Cinema Escapist aspires to explore and connect the world through a cinematic lens. In order to fulfill this mission, we must be deliberate in our actions and words.
The five values outlined below provide a framework for “how” we can carry forth our mission in a way that allows Cinema Escapist to make a significant, long-term impact.
In order to explore and connect the world through a cinematic lens, we must be …
1. Global First
Cinema Escapist does everything with an internationalist bent. We must cultivate and empower a global team to explore and connect all facets of the world (especially those underrepresented in English-language media) in an accessible, unprejudiced manner. Only then can we truly bridge cultures and create opportunities for mutual understanding.
2. Focused on Quality
As a volunteer organization, we are more free to focus on the quality of our content—we’re above chasing profits. While well-monied media organizations might have advantages in volume and access, we can beat them by producing higher quality content. Such content must convey enlightening ideas in a thoughtful, rigorous, and polished (both visually and verbally) manner.
3. Diverse
The most enlightening ideas challenge readers with new and different perspectives. In order to offer such ideas, and do so authentically, Cinema Escapist must embrace diversity of thought. This means cultivating a team with diverse identities or opinions, and creating a balanced, civil environment for expression. We shouldn’t automatically index on the loudest voices in the room; might doesn’t automatically make right.
4. Empathetic
Empathy is the glue that helps both readers and writers stick around. If we ignore readers’ desires, they’ll stop reading. If we ignore each others’ desires, we’ll stop writing. To cultivate empathy, we must listen, collaborate, and be obsessively transparent. We should never take action without thinking about who we may impact, how, and why.
5. Bold
Cinema Escapist is where it is today because we eschewed the label of “blog” and aspired to be a “publication.” We dared to punch above our weight, even if some punches didn’t land. Our mission is ambitious; we can only achieve it by continuing this spirit of boldness. Provided we’re acting within our other values, we shouldn’t be afraid of letting passion overcome convention.