film is finished, it finds distribution in theaters, on dvds, on television and through Video-On-Demand and EVERY PENNY OF OUR PROFIT GOES TO CHARITY. End of story. Period.
I recently caught up with ReDistribute’s producer Spero Stamboulis –a talented actor with numerous television and film credits, as well as countless commercials under his belt.
Can you explain the Long Island connection?
We’re very excited that the screenplay writer for our first project under the ReDistribute arm is Mike Muldoon. He grew up in Mastic, was a ’92 graduate of William Floyd High School and was an all country wide receiver in addition to playing lacrosse. His family still resides on Long Island. He spent last summer in KY writing the feature film “Remembering Rachel’ and most recently finished working on a project for the SYFY network.
What sparked the idea for ReDistribute?
After reading one too many articles about how Hollywood was going to do a questionable remake of an 80’s television show or video game, coupled with the fact that while a handful of people/conglomerates were making billions of dollars off of Hollywood films while education budgets in the US were being decimated. The idea came out of how to try and bring new and exciting films to theaters while benefiting those in need.
How does it work? Four simple steps:
- People join the Facebook Cause
- We make the film
- People support the film
- We give 100% of our profits to Charity.
We begin by asking people to go to our website at: www.weReDistribute.org to find out more about who we are and what we are doing. From there, we ask people to click on the link to our Facebook Cause page, join the Cause and then recruit 10 people who will recruit 10 people.
While that is happening, we partner up with 50-100 education focused organizations throughout the country. We look for organizations who are doing innovative work both inside and outside of the classroom to impact young people’s lives.
Through our partnership, we offer them the overall profits in exchange for using their existing networks to help us recruit our supporters. We are able to offer these profits, because the cast and crew salaries for making the film keeps everyone afloat. In the near future, through these actions, we will have over one million supporters.
From there, we utilize this enormous pool of supporters when we sit down with film studio heads, investors and A-list actors to gain their support. Once the film is made and ready to be released, we once again reach out to our supporters and ask them to watch the film in their local theater.
Finally, all of the profits that come to us are given to the organizations that we partner with. We fully expect this to be well over $40 million. The ultimate number will be a result of the quality of our movie and how well we were all able to help spread the word.
What’s your mission…long term goal?
- Allow incredibly talented filmmakers to do what they do best while putting food on their table,
- Entertain and Educate our audiences and
- Have a significant impact on those who need it most. Our long term goal is to make this a sustainable program that funnels millions of dollars to a different issue each project. While our first focus is education, in the future we’ll be looking into: medical research/services, foster care, hunger, etc…
How can we help your efforts?
This program is only possible when a wide community of people become aware of it and rally around it. It is the purest form of democracy because each individual gets to have a direct impact on the success of the film and the amount that goes to our charities. We enthusiastically partner with news outlets both local and national, to help us spread the word and inspire people to join with us
How do you think a community of “regular” people can create change?
We all have the power to make a difference in the world. Brick by brick, we are building a foundation that will benefit so many kids….The Internet offers artists so many ways to be creative and impact others. We at ReDistribute are embracing change and want others to be a part of it. We want to show all young people that any of us can have a lasting impact on the lives of others.
What will your online community gain by being part of this?
First off, they get to know that they are directly affecting where millions of potential dollars are going. They also get to be the first to know the ‘insider tidbits’ like which celebrities are being cast, what the story is, where it will be shot, behind-the-scenes photos/videos, etc… Through our ever-evolving list of contests, they can not only win great prizes, but also have a rare chance to either be on the actual film set or attend the film’s World Premiere. They can also reach out to education organizations who are important to them and help them apply to be one of our recipients. Lots of exciting opportunities!
