About
Photo: Featherstone Media
About Original Pursuit
We help filmmakers create hope and inspire change
Everywhere around the globe we see alarming trends. The climate, the environment, the economy, and national politics are increasingly out of balance, with potential consequences we have yet to face.
Where are the Problem Solvers?
Hope persists. A new generation of young scientists, engineers, and social entrepreneurs are launching exciting ventures that have the potential to benefit their local communities and the world at large. At Original Pursuit, we want to illuminate these ChangeMakers and their ventures, match them with Funders and Founder Producers, and bring their ideas to the attention of wider audiences through the medium of short, powerful films. Will you join us?
Our Mission: To discover, illuminate, and support Original Pursuits – the inspiring ideas of people who believe they can change the world.
Share your idea for a short film
Venture Philanthropists
A Search for Truth
Original Pursuit is a private initiative incorporated for Public Benefit, leveraging video to illuminate the search for truth. We produce short, inspirational films that change minds and perspectives, inspired by such classic works as Powers of Ten (Charles and Ray Eames, 9 min.) or 100,000 Beating Hearts (Peter Byck, 15 min.).
We are looking for people of unfettered imagination whose quest for a better society is unseen by funders and mainstream media.
Often these individuals are hidden away in the legion of post-doctoral students and emerging scientists whose interdisciplinary research is sheltered by universities. Their pioneering research in physical, biological, behavioral, computer and social sciences has the potential to bring untold material benefits to the welfare of the nation.
Others may be research employees at government agencies, scientists employed by corporations, military officers, or inventors at home whose experiments offer a process of living that is more equitable, efficient, and sustainable.
We all know someone whose relentless pursuit of novel ideas is waiting to be discovered. This initiative will answer their call for help.
Our Plan
We will use venture philanthropy and our ChangeMaker Trust to empower young "ChangeMakers"—original thinkers whose noble pursuits deserve to be shared—to produce compelling short documentaries to capture the search for truth.
The resulting productions integrate the skills of artists and filmmakers, both veterans and young creative documentarians, to produce short 5-to-15-minute documentaries for all audiences that introduce the unfulfilled promise of ChangeMakers to investors, family foundations, industry, and the media.
Success will be measured by the integrity of ventures launched, the capital sponsors they attract, and their impacts on the quality of life and community. Sustaining funds in the venture will be maintained by constructive partnerships with mainstream media in all its forms.
Our Goals
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To inspire and initiate ‘constructive change’ in a fast-changing world;
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To discover and illuminate noble original pursuits; and
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To connect the most promising new ventures to national media and prospective sponsors.