At the U.S. Capitol for a viewing and discussion of my documentary PAY 2 PLAY.
Giving Legal Advocacy a Creative Edge
I like to put my creative abilities and advocacy background to work in election protection, assist litigation, and raise the profile of how attorneys are applying their talents year-round toward improving democracy.
Video the Vote (2006-2012)
In 2006 I co-founded Video the Vote, a volunteer corps of videographers working to document voter disenfranchisement on Election Day and report it before the polls closed, using the recently-launched free video sharing platform YouTube.com. Lawyers Committee helped us define guidelines for our volunteers to be able to monitor polling places without violating local ordinances, as well as what information to gather from voters in the field. After the election, I joined partner orgs for a presentation at the U.S. Capitol in February 2017 where members of Lawyers Committee, Common Cause, People For the American Way, and NAACP discussed voter suppression in 2006.
I edited the original Video the Vote call to arms, which quickly went viral: YouTube featured it on their homepage and it was soon featured in international news.
This sequence from FREE FOR ALL! shows how Video the Vote started as an idea and quickly became a movement. Following on Election Day 2006 fielding problems from voters.
Voter ID Fight
This inspiring short doc follows a lawyer on Election Day 2012 organizing turnout against a proposed state constitutional amendment requiring voter ID. I produced this finding a local crew on short notice and edited it for Video The Vote under a grant from the Ford Foundation.
Since 2016, I’ve been Creative Director for Consumer Watchdog, a legal advocacy group in California dedicated to privacy issues, clean energy, policing insurance companies, and being an outspoken progressive voice in state politics.
PHOTO: Posing at CWD’s fundraising event Rage For Justice at The Beverly Hilton with Nalleli Cobo, advocate against urban oil drilling.
I produced, directed, and edited this explainer with California Common Cause about Los Angeles’ matching funds program for citywide office.
I similarly worked with Common Cause for their 2019 gerrymandering case, Rucho v. Common Cause, which went to the Supreme Court. I also appeared on a panel hosted by Common Cause discussing SCOTUS at UCLA Law School in 2012.
FundHer
I am on the Advisory Board of FundHer, a PAC supporting progressive women running for statewide office across the country.
I wrote, produced, and edited this 2019 promo for FundHer, voiced by Barbra Streisand, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jane Fonda, “It’s Time.”
“This Is Your Country”
Inspired by MoveOn's "Bush in 30 seconds" video ad contest, MayDay.US asked citizens to create 30-second video ads that could be aired on national TV. The voters and all-star panel of judges – George Takei, Jason Alexander, Shepard Fairey, Zephyr Teachout, Marianne Williamson, Baratunde Thurston, Anna Galland and Cenk Uygur — selected my spot as the winner in 2015.
I served as Executive Director and board member of a 501(c)(3) non-profit which produced political documentaries such as Hacking Democracy, Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election, Broadcast Blues, We Are Wisconsin, Unconstitutional, and others. I found digital distribution for our catalogue, helmed new documentary projects, and oversaw a festival for social issue short docs. (2009-2014)
My Documentaries
FREE FOR ALL! (2008)
FREE FOR ALL! investigates election problems in the 2004 election in Ohio, interviewing journalists, election officials, professors, and advocates, discovering a web of voter suppression created by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Ennis responds by organizing a poll-monitoring group for the 2006 election, Video the Vote.
“The doc is engaging, even enraging…Ennis has a lot to say.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
PAY 2 PLAY (2014)
In the wake of Citizens United vs. FEC, we get to see how candidates and activists are working to take back their country from money in politics. Using Monopoly, street art, and campaign stories, PAY 2 PLAY connects the dots and offers substantive reforms.
“PAY 2 PLAY lays out a compelling case against corporate personhood and money as free speech…Researched, sourced and interviewed exhaustively." — Los Angeles Times
FISH IN A BARREL (2020)
In 2016, the NRA wasn’t just committing illegal campaign coordination; there may have been millions in Russian money going into the NRA’s efforts to elect Trump. FISH IN A BARREL follows the money, details the Russian influence scheme, and presents a compelling case for why the NRA should lose its tax-exempt status.
Winner of 2021 Impact DOCS Award, Official Selection 2021 Documentary Fest AMDOCS in Palm Springs
We put a lot of effort using street art to market the film, and it got notice!
Shepard Fairey designed the PAY 2 PLAY poster and has helped me promote numerous causes since.
My Books
Where Else But The Streets: A Street Art Dossier (2016)
A definitive tour of political street art and interviews with L.A.’s top street artists. Rothco Press.
Democracy Days: Dispatches from the Obama Era (2018)
Democracy Days is a collection of essays published during the Obama Administration delving into topics such as voter suppression, campaign finance reform, the 2012 DNC in Charlotte, mass shootings, and more.
I created the image for the Prop 61 campaign in 2016, partnering with California Nurses Association and
Activist Comics at the Supreme Court
