Diva Communications, Inc. is an programming and production company based in New York City. It specializes in production of film that explores social justice issues through a faith-based and humanistic lens. Founded by Dr. Debra Gonsher Vinik in 1985, Diva Communications has produced 20 documentaries, multiple short-from videos, and video series for use in the broadcast, cable, internet, and marketing industries. Diva Communications has won

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Awards for 6 of these films.

History

Debra Gonsher Vinik started Diva Communications in 1985 after stints at

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

and

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

. The company initially made production deals with

Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...

and Fox Hills Video, and produced a series of home video offerings which included ''How to Read a Woman Like a Book, How to Become the Love of His Life, Bizarre Sports Incredible Feats, and Get Rich Quick By Beating the Odds.'' In 1995, the company merged with David Vinik's Davideo Productions. Diva's first film production after the merger was ''Embracing

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

: Reaching In, Reaching Out, Reaching Up.'' It resulted in the book ''Embracing Judaism: Narratives of Personal Faith'' published by

Jason Aronson Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, persona ...

. Since then the company has written, created, filmed and edited 19 documentaries, all of which have aired on major television outlets and screened in

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s worldwide. These films address such subjects as community and inclusion for

persons with disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

, hunger in America,

intimate partner violence Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic and sex ...

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

and

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

and

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. Diva Communications won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for ''Beauty of Their Dreams.,'' which aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliated stations in April through July 2016, and focused on the role of people of faith advocating for

girls' education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

worldwide. The company's 2017 documentary is ''Brightness of Noon: The Intersect of Faith, Immigration and Refugees - Part 1'' which chronicles people of various faiths defending the rights of

undocumented immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

asylee An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

s and refugees. The film premiered on ABC affiliated stations in February 2018 and ran through April. It focused on the works of faith leaders such as the Rev. John Fife, who helped create the

Sanctuary Movement The Sanctuary movement was a religious and political campaign in the United States that began in the early 1980s to provide safe haven for Central American refugees fleeing civil conflict. The movement was a response to federal immigration policies ...

in the '80s; Rabbi Marisa James of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's Beit Simchat Torah, whose congregation has accompanied immigrants to court hearings; and the Rev. Jim Rigby whose Austin Sanctuary Network has provided shelter and protection to undocumented immigrants facing

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

. ''Brightness of Noon- Part 2'', narrated by actress and activist

Sophia Bush Sophia Anna Bush Hughes (born July 8, 1982) is an American actress. She starred as Brooke Davis in The WB/ CW drama series ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012), and as Erin Lindsay in the NBC police procedural drama series ''Chicago P.D.'' (2014– ...

(One Tree Hill, Chicago PD), shares the compassionate response of the majority of major faith-based institutions toward asylum seekers and refugees – a response that cares, nurtures, educates, often providing sanctuary for those living in fear of returning to their homelands. It was awarded a NY Emmy in 2019 and is scheduled to air again on ABC affiliated stations starting February 14, 2021. Diva Communications also produces video content for web and mobile apps. In 2010, the company began creating the short videos ''Morning Thoughts'' and ''Evening Meditations'' for the Odyssey Networks' mobile app Call on Faith. Call on Faith was a library of short inspirational videos which is no longer operational. Diva co-produced a short video series called the ''Wisdom of the Holidays'' alongside author and radio host

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Irwin Kula Irwin Kula (born November 29, 1957) is an American rabbi and author, currently serving as the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL). In 2008, he was listed as 7th in ''Newsweek''’s “50 most influential rab ...

CLAL The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL) is a leadership training institute, think tank, and resource center. It is an inter-disciplinary and inter-denominational movement, in which rabbis from all major Jewish denominations in ...

. They later completed a sequel, ''Wisdom of the Prayers''. Diva also curates the Mincha Moment website, a series of over 35 original web videos devoted to gratitude. In 2013, the Mincha Moment entitled ''Grateful For The Partial,'' featuring Rabbi Irwin Kula, was nominated for an Emmy Award. Dr. Gonsher Vinik was subsequently invited to contribute an article calle
“Practicing Gratitude”
of WELCA's Bold Cafe. Debra Gonsher Vinik was asked to speak at WELCA's triennial in 2014 for about her documentary ''I Believe You; Faith's Response to Intimate Partner Violence'' at WELCA'S triennial in 2014, and joined their 2017 triennial to screen and to speak about ''Beauty of Their Dreams''. As Diva's work is primarily

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

, in addition to WELCA, it has fostered relationships with faiths across the spectrum including

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, and Baha'i, among others. Diva Communications is currently in production on ''Hurting Inside: Women, Faith and the Opioid Epidemic'', airing in 2021 on ABC-affiliated stations nationwide, a one-hour multi-faith documentary exploring the underreported struggles of women who suffer from opioid use disorder (OUD); the stigma surrounding their addiction and the people of faith aiding in their recovery.

Films

Films produced by Diva Communications have aired on television networks such as PBS, NBC and ABC.

Awards

Diva's films have won six local Emmy awards and twelve nominations. Diva's most recent NY Emmy was for ''Brightness of Noon - Part 2'' in 2019. Diva's film ''The Beauty of Their Dreams'' won the 2017 NY Emmy. In 2014, their documentary ''Divine Prescription: Stories of Faith, Health, and Community'' won an Emmy award. In February 2013, Diva's short web video, ''Grateful For The Partial'', was nominated for a New York Emmy for Best Religion News/Feature. Diva also won a 2009 NY Emmy for ''Yearning to Belong''; a 2008 NY Emmy for ''And the Gates Opened: Women in the Rabbinate''; and a 2007 NY Emmy for ''The Eternal Light: A Historical Retrospective''. Diva won the 2010 DeRose-Hinkhouse Award for Best in Broadcasting for the documentary, ''A Place for All: Faith and Community for Persons with Disabilities''. The film tells the stories of disabled individuals working to make their faith communities more inclusive of them.

References

{{Reflist Film organizations in the United States