[CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
Thank you for visiting the website-to-be for CHANGEWORX, a New York-based film company specializing in documentary production. Later in Autumn, 2011, we will launch a site featuring videos and information about our past work and upcoming films, including the soon to be released FOLLOW THE LEADER. We’ve just launched a Fan Page on Facebook for Follow the Leader: Young American and Right, and we’re tweeting @changeworxfilms if you would like to support us and follow our progress. Changeworx will be represented by Director / Producer Jonathan Goodman Levitt at the IFP’s Independent Film Week at Lincoln Center later this month, where another project we are currently producing in Pakistan is being featured in the Spotlight on Documentaries. Some basic information is below. We appreciate your interest, and hope you will check back later this month when our initial site launches. If you would like to join our mailing list or have any questions, please contact Jonathan directly at jgl@changeworx.com.
FILM SYNOPSIS
Follow the Leader: Young, American and Right A film by Jonathan Goodman Levitt Who will lead the United States…in 2040? As America enters another election year in 2012, Changeworx invites you to consider the future of a political system that is less "changed" than many assume – by experiencing the Coming-of-Age Stories of three traditional teen boys with Presidential dreams. When we meet American teens Ben, D.J. & Nick, they are all sixteen-year-old conservatives. Born as Reagan left office and the Berlin Wall fell, they grew up believing in an American superiority that was shattered when, at age 12, “9/11 taught us that America was great but not invincible.” Now they are all Class Presidents at each of their high schools, and plan to continue leading their peers as real politicians someday. But their paths diverge and lead all three in surprising directions. As they finish high school and begin college, each of them is forced to reconsider his political beliefs, ambitions, or both. Set against the backdrop of a historic period in American politics, the film presents moments in each boy’s political development over three years, culminating in the first election in which they can vote. It investigates the phenomenon of how young people develop political ideas, while offering revealing alternative ways of thinking about the lasting legacies of 9/11 and the “War on Terror”. With respect, sympathy, and a healthy dose of humor, Follow the Leader introduces us to three young patriots who are not what most expect – while forcing each of us to think about what he or she believes, and what the future holds.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER Jonathan is a producer and director of documentaries who also works as an editor, journalist, and teacher. In addition to Follow the Leader, Changeworx is also in production on two films with international production partners: My Vision for Pakistan (about the ideological war within Islam through the eyes of children) and Rebel with a Cause (on the Chilean eco-conservation work of Doug Tompkins, founder of Esprit & North Face). Jonathan’s last feature Sunny Intervals and Showers (2006) played Sheffield, Chicago, & One World; aired on BBC Storyville, YLE, and SVT; and was nominated for Grierson & Mental Health Media Awards. Other credits include consulting on Best Documentary Emmy-winner The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (featuring Stephen Fry); effects editing for art installations; and various roles on award-winning short films. Jonathan studied psychology, painting & politics at Stanford before a Fulbright Scholarship allowed him to attend the UK’s National Film School in 1999. Based in London for almost a decade, he moved to New York in 2008. |