Political Education & Community Building
Developing the knowledge, relationships and courage to act together.
The Committee is more than a network. We are building a community across the entertainment industry that understands the threats to free expression, knows how to respond, and trusts one another enough to act together when it matters. We are creating a community of solidarity among our members who signal courage and resistance and popularize a vision of the irresistible future we see.
As Jane Fonda puts it: “We convene in order to build community. We educate and train in order to empower. And we organize so that when it matters most, we can respond swiftly, clearly, and together.”
We’ve trained 4,500 people in person and virtually in the role of entertainment in times of authoritarianism, how to speak about the 1st Amendment, this moment in our democracy and more.
We bring leading experts, organizers and movement leaders together with Committee members to understand the forces reshaping our democracy — and develop the skills and strategies to respond. Our trainings take place both virtually and in person in Los Angeles, New York and beyond.
How Civil Resistance Works →
With Erica Chenoweth, Harvard political scientist and leading scholar of civil resistance
What can history teach us about successfully resisting attacks on democratic rights? Erica Chenoweth walks Committee members through the research on nonviolent resistance, strategic noncooperation and the conditions that allow movements to build and exercise collective power. Watch →
How to Stand Up to a Dictator →
With Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa
Journalist Maria Ressa draws on her experience confronting authoritarianism in the Philippines to explain how attacks on facts, truth and trust weaken democratic institutions — and how technology and disinformation accelerate the process. The conversation explores what those lessons mean for artists and storytellers navigating the same forces in the United States. Watch →
Media Consolidation, Censorship and the First Amendment →
With FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and Free Press Co-CEO Jessica González
What happens when the government’s power over media mergers becomes leverage over speech? Anna Gomez and Jessica González break down the relationship between media consolidation, government regulation, press freedom and creative independence — and the role entertainment professionals can play in pushing back. This conversation helped lay the groundwork for the Committee’s eventual #BlockTheMerger campaign. Watch →
First Amendment 101 →
With First Amendment attorney and professor Jim Wheaton
What does the First Amendment actually protect — and what doesn’t it? Jim Wheaton takes members through the history and fundamentals of free speech law, the difference between government censorship and private restrictions on speech, and what people working in entertainment should know about their rights. Watch →
Organizing starts with relationships
We create spaces for people across the entertainment industry to know one another, exchange ideas and build the trust that makes collective action possible. That happens in trainings and workshops, at happy hours and member gatherings, and standing side by side at protests and actions.
Because when the moment comes to act, we don't want to be meeting one another for the first time. We are building an industry that knows how to stand together.
We’ve built community at several happy hours with 500 people in New York, Washington, DC and Los Angeles .
