The People’s Network
directed by Alyse Shorland
What happens if no one’s watching?
Forty-six years ago, C-SPAN radically transformed how everyday Americans connected with their government. Today, our most iconic workaday network is confronting an existential crisis just as democracy and journalism face their greatest stress tests in generations.
This is the story of how C-SPAN became an essential civic institution and what the fight to save it says about our national character and the integrity of our democracy.
PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS
This film could not exist without the support of:
Meet the Team
Darcy McKinnon
Producer
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Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include A KING LIKE ME and ROLEPLAY (SXSW, 2024), COMMUTED (PBS, 2024), ALGIERS, AMERICA (Hulu, 2023), UNDER G-D (Sundance 2023), LOOK AT ME! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and THE NEUTRAL GROUND (Tribeca, POV, 2021). Current projects in production include Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’s THE FIRST PLANTATION, Abe Felix’s TURNAROUND, CJ Hunt’s UNLEARNED, Nicole Craine’s KINFOLK and Zac Manuel’s THE INSTRUMENT. McKinnon’s work has been seen on World Channel, AfroPop, POV, Reel South, LPB and Hulu and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, CPH:DOX and more. She is an alum of the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellowship and is a recipient of American Documentary’s Creative Visionary Award.
Sarah Archambault
Producer
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Sara Archambault is the Program Director for the Shorenstein Center’s Documentary Film in the Public Interest research initiative. Sara is an experienced documentary film producer whose recent producing credits include the Indie Spirits-nominated film RIOTSVILLE, USA (Sundance, Magnolia Pictures); Truth or Consequences (Rotterdam, Sentient Art Films), A DECENT HOME (Denver Film Festival, America Reframed) and the upcoming RICHLAND. She also has an extensive professional history in programming and foundation work, including 10 years as Program Director at the LEF Foundation and nine years as Founder/Programmer of the Brattle’s The DocYard film series.
Sara’s award-winning films have screened in festivals around the world and received support from Sundance Film Institute, SFFILM, Catapult Film Fund, IDA, Hot Docs Pitch Forum, and Film Independent among others. Sara was a 2020 Impact Partners Producing Fellow, a 2013 Sundance Creative Producers Lab Fellow, and was named the 2020 SF DocFest Vanguard Awardee. She is an active member of the Documentary Producers Alliance and a Board member of The Flaherty. A resident of Providence, RI, she is a mother to two incredible children, a partner to a tireless public school teacher, and loves to go to the movies by herself.
Alyse Shorland
Director, Producer
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Alyse is a documentary director and producer. Her recent projects include The Empire of Ebony (in production) and The Debutantes (2024, Tribeca). Her projects are supported by Impact Partners, the Ford Foundation, Chicago Media Project, and others.
She was a director on Vice News Tonight on HBO and produced long-form stories for CBS Sunday Morning and This Morning. She started her career on CNN’s award-winning documentary series, Black in America, with Soledad O’Brien.
Alyse was selected for the 2023 DOC NYC 40 Under 40 and has been honored with 2 Emmys, a Peabody, an NABJ Excellence Award, and a Gracie.