What conditions are required for the democratic emergence of new ideas and new forms? Karin Chien's lecture as part of the New Public Forum, a student-led series of lectures and demonstrations aimed at instituting public dialogue between various fields as they evolve and adapt to a changing world, examines current models for funding nonfiction film, the power dynamics they establish, and their effects on creative risk-taking and creator sustainability. Drawing from ongoing qualitative and quantitative research, these conditions are analyzed to explore pathways toward new systems of financial viability.

Karin Chien is an award-winning independent producer and distributor whose work focuses on financing innovations, equitable production structures, and radically different distribution solutions. For her producing work, Chien has been recognized with top honors in her field, including the Independent Spirit Producers Award, the Humanitas Prize, the Sundance Audience Award, the inaugural Cinereach Producers Award, and the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s Producers Keynote speaker. Chien is also the co-founder and president of the distribution company dGenerate Films, which works in partnership with Icarus Films to distribute over 70 fiction and nonfiction titles of independent Chinese cinema. dGenerate Films was awarded a Special Recognition for Distribution from the New York Film Critics Circle in 2023. Chien is also the co-founder of the collective Distribution Advocates, which launched a new distribution innovations fund in September 2024. Other recent roles include partner at Louverture Films, strategic advisor to Color Congress, and Film Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center.

Learn more about the New Public Forum, which is supported by The Cooper Union Grant Program and The Cooper Union School of Art, here. Lectures will be broadcast by the Cooper Radio Collective.