Media That Matters Film Festival: Pizza Surveillance Feature: About

FIFTH ANNUAL FESTIVAL

Pizza Surveillance Feature

2:20 min
Public Service Announcement
Micah Laaker, Director, American Civil Liberties Union, Producer

Winner of the Civil Liberties

ABOUT THE FILM

More About Pizza Surveillance Feature from the American Civil Liberties Union

Based loosely on an internet joke, Phil Gutis, Director of Legislative Communications at the American Civil Liberties Union developed a script about privacy in the future. The ACLU is very concerned about personal privacy and felt a Flash feature would provide an excellent vehicle for spreading its concerns. Using a sound stage in Washington DC, an actor (Jason Stiles) and an actress (Melissa Schwartz) laid down the audio track based on the script. Then, Micah Laaker provided the visual elements needed. The final feature was released during the Spring of 2004 and was an instant success, with widespread appeal to people across the political spectrum. More than 100,000 people have watched it online and it continues to spread throughout the online community. It has helped raise awareness about protecting personal privacy and has led to many people writing to their elected officials about the issue.