Concerned Citizen Artist statement
For this project we decided to create a short documentary film about
Chris Baird and his project called Serve Daily. Serve Daily is a
unique monthly newspaper publication based out of Springville, which
is largely dedicated to spreading the news of service activities and
opportunities within the community. Our short film focuses on Chris
working in a predominantly LDS culture (a very service-oriented
church) to reach out and help further this idea of helping others.
Through promoting local fundraisers and service opportunities in his
paper, he encourages the act of service rather than the mere thought
of it, and has dedicated his life to spreading this idea. The “your
voice, your community” slogan and the fact that anyone can submit
articles for this paper is another service in and of itself, because
it gives a “voice to the voiceless”; an outlet where people can
express themselves on a wider scale than they might otherwise have
access to.
Although this project has flourished into large scale collaboration
between Chris and several other members who contribute to the
process, it is also important to consider Chris’s personal
contributions. He chose to step away from a “monotonous job,” to
a career path that he felt would bless the lives of others. While
this specific career may not be the most beneficial income wise, for
Chris it was the most rewarding. He chose to break the commercial
trend, and start something unique that would leave his community
better off each month.
In the reading, Goldbard says that “anyone who wishes to make
significant headway on a social problem or opportunity must engage
with people’s feelings and attitudes about it.” As film students,
we know that media in all its forms can be a very powerful way of
stirring peoples feelings and persuading them to act. Therefore,
Chris’s choice of using local media to spread his love for service,
is a powerful way to get to the heart of the issue. This specific
form of media to spread a good message of service relates very
closely to the recent media campaign of Mormon Messages employed by
the LDS church. Mormon Messages is a campaign aimed primarily at
spreading knowledge about the LDS church, almost all of its short
videos relate to service, and the importance of building a strong
community. Both Serve Daily and Mormon Messages utilize contemporary
media sources to spread their Christian messages of the importance of
serving one another.
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