A Documentary Marketing Initiative
About The Project | The Experiments | The Strategists | Credits
About the Project
Elev8Docs was a bold learning initiative that led marketing research to strengthen distribution pathways for independent nonfiction films directed by filmmakers of color.
The initiative conducted 8 distinct marketing experiments that supported 27 documentary films throughout 2025. By deploying both time-tested and fresh marketing strategies, Elev8Docs aimed to generate new data and identify challenges and opportunities for marketing documentaries to diverse audiences. Each experiment was crafted to address common barriers faced by filmmakers interested in reaching diverse audiences —from cultural gaps in mainstream marketing to limited data on audience preferences—all in an effort to strengthen distribution infrastructures. The experiments culminated in a set of case studies and actionable strategies for the independent media sector.
Each case study explores key questions and offers insight into the strategies deployed, budget and labor costs required, and key outcomes and learnings that can benefit the field. The data reflects interviews with strategists, participating filmmakers, community partners, and audiences when appropriate.
The 8 experiments explored the following questions:
Can culturally resonant digital ads drive new viewers to archival films?
How can creative digital marketing strategies entice young audiences to short films?
Can a same-day multi-city premiere strategy generate visibility and nuanced press coverage for a new film?
Can a diverse array of film organizations coalesce into a grassroots exhibition network for independent film?
How can a public media organization leverage a national broadcast premiere to help filmmakers reach target audiences?
How can a DIY marketing effort drive educational sales for an older film?
Can a retrospective establish a mid-career filmmaker and their body of work as central to the film canon?
Can restoring and archiving a beloved archival film create critical discourse and career validation for a filmmaker and help to secure a film’s place within the canon?
The Experiments
Select a case-study below to learn more
Experiment 1: Leveraging Digital Ads for Archival Films
Experiment 2: Leveraging Digital Ads & Youth Creators for Short Films
Experiment 3: Generating Press & Visibility with a Unique Premiere Strategy
Experiment 4: Bold Curation for Wide Dissemination
Experiment 5: Partnering with Public Media
Experiment 6: Piercing the Educational Market
Experiment 7: Positioning a Retrospective to Bolster Mid-Career Filmmaker
Experiment 8: Restoring and Archiving Film to Spark Renewed Interest
The STRATEGISTS
Ani Mercedes
Ani Mercedes is the Founder and CEO of Looky Looky Pictures and the creator of the Guided Campaign Accelerator, a structured impact strategy program that helps small film teams make a big impact. For over a decade, Ani and her team have served more than 1,000 filmmakers worldwide, creating strategic, care-centered impact campaigns that connect the power of film with the power of people. She lent her strategic expertise to Experiment 4.
Asad Muhammad
Asad Muhammad is the VP of Impact & Engagement Strategy at American Documentary, which produces POV, the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. At American Documentary, he leads the community engagement, education, and public events production work necessary to extend the impact of films beyond their broadcast date. Muhammad and his team led the community engagement strategy for Experiment 5.
Carlos A. Gutiérrez
Carlos A. Gutiérrez is Co-Founding Executive Director of Cinema Tropical, a New York–based media arts nonprofit organization founded in 2001 that is the leading promoter of Latin American cinema in the US and a recent recipient of the National Society of Film Critics’ Film Heritage Award. He, together with Natalia Hernández Moreno and Samuel Didonato from the Cinema Tropical team, designed and executed the film retrospective strategy for Experiment 7.
Chana Ginelle Ewing
Chana Ginelle Ewing is the founder and chief creator of littlebigworld (lbw), a Black and queer-led marketing agency specializing in documentary film, cultural campaigns, and audience development for stories by and about communities of color. With over 15 years guiding campaigns for Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentaries, Chana and her team brought deep expertise in paid digital advertising, creator partnerships, and campaign analytics to their work in Experiments 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8.
Rachel Poulain, MPH
Rachel Poulain, MPH is a strategic advisor and storyteller who works to realign how organizations understand and communicate power, care, and responsibility. She helps institutions move beyond performative language about equity toward practices that actually embody it—reshaping narratives, partnerships, and strategy in the process. Her work spans national documentary impact campaigns, public health education, and systems-level advocacy, and she is currently developing a multimedia project exploring the links between American hyper-individualism, chronic loneliness, and collective care. At the core of her work is a simple premise: people were never meant to carry the weight of modern life alone, and the stories we tell either reinforce that isolation—or help dismantle it.
Tracy Nguyen-Chung
Tracy Nguyen-Chung is the Principal Strategist and Producer at After Bruce. With an interdisciplinary background in strategic communications, conflict analysis and peacebuilding, and documentary, her work focuses on narrative shift and exploring where meaning is rooted. She was co-producer on the Emmy and BAFTA-nominated documentary, The Great Hack, founded Brown Folks Fishing, and serves on the board of directors of Brown Girls Doc Mafia. Tracy lent her strategic expertise to Experiment 3.
Credits
Elev8Docs is a project of Color Congress, an ecosystem-builder and membership organization that is committed to organizations led by people of color that serve nonfiction filmmakers, leaders, and audiences of color across the United States and US islands. Over 100 Color Congress member organizations nominated and selected the participating films.
Case Study Research Team: Caitlin Stanton, Michael Arnold, Johnny Du (Informing Change)
Design Team: Karin Chien & Carlos A. Gutierrez (Distribution Advocates)
Advisory Committee: Roselly Torres (Third World Newreel), Aymar Jean Christian (Northwestern University), Monika Navarro (Firelight Media), Hanna Huang (Austin AsianAmerican Film Festival)
Website Design: David L. Gilkey
Legal Support: Romola Lucas, Esq.
Special funding for this initiative is provided by Pop Culture Collaborative.
Major funding for this work is covered by our core funders and learning community.
