Taking Off The Mask

May 14 2024 50 mins

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Frederick Marx. Frederick, best known for Hoop Dreams (1994), is an acclaimed Academy Award and Emmy-nominated filmmaker of 40 years. Throughout his career, he has addressed significant social issues through his films, and he has been named a Chicago Tribune Artist of the Year, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a recipient of a Robert F. Kennedy Special Achievement Award. To this day, filmmaker Frederick Marx remains driven by a commitment to storytelling and social change.

Topics include: grief, regret, filmmaking outside of the Hollywood system, public service, problems with the term “nonprofit”, nonprofit vs. social profit, social entrepreneurship, legacy, and succession

(0:00) Intro

(7:05) Frederick introduces himself and his rich history with Ashanti.

(12:50) Frederick and Ashanti make their masks together.

(14:38) Front of Frederick’s Mask, and how he doesn’t hold back.

(16:47) Front of Ashanti’s Mask

(20:56) Back of Frederick’s Mask

(24:47) Back of Ashanti’s Mask

(25:50) Diving deep into experiences with grief

(30:50) How personal suffering informs public service

(33:50) Two nonprofits reaching their 20-year anniversary - Warrior Films and the Ever Forward Club

(36:50) Legacy and successors - who do we pass the torch to before we’re gone?

(42:50) Frederick gives Ashanti a serious challenge