We need YOUR help to fund the resources to finish production on "Neighborhood Watch" and to shoot the final two shorts of our series "Face Not Recognized" and "Small World." These four shorts together will create a specific, laughter-filled, and curiosity-provoking series questioning the various ways facial recognition is used today.
​
Completed: "Unlocked"
Post-Production: "Neighborhood Watch"
Pre-Production: "Face Not Recognized," "Small World"
​
Funny Face Films generate a sense of urgency around facial recognition technology, its rapid development, widespread usage, and potential dangers – through comedy.
About the Series
Founded in 2021, Future Facing Films produced its first short, "Unlocked," directed and written by Emily Lyon. After production, FFF launched an open submission for screenplay pitches to add to highlight the many ways facial recognition affects various communities. From this submission process, we selected three teams of writers and worked with them to develop their screenplays: "Neighborhood Watch," "Face Not Recognized," and "Small World."
The Story of Why We Started
Since 2013, when Edward Snowden confirmed that The Patriot Act had allowed the government to spy on its own people, technology privacy has a been a joke.
During the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter protests swelled across the a nation – and so did surveillance. Photos from protests were, en masse, being used to detect who had participated... and lead to countless uncalled for arrests.
Surveillance begets most police violence. And often, surveillance technology is inaccurate, racially biased, and used without consent. And there are few technology privacy bills in NYC. Organizations like STOP Spying and Amnesty International are lobbying to #BanTheScan -- but how often are our communities considering the role of surveillance in their lives? Is it a regular topic at most dinner tables? And how can we stop the spread of these technologies before they're too omnipresent in contemporary life to root out?
​
Founder Emily Lyon had an existential crisis -- should she drop everything she knew to go to law school? Could she afford to spend three years learning before she could even be helpful? Did she want to be the red-headed Elle Woods of Surveillance Law?
​
But she knew how to tell engaging stories that made people laugh, then think. Was that enough?
It can be, with your help. With support, these four films can not only get produced, but they can be submitted to festivals, brought to local council meetings, shown at community events, and shared online.
​
We hope laughter can be more contagious than surveillance. Can we do it?
Where Does Your Money Go? (If you give it to us, that is)
Films are expensive! We're committed to the biggest 'slice' of our funds going to what matters: the artists and crew that make it possible. And, you know, cameras and stuff.
