Last week, California Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Program Manager, Maya Chupkov, put on a panel at the Sundance Film Festival on, “The Public Investment Renaissance: A New Vision for Publicly Supported Documentary Film.” Leaders in both the media and civic building space including Paula Smith Arrigoni, Executive Director of BAVC Media; Carrie Lozano, President & CEO of ITVS; and Erika Dilday, Executive Director of American Documentary, joined Maya grappling with the question: what does it mean to sustain community rooted storytelling in an era of federal disinvestment and consolidation?

Answering this question requires us to imagine a new system that prioritizes the interests of independent, community-rooted storytelling.

Here are a few highlights from the discussion:

A Reset Moment for Public-Interest Media

Independent public interest is integral to our democracy. Connecting storytelling to issues that matter most to our communities, especially those who are culturally isolated, is critical. When communities lack access to trustworthy, accessible information, civic participation, accountability, and public trust all suffer.

Public interest documentary film sits squarely within this challenge. Like local journalism, documentaries help communities make sense of complex issues, preserve collective memory, and surface voices that are often excluded from dominant narratives. They are part of the same civic infrastructure, even if they are funded, distributed, and discussed differently.

The disruption in documentary film due, in large part to the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, confronts us with these questions:
How do people actually encounter stories about public life?
How can documentaries and visual media support organizing, policy, and public accountability?

When we treat documentaries as part of the public-interest media ecosystem, they become tools for shared learning and civic dialogue, and part of the broader information environment that shapes public understanding and democratic participation.

From Vision to Practice: What We’re Learning on the Ground

In California, local and regional coalitions have shown how media, community organizations, and policymakers can work together when the focus is on shared civic goals. Maine offers a compelling example. What began as an impact campaign around a single documentary, supported by Camden International Film Festival and the Points North Institute, eventually evolved into a permanent, publicly funded program.

What made that possible wasn’t a one-size-fits-all policy solution — it was relationship-building. Lawmakers and agencies were invited into conversations early. Films created space for dialogue.

The Maine case study also showed us how film screenings can function as civic infrastructure. When designed intentionally, screenings can offer a space to humanize policy debates, create a shared reference point that formal advocacy often lacks, and allow journalists, community members, advocates, and policymakers to listen together. 

Common Cause is planning to apply those same lessons in California, using screenings and conversations to build shared understanding around community issues. 

Where This Leaves Us

If public interest media is a public good, its future depends on how well it is integrated into the systems that support democracy.

Documentary film is not separate from journalism, organizing, or policy. When filmmakers collaborate regionally and align with public-interest goals, their work can strengthen civic infrastructure and help bridge culturally isolated communities.

At California Common Cause , this perspective shapes how we connect research, storytelling, community engagement, and policy. The work ahead is not about preserving a single medium, but about strengthening the public-interest media ecosystem as a whole.