Let it Ripple and Moxie Institute Film Studio + Lab

In 2011, Director Tiffany Shlain, and her team at The Moxie Institute Film Studio + Lab had an idea... what if they could create films that spoke to the essence of what it means to be human, keeping the topics broad enough that they could be applied to thousands of nonprofit and educational endeavors and these films would be offered for outreach completely for free. This concept led to the creation of their 501 (c3) nonprofit film series, Let it Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change.

Through this series, they pioneered a new way of making films called "Cloud Filmmaking," where they create films collaboratively with people around the world using the Internet and then offering the completed films with free customized endings to nonprofits and schools for outreach and education. Since the project’s launch 3 years ago, they have worked with over 2,000 nonprofits and schools helping them spread the important message of their work. The films have all been volunteer translated into over 65 languages all available online. 

Tiffany and her team’s work and films have received over 65 awards and distinctions including “The Disruptive Innovation” Award from The Tribeca Film Festival. Four of Tiffany’s films premiered at the Sundance Film Festival including her feature documentary Connected and three of them have been selected by The US State Department’s American Film Showcase to screen at embassies around the world to represent America. Two of these selected films are part of the Let it Ripple series, Brain Power was chosen in 2013 and The Science of Character in 2014. Her films have been viewed over 21 million times. The team recently launched Season 2 of their hit AOL original series, The Future Starts Here. The series explores what it means to be human as we rush head first through the 21st century and is one of AOL’s top original shows with nearly 40 million views. Season 1 premiered in October 2013 and received an Emmy Nomination in New Approaches: Arts, Lifestyle & Culture.

The team also has a 501(c3) nonprofit film series, Let it Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change. These films employ a new type of filmmaking they pioneered called “Cloud Filmmaking,” which experiments with making films collaboratively with people all over the world and then provides free customized versions of the films to nonprofit organizations and schools. Learn more about Cloud Filmmaking in The Cloud Filmmaking Manifesto. Films in this series include: Free Speech (2014), The Science of Character (2014), Brain Power: From Neurons to Networks & accompanying TED Book (2012), Engage (2012), A Declaration of Interdependence (2011). The fourth film in the series, The Science of Character premiered on March 20, 2014 as a global film premiere screening simultaneously in over 1500 schools and organizations around the world.