Open CallOpen Call: Pitch Reels
What makes a person seek an elective office? (2:33)
Cassie M Chew - Silver Spring, MD
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The Pitch:
Using still photography, radio talk show sound bites, and video, I’d like to craft a film that explores what makes a person decide enter the fray of elective office. My subject is the presumptive next congressional representative for Maryland’s fourth district, Donna Edwards.
Before launching her campaign for Congress, Edwards worked in private sector jobs and spent her free time working to protect her southern Prince George’s county, Maryland community from being a casualty in the development of a new baseball park in neighboring Washington, D.C.
In February, Edwards, who has never held a public office, beat eight-term incumbent, Albert Wynn in the Democratic primary by taking 60 percent of the vote.
The drama over the seat hasn’t ended. Last month, Wynn announced he would resign in June to take a job as a lobbyist couching his unprecedented resignation as a gift to Edwards because it would allow her to begin serving as the district this summer.
But it won’t be that easy. Maryland will hold a special election next month to fill the seat until the November run-off. Edwards is now campaigning for both the special and general election.
In the film, I want to explore what makes a person choose to give up her personal space and open her live to criticism and scrutiny to become a politician? How does that person gain the support of a geographically wide-spread constituency? The film will attempt to document the development of a new leader and explain the attraction of seeking elective office in the American system of representative government.
The Pitch:
Using still photography, radio talk show sound bites, and video, I’d like to craft a film that explores what makes a person decide enter the fray of elective office. My subject is the presumptive next congressional representative for Maryland’s fourth district, Donna Edwards.
Before launching her campaign for Congress, Edwards worked in private sector jobs and spent her free time working to protect her southern Prince George’s county, Maryland community from being a casualty in the development of a new baseball park in neighboring Washington, D.C.
In February, Edwards, who has never held a public office, beat eight-term incumbent, Albert Wynn in the Democratic primary by taking 60 percent of the vote.
The drama over the seat hasn’t ended. Last month, Wynn announced he would resign in June to take a job as a lobbyist couching his unprecedented resignation as a gift to Edwards because it would allow her to begin serving as the district this summer.
But it won’t be that easy. Maryland will hold a special election next month to fill the seat until the November run-off. Edwards is now campaigning for both the special and general election.
In the film, I want to explore what makes a person choose to give up her personal space and open her live to criticism and scrutiny to become a politician? How does that person gain the support of a geographically wide-spread constituency? The film will attempt to document the development of a new leader and explain the attraction of seeking elective office in the American system of representative government.
Note: video is included to demonstrate production style and may not represent the content of the pitch.
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Comments
It's a good question
Posted by: Mark Read, May 6, 2008 - 17:12
I like this question, especially when it comes to smaller, more local offices. Why would someone want to do it?