What’s New at GATE?

By Stacey Shaw

The Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE) is a dynamic non-profit community that inspires entertainment and media professionals through education, advocacy and collaboration to transform the world by transforming entertainment and media. This has been a year of rapid growth of the GATE organization and strengthening the community at the leading edge of transformational content creation.

The power of entertainment and media in our world is vast. We have the opportunity and responsibility to create content that both supports and inspires the kind of world we want to live in and pass on to the future; to use our intention purposefully as we create and distribute the stories that our global society consumes.

The stories we tell impact our thoughts, actions, perceptions and consciousness. For this reason, GATE promotes critical thinking about the meaning and impact of story in the entertainment and media industry.

GATE seeks to identify and empower the audience that already exists for transformational entertainment, but may not be receiving the content they truly want; content that uplifts, inspires and supports meaningful insight, connection and conversation.

The cornerstone audience for transformational entertainment and media is the ‘Cultural Creatives,’ a group first identified by sociologists Drs. Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson. This year, members of GATE have shared information about the Cultural Creatives with Hollywood insiders and executives to shed light on this important market group for transformational content, estimated at $180 billion.

GATE is building a foundation of advocacy for transformational content in Hollywood and other locations where large-scale decisions are made about the creation and distribution of media and entertainment. This advocacy includes building economic projections and presentations for studio executives, educational events for industry insiders and the general public, networking opportunities, and regular screenings of transformational content in Los Angeles through the GATE ‘Theater Within Film Series.’

The GATE Leadership Circle, a group of highly committed individuals, contributes their valuable time and insight, as the policy-making body whose primary function is to birth GATE into the world. Through monthly meetings held in Los Angeles, the Leadership Circle envisions, discusses and delegates the work needed to move forward.

Beyond the Leadership Circle, groups of highly-skilled, passionate volunteers currently give their professional insight and experience to specific efforts in marketing, research, advocacy, programming and finances. GATE also has teams of advisors, ambassadors, and executives each offering a unique set of ideas, connections and skills to the expansion of the organization.

Currently, GATE is preparing for the upcoming GATE Transformational Story Conference 2013 (StoryCon) and GATE 3 events to be held at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013.

StoryCon will explore the role of story in promoting meaningful personal, social and global transformation. Story is explored from a wide variety of perspectives, with focused emphasis on the human transformational journey, the transformational arc of life-death-life. StoryCon is an ideal event for authors, screenwriters, producers, educators and anyone else for whom storytelling is an essential aspect of their professional or personal life.

The GATE 3 event is a celebration of transformational entertainment, media and arts. The theme of the 2013 event is, “Celebrating Meaningful Messages for an Awakening Humanity.” This amazing evening will be an exploration of what this new, emerging genré is all about, and an inspiration for attendees to openly share energies of their personal transformation with the world through their work.

GATE 3 will feature a multitude of inspiring presenters and talented performers, both well-known and emerging; all steeped in transformational arts, entertainment and media. Through a richly-woven program of speakers including Jim Carrey and Elkart Tolle, videos, music and arts performances, film clips and other multi-media presentations, attendees will leave intellectually stimulated, emotionally moved, and inspired to pursue their work with greater clarity, substance and commitment.

In addition to this already full array of goals and accomplishments, GATE will see the start of its first chapter organization in New York City by the second quarter of 2013. GATE has made great strides on several new exciting initiatives, including ‘The Audience is Ready,’ which is a goal to deliver one million audience member signatures to “Hollywood” to demonstrate to content creators there that the audience for transformationally-oriented films and television is massive ... and the desire for them is significant.

Another highlight of this year’s progress includes the GATE Social Impact Media (GSIM), an incubator to provide an early-development environment for transformationally-oriented films and other entertainment projects. This initiative will accept and direct funding to these projects and help coordinate their early unfolding. GSIM’s first project is ‘Shot,’ a non-profit feature film being produced by award-winning filmmaker Jeremy Kagan, along with GATE’s John Raatz and David Langer. The film stars Macaulay Culkin. 

If the astounding progress of GATE in 2012 is any indication, 2013 is going to be an absolutely phenomenal year for transformational entertainment and media. To learn more about GATE, StoryCon and GATE 3 event details, tickets, membership and how you can become involved, visit: www.gatecommunity.org

Author Stacey Shaw is a filmmaker and media professional living in Hood River, Oregon. For more information, visit: www.staceyshaw.com