2022 Juror • Lance Gould
Great Stories Revolve Around Conflict Resolution
Hero Conflict Resolution is the formula for a great story so the fact that people recognize injustice makes for good stories. It’s a natural fit for this kind of festival that focuses on social good.
2022
Lance Gould boasts of a journalism career spanning over 30 years. Years invested in telling stories that spotlight social issues and drive conversations for social change.
After founding Brooklyn Studio Lab in 2017, Gould broadened his focus on helping organisations create impact-driven content and reach new audiences. This year, the media guru is set to bring his decades of storytelling experience to the 2nd edition of the NGO International Film Festival as one of the festival’s eight-member jury.
Let’s meet Lance Gould
“I was in journalism for about 30 years and in that early period of my career, I always had an eye for social good. I think one of the rules of journalism is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted and so be able to put a spotlight on issues that were of intense interest to readers about how to improve lives and make sure, in many ways aligned with the sustainable development goals and that no one is left behind.”
“And when I was at Huffington Post as an Executive Editor, I really tried to zero in on the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and a lot of work that was being done by the United Nations and the various UN institutions, departments and agencies, non-profit work that organizations in that space were doing.”
“So when the opportunity came to start my own business which is Brooklyn Story Lab, our mission statement is that we teach purposed driven organisations how to think and behave like media companies and try to teach people to do their own social good storytelling.”
What are your thoughts on this year’s The NGO IFF theme – Climate Change, Conflict & Covid?
“The theme this year is very important as we are seeing a lot of concentration on the three Cs – COVID, Conflict and Climate Change. We are in, currently, what many people call the decade of action, trying to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.”
“We are two years in now, almost three and there isn’t much time left to achieve these goals. So it is very important to put a spotlight, particularly on this year’s theme. For the selection of the films that I saw, there was some very great representation of the theme.”
This year, the NGO IFF recorded 2,071 submissions. What influenced this unprecedented record?
“I think it is a number of factors. I think one, it is a lot easier for people to access filming equipment whereas it used to take millions of dollars and there was sort of an elite obstacle that needed to be overcome for ordinary people to make films. With that obstacle gone, we now see that they can tell great stories and all great stories revolve around another C which is Conflict.”
“Hero Conflict Resolution is the formula for a great story so the fact that people recognize injustice makes for good stories. It’s a natural fit for this kind of festival that focuses on social good.”