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The Global Lives Project (GLP) is a collaborative effort of volunteers from around the world to build a non-profit video library of human life experience. Our content consists of uninterrupted 24-hour recordings of daily life of individuals selected to represent the diversity of human life on the planet. In collaboration with museums, universities and independent filmmakers in numerous countries, we are working to present this library as both a physical video installation and free and interactive online video collection. We have already conducted recordings in Brazil, Malawi, Japan, China, Indonesia and the US, and plan an additional 4 shoots in 2009.

About the Global Lives Project

The mission of our organization is to provoke people to rethink their relationship with the world through intimate observation of the lives of other people in drastically divergent life circumstances. Geographical ignorance in the United States is a particular target problem of ours. In 2006, National Geographic found that 88% of young Americans (18-24) could not locate Afghanistan on a map of Asia, and that 89% do not correspond regularly with anyone outside the US. These statistics also point to the fact that in general, individuals in wealthy countries like the US have little direct contact with or knowledge of everyday life in less fortunate parts of the world. Since we aim to present a representatively diverse sampling of the world’s population in our video productions, the great majority of our subjects live under conditions of moderate to extreme poverty, with 70% earning less than $9 per day, and 40% earning less than $4.

All of our exhibits and screenings are currently produced free of charge and all of our video content is available for free to the public under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. We also encourage educational and cultural institutions to use and repurpose our video content. We are currently in the process of negotiating agreements for exhibition of our content in video, web and print media with groups such as National Geographic, CurrentTV and Glimpse Magazine. We also have a policy of bringing back our video content to the communities where we produce our work. This year we held a free public screening of short videos from Malawi, Japan, the US and Brazil in the same slum at the edge of São Paulo where we produced our Brazil shoot.

GLP has developed in partnership with a number of established and internationally recognized nonprofits and educational institutions. The Museum of the Person, based in São Paulo, Brazil, co-produced the Brazil shoot and participated in the development of much of GLP's strategy and promotional materials. The Museum has 15 years of experience in collecting life stories on video in Brazil, the US, Canada and Portugal, operating with local partners in each of those countries. In Japan, the United Nations University (UNU) and Temple University Japan partnered with us to produce both a GLP shoot and an installation in Tokyo on the UNU campus.

GLP began operations in November 2004 and received 501c3 status in September 2007, federal EIN 61-1524216, California Corp # 2968210. Prior to obtaining 501c3 status, GLP received tax-deductible donations through fiscal sponsorship of Cell Space, Inc. (EIN 94-3333941) and the Film Arts Foundation (EIN 94-2348632).

See http://globallives.org for more information about the organization.

Areas of Responsibility

We seek assistance in three categories: 1) accounting, 2) financial planning, and 3) fiscal requirements.

1) Accounting

We are seeking assistance in developing a comprehensive system for the management of our finances. This will involve monitoring income from foundations and individual donors and expenditures related to salaries, production of our shoots, post-production costs, publicity, events and screenings. An essential element of this process will be monitoring voluntary contributions (in the form of volunteers’ time, expertise and other resources) on which GLP is largely dependent, and we have begun to develop a system which enables us to account for these contributions in our financial reporting. Income, expenditure and voluntary contributions to GLP originate in and move between a number of different countries around the world, and we are in need of support in managing these international transactions. We also request assistance in producing financial reports for our funders and the development of standard practices for expensing and other internal financial protocols.

2) Financial Planning

GLP is seeking assistance developing long and short-term financial strategy, in order to make sure that the project remains financially sound as we expand and develop our activities over the coming years. This will include devising budgets for production, post-production and screenings, as well as the development of systems for priority spending in situations of restricted cash flow. We request assistance in the regular assessment of GLP’s long-term sustainability and guidance on ensuring that key expenses remain appropriate. We are also keen to establish systems for the regular evaluation of how our financial activity compares with what we have budgeted, and to introduce checks and balances to prevent financial mismanagement and ensure that we are meeting guidelines and requirements set by our funders.

3) Fiscal Requirements

Finally, we are seeking assistance in the monitoring of GLP’s fiscal position and the filing of necessary tax reports. This will involve regular checks to make sure that GLP is fulfilling all legal obligations in relation to its financial activities.

Timeframe

Our need for assistance in these areas is ongoing. As we have recently filed tax reports for the last financial year, our immediate priorities are the establishment of a comprehensive accounting system and the development of short-term financial plans for the coming year.

Contact

David Harris, Executive Director

david@globallives.org

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