Looky Looky Pictures

28/09/2023

🚨 DEADLINE TO APPLY OCTOBER 18th!

👀 Have filmmaker friends who’ve been thinking about impact for their film? Tell/tag/share this with then now!

➡️➡️ Apply now at www.LookyLookyPictures.com (link in bio)

🎉Seeing our Guided Campaign Accelerator clients get super clear and focused so they confidently make moves with their film’s impact campaigns sets my heart on fire! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 😍😍😍

It’s absolutely magical! 🫶🏼😌✨

➡️➡️If you’re a small doc film team (or 1-person lone wolf filmmaker! ~40% of our clients are!) that wants your film to make a big impact, then apply to our Guided Campaign Accelerator at our website, link in bio— www.LookyLookyPictures.com

Guided Campaign is the only place you can get:

✨Our Care-Centered impact strategy for filmmakers and film participants

✨Community: of filmmakers just like you! So you’re not alone anymore!

✨Curriculum: Masterclass with clarifying guidance, examples, checklists for your impact events, templates and personal reviews of your impact materials—website, partnership kit, strategy doc, etc.

✨Calls: Our incredible weekly group call is the highlight of our week! We share and celebrate your wins, what we’re all grateful for, and, of course, answer your personal questions about your film’s impact. You also get 1:1 gamifyed calls, impact celebration parties, and more! 🥰

➡️➡️ Learn more and apply at www.LookyLookyPictures.com (link in bio).

DM us with any questions or to share a bit about your film. I’d love to hear from you! You’ll get a response directly from me! 😊

-Ani Mercedes (Founder/Impact Producer, )

19/09/2023

🎉Seeing our Guided Campaign Accelerator clients get super clear and focused so they confidently make moves with their film’s impact campaigns sets my heart on fire! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 😍😍😍

It’s absolutely magical! 🫶🏼😌✨

➡️➡️If you’re a small doc film team (or 1-person lone wolf filmmaker! ~40% of our clients are!) that wants your film to make a big impact, then check out how to join our Guided Campaign Accelerator at our website, link in bio— LookyLookyPictures.com

Guided Campaign is the only place you can get all of this: Content review, Community, Calls, and Curriculum…

✨Content review: Personal review of your impact materials—partnership kit, strategy doc, website, etc.

✨Community: with filmmakers just like you! So you don’t feel alone anymore!

✨Calls: Our incredible weekly group call is the highlight of our week! We share and celebrate your wins, what we’re all grateful for, and, of course, answer your personal questions about your film’s impact. (And even if you can’t make it live we record it and timestamp all of your questions. We’re super organized and can help you get your campaign organized too. 🤓)

✨Curriculum: You get a masterclass designed around our 3-part impact framework, specifically for small doc teams—90% of lessons are under 15 mins to fit into your busy schedule—and include inspiring film impact lessons grounded in 7+ years of experience leading national film campaigns, include templates, tech tutorials, and center your personal self-care and that of your film participants. 🫶🏼

➡️➡️ Learn more and see how you can join at LookyLookyPictures.com or click the link in bio.

DM us with any questions or to share a bit about your film. I’d love to hear from you! You’ll get a response directly from me! 😊

-Ani Mercedes (Founder/Impact Producer, )

23/08/2023

Let us know in the comments or DM us! I can’t wait to hear from you!

03/08/2023

Sending so much love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love right now.

And deepest deepest condolences to Beadie Finzi and her family, everyone at , and everyone feeling love for Jess right now.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Jess, thank you so much for being a titan in our industry, for believing in the impact of films, and the impact of people, for your care, your mentorship, your laughter, your dance moves. Sending so much gratitude and love to you.

Forever a big fan of your work (To quote Kahlil Gibran, “Work is love made visible.” You, and Doc Society, exemplify that.). Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

- Ani Mercedes
(Impact Producer and Founder of , in large part because of what Jess Search and Doc Society created ❤️❤️❤️)

Photos: Good Pitch USA 2019 for its 44th edition, and the last in-person global Good Pitch before the pandemic. What a blessed moment. Photos taken by Lauren Colchamiro.

15/12/2022

White, Male Directors Dominated Early Documentary Streaming Era, Study Finds

From 2014-2020 streaming and cable platforms had "greater racial inequities" than public media when it came to directors, according to "The Lens Reflected" report from American University.

From 2014-2020 streaming and cable platforms had "greater racial inequities" than public media when it came to directors, according to "The Lens Reflected" report from American University.

13/12/2022

Woo hoo!! Join us today here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/reimaginebusiness1

Big news! As part of the The American Dream Documentary] impact campaign, we're working with the film to launch a speaker series called Reimagine Business.

Join us live for the first event, with , B Corp U.S. & Canada's Jorge Fontanez and Susan "Sam" Miller (film participant and former cast member)

RSVP now! LINK IN The American Dream Documentary] BIO.

13/12/2022

During the summer of racial reckoning, and inspired by the movement, Ani Mercedes (CEO/Founder, Looky Looky Pictures) asked our film community to turn the lens on itself—to go beyond sharing films that spark conversation about racism in different communities, but to stop and ask ourselves to have a conversation about racism and mis/representation in our own documentary film industry.

With immediate resolve, Caty Borum (Lead Researcher, Center for Media & Social Impact, the Center for Media and Social Impact) and Sonya Childress (Co-Director, ) rose to the occasion. After years of tireless, dedicated work, we are honored to reveal a project that we've had the great fortune to collaborate on!

The Lens Reflected is a study by The Center for Media & Social Impact that examines primarily race and gender representation of protagonists/film participants in 1,200+ streaming documentaries from 2014-2020.

It asks: Who is telling whose stories, and what stories and storytellers get the green light in documentary’s streaming age? It does the critical work of, in essence, creating a "report card" for our doc community to evaluate who and who receive distribution opportunities.

Swipe to see some key findings.
See the full report at www.cmsimpact.org/report/the-lens-reflected

We are beyond grateful to and Perspective Fund for making this paramount research possible. Thank you!

And thank you to the team behind it all! Principal Investigator Caty Borum, Lead Researcher Paula Weissman, the CMSI research team included David Conrad-Pérez, Aras Coskuntuncel, Kimberly Reason, L Cedeño Miller, and Natacha Yazbeckl, Varsha Ramani (operations director + publication manager), Olivia Klaus (report design). The study was shaped and facilitated in collaboration with Sonya Childress (Co-Director, Color Congress) and Ani Mercedes (Founder/CEO, Looky Looky Pictures).

07/12/2022

Big news! As part of the The American Dream Documentary] impact campaign, we're working with the film to launch a speaker series called Reimagine Business.

Join us live for the first event, with , B Corp U.S. & Canada's Jorge Fontanez and Susan "Sam" Miller (film participant and former cast member)

RSVP now! LINK IN The American Dream Documentary] BIO.

06/12/2022

Watch the replay now! :)
Tag/share with a filmmaker friend who may find it helpful!

Register now for Films Don’t Change the World: 5 Impact Campaign Myths Debunked on crowdcast, scheduled to go live on December 6, 2022, 01:00 PM EST.

30/11/2022

🎥Doc filmmakers, get excited!!! If you want to move forward with your film's impact with clarity, ease, and joy, the this is for you!

⭐FREE LIVE WORKSHOP (Dec 6th): "Films Don't Change the World: 5 Impact Campaign Myths Debunked"

💌Save your spot (get the replay) for this event at the link in bio or go to https://www.LookyLookyPictures.com/Party

In this interactive live workshop, Ani Mercedes, impact producer and founder of Looky Looky Pictures, will help you:
✨Debunk the 5 common myths about film impact campaigns
✨Gain behind-the-scenes insights
✨Confidently move forward with your film’s impact campaign (at any stage of production!)

If you want a clear impact strategy, are passionate about your film, and want to connect with a community of other impact-minded filmmakers, then this is for you.

💌Save your spot (get the replay) for this event at the link in bio or go to https://www.LookyLookyPictures.com/Party

29/11/2022

🎥Doc filmmakers, get excited!!! If you want to move forward with your film's impact with clarity, ease, and joy, the this is for you!

⭐FREE LIVE WORKSHOP (Dec 6th): "Films Don't Change the World: 5 Impact Campaign Myths Debunked"

💌Save your spot + get the replay: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/impactmyths

You are a doc filmmaker with big ambitions for how you hope your film will change the world, but only a vague sense of how to approach it.

In this interactive live workshop, Ani Mercedes, impact producer and founder of Looky Looky Pictures, will help you:
- Debunk the 5 common myths about film impact campaigns
- Gain behind-the-scenes insights
- Confidently move forward with your film’s impact campaign (at any stage of production!)

If you want a clear impact strategy, are passionate about your film, and want to connect with a community of other impact-minded filmmakers, then this is for you.

💌Save your spot + get the replay: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/impactmyths

Register now for Films Don’t Change the World: 5 Impact Campaign Myths Debunked on crowdcast, scheduled to go live on December 6, 2022, 01:00 PM EST.

05/09/2022

Today, , we invite you to honor and celebrate workers with us by sharing the powerful film The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales. Watch the trailer here: https://bit.ly/american-dream-film

In it, Abigail Disney, whose grandfather helped found the Walt Disney Company, grapples with America’s profound inequality crisis, exploring systemic injustices through her family’s story. See the film in theaters + on digital Sept 23! 🏰💰
https://americandreamdoc.com/

A documentary film directed by Abigail E. Disney and Kathleen Hughes

16/08/2022

We are beyond thrilled to congratulate the grantees of the Firelight Media and to be partnering with Firelight to serve this impactful stories!

We are proud to announce the 2022 grantees for our ! The Fund addresses a resource gap in the nonfiction space for impact and audience engagement-related projects by and for communities of color in the U.S.

The five documentary films and docuseries selected tell complex stories about timely social and political topics, including the impact of police brutality on Black communities; the rise in anti-Muslim violence in the wake of the 2017 Muslim travel ban; and how the criminal justice system responds to survivors of abuse when they fight back.

Firelight Media will award each project with grants of $25,000 and the opportunity to gain impact and engagement strategy support and advising. This year, Firelight Media will partner with Looky Looky Pictures, founded by Ani Mercedes, an alum of our Impact Producers Lab, to provide grantees with mentorship around campaign strategy and implementation.

Meet the 2022 Impact Campaign Fund grantees: https://firelightmedia.medium.com/firelight-media-announces-2022-grantees-for-the-impact-campaign-fund-a1ac39ea9a73

06/06/2022

have you heard of SUBJECT? - https://mailchi.mp/a40dfbc980f2/impact-5215889

It's about to rock our doc world!

SUBJECT is a feature film that explores the ethics & responsibilities inherent in . This film puts some of the most successful documentaries under the microscope, revealing the impact their commercial success has had on the lives of the onscreen participants.

It will premiere at the 2022 Film Festival in the Documentary Competition! 🎉

Get tickets and more here: http://subject.film/

01/06/2022

🎥 If you're a doc filmmaker in town for the Tribeca Film Festival or live in NYC, join us for a meet & greet during the festival, where we'll go to Subject documentary Town Hall at the festival--one of the first events of its kind that brings together documentary participants from some of our most beloved films--and then hang out together afterward. It's a total dream day for doc film cinephiles!

🎟️ GET YOUR FREE TICKET here: https://www.tribecafilm.com/films/tribeca-talks-subject-town-hall-2022

🗓️ DATE: Sunday, June 12th

📍LOCATION:
Village East by Angelika: Theater 3
181 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003

⏰ Meet in the lobby at 3pm ET, so we can meet up then walk to the theater together. FYI: Look for the 'you are beautiful' stickers or DM us on IG or FB with questions or if you're running late.

🎟️ GET YOUR FREE TICKET here: https://www.tribecafilm.com/films/tribeca-talks-subject-town-hall-2022

01/06/2022

NYC/Tribeca--SO excited to share that we will be at the Tribeca Film Festival next week!

We'll be in NYC for:
🎥 2 films we have the honor of serving-- Subject documentary (join us at the World Premiere, get tickets: https://www.tribecafilm.com/films/subject-2022 ) and another that's hush hush (VIP screening)!

👋🏽 A NYC doc filmmaker meetup we're organizing--details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/542404774148452 If you're in town join us! It's always a ton of fun! Creative work can be lonely work so we're doing more to build community.

👀 I'll be sharing behind the scenes updates in our FB and IG stories for the entire trip--follow along on FB and IG

09/05/2022

.film . .
⚡ Your impact campaign can supercharge your fundraising!

Join Keith, Caitlin Boyle of & Ani Mercedes for the webinar you won't want to miss — Make money while making an impact. May 12th at 1pm Pacific/3pm Eastern! Save your seat here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpdeiopjwvGtLUBIAMuNrHbvn3xYBdKvPg

In this webinar you'll learn:
💰The difference between fundraising for your film and fundraising for impact

📈 Revenue from traditional distribution deals vs revenue from self-distribution as part of your impact campaign

🌎 How impact can help you clarify your outreach to potential partners and funders

📣 How to articulate your impact goal and reach larger audiences to generate more revenue

Register now to save your seat for this live webinar next Thursday! Link in .film bio.

03/05/2022

REPOST 🚨 new episode closing this season
featuring impact expert Ani Mercedes of
discussing the acclaimed by but also mental health tips for filmmakers, trauma-informed and care-first impact campaigns and more! Available 🔥
everywhere you listen to podcasts!

Thank you Nora for all of the amazing work you're doing with your Creative Distribution 101 podcast! It was a joy to (finally!) connect with you and share a bit of behind-the-scenes insights from our work! -Ani Mercedes (CEO, Impact Producer )

Links to interview:
https://apple.co/3vlHrfJ
https://spoti.fi/3OFWuZd

28/04/2022

CALL FOR 2022-2023 SCREENING PARTNERS in the U.S. South.
Bring independent documentary filmmakers to your community for screenings and conversations around important stories and the art of filmmaking. Screening Partner applications for the 2022-2023 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers are now open through May 3, 2022.
https://www.southarts.org/programs-conferences/southern-circuit-tour-independent-filmmakers

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers brings the best of new independent cinema to venues across the South. See how you can get involved.

13/04/2022

DM us for to request your invite + get more details 💌🤗 It’s always so much fun! 🎉

31/03/2022

GUIDED CAMPAIGN FILMMAKER NEWS: Check out this new podcast interview by Guided Campaign alum Natalie Pattillo and Daniel A. Nelson, Co-Directors and Producers of And So I Stayed where they talk directly about how they helped free one of their protagonists from prison and how they navigated their impact in light of their background as journalists. We are big fans of your work!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/and-so-i-stayed-natalie-pattillo-daniel-a-nelson/id1449515400?i=1000555720449

‎Show Creative Distribution 101, Ep And So I Stayed - Natalie Pattillo & Daniel A. Nelson - Mar 30, 2022

14/03/2022

BTS from today’s impact workshop with ! Over 100+ filmmakers registered! 🥳

If you joined today, then let us know in the comments: what was most helpful to you? 😌

If you’re in the photo, or joined us live, and want us to tag you, then drop your handle in the comments + feel free to let us know a bit about your film (logline + impact you’re hoping for)! 🎥

Need the link to the 1-minute quiz/homework? Or to the invite-only Bonus Impact Open House? DM us and we’ll send it to you asap! 💌

Thank you for being in community with us today and sharing your films, fears, hopes, and impact dreams with us and one another!! Thank you DOC NYC team and Deborah with team LLP! We can’t wait for part-2 tomorrow!!🙏🏽

Can’t wait to share quiz/homework results with you all on day 2!!

10/03/2022

So great to see y’all at our doc filmmaker meeting during the Miami Film Festival!

Join our newsletter for news about future meetups at www.lookylookypictures.com/newsletter

ID: A group of 8 people gathered around a table at a cafe, looking at the camera, smiling.

22/02/2022

SO excited for this two-part workshop with DOC NYC !! 🥳

🎟 Get your ticket for thus DOC NYC event here: https://www.docnyc.net/event/real-talk-impact-campaigns-two-part-workshop/

. .

You have big ambitions for how your film will impact the world, but only a vague sense of how to make that happen.

In this interactive two-part workshop, Ani Mercedes, impact producer and founder of Looky Looky Pictures will debunk the 6 most common myths about film impact campaigns, share behind-the-scenes examples, walk you through an impact audit to help you identify what you can do to confidently move forward with your film’s impact at any stage of production, and include breakout groups so you can connect with other impact-minded filmmakers.

If you wish you had a cohesive impact strategy, are seeking helpful guidance, and want a community you could turn to, then this is for you.

🎟 Get your ticket for thus DOC NYC event here: https://www.docnyc.net/event/real-talk-impact-campaigns-two-part-workshop/

31/01/2022

Over the last year, we became obsessed with helping filmmakers move forward with their impact campaigns from a place of clarity and confidence.

✨Asking...
"What would it look like if filmmakers not only directed their film, but confidently directed their film's impact campaigns?"

👀You see, with all the emotional labor, judgement, and gate-keeping in the film industry a sneaky little emotion starts to nag at you: Fear.

The fear of making a mistake, the fear of judgement, the fear of rejection...

💫 Instead of being held back by those fears, I decided to create a space where filmmakers are celebrated for the courage it takes to pursue creating a film, encouraged for your desire to create change in the world, and supported throughout the process of centering and serving your protagonist and the community at heart of your film's impact campaign.

🔥You don't have to have the perfect impact campaign - but you can be fearless in your pursuit of impact.

🙏🏽Center the impact itself--creating a more just, peaceful, and equitable world through connecting the power of films with the power of people.

👉🏽👉🏽See our bio for our latest newsletter any more details on how we can help you move forward with your film’s impact campaign with clarity and confidence.

💌 After you have a look we’d LOVE to hear from you: How would your film, it's impact campaign, and your life look and feel different if you were to show up fearlessly, with clarity and confidence to move your film's impact campaign forward?

DM us! We read every single message!

-Ani & Team LLP

18/01/2022

Join us! Impact Producer + Founder, Ani Mercedes will be giving the Opening Keynote: Storyteller vs. Storybeing: 3 Things Filmmakers Do To Have Transformational (not transactional) Impact Campaigns!

Register by clicking on that link 👉 bit.ly/3FAPLKm

🔊 Are you a Filmmaker, Producer, or Impact Producer interested in social or environmental justice and ?​
​
🎥 🌿 For its Industry Programme, the invites you to a webinar that will look into how storytelling can advance human rights movement.​
​
On January 25, from 3 pm to 6.30 pm CET, join a wide range of experts and award-winning 🎬 who will share their experiences and know-how on how films can contribute to changing , behaviors and structures when connected with strategic change makers.​
​
Meet our speakers :​

- Ani Mercedes of Looky Looky Pictures
- Nicole Van Schaik of Doc Society
- Cara Mertes of International Resource for Impact and Storytelling (IRIS)
- Naomi Walker of Doc Society
- Rasmus Steen of IMS (International Media Support)
- Rebecca Lichtenfeld of InMaat Foundation ​
​
Register by clicking on that link 👉 bit.ly/3FAPLKm

Thank you to all our partners 👏 :
Doc Society Fonction: Cinéma AROPA Cineuropa EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) International Documentary Association Doc/it - Associazione Documentaristi Italiani Documentary Campus Impact Social Club Eurodoc ESoDoc - European Social Documentary Modern Times Review MEDIA Suisse Focal Training Smilewave Fund Documentary Association of Europe Movies that Matter Think-Film Impact Production and Office fédéral de la culture, Suissimage, The StoryBoard Collective, Fonds culturel Sud - Artlink, Fondation Philanthropia

16/12/2021

Filmmakers, a friendly reminder...

Caring for yourself = caring for your film.

✨ As the year comes to a close, we hope you also preserve some time for yourself to do whatever energizes you + brings joy.

💌 We are taking time away; where we're not checking or replying to emails, social media, DMs, or in our Facebook group. There are no calls, text, zooms.

🙏🏽 Before we sign off, we wanted to give you a gift that acknowledges your emotional labor in filmmaking, and that you are deserving of inner peace and guilt-free rest.

🎁 Free Gift: Go to the link in bio or LookyLookyPictures.com/Explore

15/12/2021

24/11/2021

✨ This right here! !

🙏🏽 We are so grateful to the filmmakers in our Guided Campaign program! Thank you for allowing us the honor to serve you and your story along side you. It's nearly been a year since launching the program and it's been the stuff dreams are made of, for us!

🎥 Impact-centered filmmakers, you are are doing the work of cultivating peace in this world, of shifting narratives, of using the power of film to ignite change.

18/11/2021

Here's to ! An impactful film that we've had the honor to serve in our Guided Campaign program (https://bit.ly/3Hw8IA2) that's up for (another) audience award (our fave type of industry award!)!

16/11/2021

💝 As a filmmaker, your emotional rest is also part of your artistic practice. Release. Let yourself rest without judgment, with easy and calm.

✨ I recently had the honor of moderating a free virtual panel (linked below) about filmmakers self-care and sustainability for Firelight Media's amazing Beyond Resilience series at the New Orleans Film Festival, with amazing, whole-hearted filmmaker panelists PJ Raval, Angela Tucker, Byron Hurt, and Julianna Brannum!

😌 Filmmaker self-care is something we talk about A LOT internally with our filmmakers clients because we believe that cultivating peace in the world also includes cultivating peace within yourself. Reflecting on their self-care practices, identifying their joy in the work, and finding alignment with that and their film project is actually their very first assignment in our Guided Campaign program (https://bit.ly/3chKrzu).

🙌🏽 That said, I want to take a moment to share two free resources with you:

1) A free week of therapy--use this link (which I shared in the chat during the panel): https://www.betterhelp.com/rpc/6cb51089645400d7-1-06

2) The panel itself--you can watch it for free (you can simply play it like a podcast in the background, if that's helpful): https://watch.eventive.org/noff2021/play/6168b5a48f0846006224247c

❓ Joined us live? Watched the replay? Let us know what was most helpful/insightful! :)

❓ Have a filmmaker friend who would find this helpful? Share/tag them!

- Ani Mercedes (CEO & Impact Producer, Looky Looky Pictures)

21/10/2021

Check out this powerful and timely spot on ABC News for And So I Stayed this morning.

The award-winning documentary “And So I Stayed” follows three survivors of domestic violence who were incarcerated for fighting back against their abusers.

07/10/2021

✨ It's half time at our Film Impact-in-a-Day Conference! 100+ filmmakers are joining us worldwide! Were you there? Tag yourself! Are you attending? Share an ah-ha moment in the comments! Missed it? Today = last chance to get your ticket for the replay: https://lookylookypictures.lpages.co/impact

05/10/2021

The impact you have in the world is daily, in every moment. It is not when your film is released. It's starts the moment you decide to make the film, follow a dream of creating something out of nothing, a dream to serve others in pursuing theirs.

I envisioned a world where every human being can see their story with the love, dignity, and respect each of us deserves. I believe storytelling is a human right, not a luxury or a privilege. A human right. The stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves and the world, are the most powerful tools we have.

The storytelling journey is one of leads to healing, comfort, and self-actualization. I truly believe it makes the world a better place, and have seen it make it so.

I am creating a world where my company, Looky Looky Pictures, is leading filmmakers to a whole new world of possibility that fully empowers them to own their film’s life, connect deeply with their audience, and build independence (not dependence on distribution). I am proud of this journey, and grateful to everyone who’s part of it—our clients, audience, film protagonist, our team, and beyond.

In our 5th (!) year, I decide to host a virtual conference to celebrate. I don’t often talk about this, but going forward, I will unapologetically step into my role as a leader and my dream of what’s possible because and I truly am trying to be the change I hope to see in the world.

I can not wait to share these two workshops of completely new, transformational insights for with nearly 100 filmmakers joining us from around the world for our virtual conference this week! Join us. Celebrate with us.

Tag someone who creates great resources for creating a more equitable film industry.
⁣
Give me a 👍🏽 if you felt this.

05/10/2021

🙌🏽 We're nearly at 100 filmmakers joining us from all over the world for our Film Impact-in-a-Day Virtual Conference this week