Talmage Newman Cooley (born in 1965 in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

) is an American filmmaker and social impact founder and advisor. Through his production company Kinoglaz Pictures, he is the writer/director of award-winning narrative and documentary films featured at Sundance and over 100 festivals worldwide, as well as numerous PSA spots for social justice organizations. He was the founder of The Gun Violence Project and then co-Founder and co-CEO of

The Center to Prevent Youth Violence The Center to Prevent Youth Violence (CPYV), originally known as PAX, was a non-profit organization co-founded in 1998 by Daniel Gross and :Talmage Cooley, Talmage Cooley, seeking to end gun violence in America. In 2011, PAX changed its name to T ...

(originally named PAX). While attending the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in 2012 he founded Democracy.com. Cooley is also the Founder o
Theory of Change
a social impact consulting firm based in New York City.

Social Justice

In the mid to late 1990s, Cooley directed television PSA's for prominent social impact organizations such as the

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...

The Creative Coalition The Creative Coalition is a nonprofit, (501(c)(3)) advocacy group formed of members of the American entertainment industry. The organization was founded in 1989 by Ron Silver. Tim Daly serves as the organization's president. Members have included ...

and the

Partnership for a Drug Free America Partnership to End Addiction, first known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) then later as the Partnership at DrugFree.org, and The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, is a New York City-based non-profit organization which runs campaig ...

. Through this work, he began researching how large-scale social messaging efforts could successfully shift cultural norms and launch grassroots movements. This led to his founding of The Gun Violence Project, a collaboration with

, and then co-founding

(originally called PAX) which would become the largest non-lobbying group focused on the gun violence issue in America. Cooley was also a member of the founding committee of the

Million Mom March The Million Mom March was a rally held on Mother's Day, May 14, 2000 in the Washington, D.C. National Mall by the Million Mom March organization to call for stricter gun control. The march reportedly drew an estimated attendance of 500,000 to 75 ...

in 2000, which drew 750,000 people to the

Washington Mall Washington Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in South Strabane Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, just outside the city of Washington, formerly managed by J J Gumberg Co. and now by Oxford Development Company. It is owned by ...

(and another 400,000 people to satellite marches across the country), one of the largest marches ever organized on the Washington Mall. In 2012, Cooley graduated from the

with a master's degree focused on social justice strategy and social impact innovation, technology and communications design. This work led to the 2013 launch of Democracy.com, an online platform for civic engagement that "empowers every citizen to take action on the issues and elections they care about in under 60 seconds". Democracy.com won Best Technology Innovation at the Reed Awards, Best Organizing Tool from Campaign Workshop, and a Pollie Award for Best Fundraising Platform.

Gun Violence Project, PAX, Center to Prevent Youth Violence

In 1995, Cooley founded The Gun Violence Project, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization with the mission to reposition the gun violence issue as an urgent matter of public health rather than the seemingly intractable political wedge issue it had become.Gregg Lee Carter, ''Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law'', Volume 1, pp.465-6, ABC-CLIO, 2002, , . In 1996, The Gun Violence Project, in collaboration with The

Creative Coalition The Creative Coalition is a nonprofit, (501(c)(3)) advocacy group formed of members of the American entertainment industry. The organization was founded in 1989 by Ron Silver. Tim Daly serves as the organization's president. Members have included ...

, created its first campaign (voice-over by

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

), which focused on the dangers of kids taking their parents' guns to school. In 1997 The Gun Violence Project became PA

Asking Saves Kids (ASK) & SPEAK UP Campaigns

By 2000, PAX had become the largest non-lobbying organization working on the US gun violence issue as a result of the success and rapid expansion of its ASK and SPEAK UP campaigns. As a result of this success, Cooley joined the Organizing Committee for the Million Mom March on the Washington Mall in 2000, and the ASK Campaign was named the lead anti-gun violence program promoted by the March due to the success of its family focused message directed at parents. Still active, the ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Campaign leverages partnerships with over 400 national and grassroots organizations that promote the ASK message, driven by the fact that almost 40% of homes with children have a gun, and almost half those guns are either unlocked or loaded. The message to parents is "ASK your neighbors about guns before you send your kids over to play. It's not about politics, it's about common sense parenting.". The SPEAK UP program created a national hotline for young people to anonymously report weapon related threats in their schools and neighborhoods, and received over 40,000 calls since inception. Cooley directed commercials for the ASK and SPEAK UP campaigns, with voice-over by

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...

and

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

. These campaigns pioneered a new approach to the gun violence issue, designed to have immediate impact on the frequency of gun deaths and injuries while also shifting the national dialogue around guns to a prevention-driven, public health and safety orientation. This innovative, non-partisan approach to gun violence prevention represented a stark contrast to the politics-based framing which had dominated the issue for many years without significant success. In 2011, PAX officially changed its name to

to better reflect the youth and family focus of its prevention driven campaigns. Cooley resigned as co-CEO of

in 2004 but remained on the organization's Board of Trustees until its merger with the

Brady Center Brady: United Against Gun Violence (formerly “Handgun Control, Inc”., the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control and against ...

in 2012. By 2022, the ASK campaign had been active for over 22 years, and remains the leading public health and safety campaign dedicated to gun violence prevention in the US, with over 19 million Americans signing the ASK Pledge (www.askingsaveskids.org) and over 31 million parents reporting that they ask their neighbors about guns where their kids play, up significantly from a pre-campaign baseline of 3 million parents.

2017 Harvard/GAO Report names ASK Campaign as only verifiably effective gun violence prevention initiative

In October 2017, the Harvard School of Public Health and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on the effectiveness of 16 gun violence reduction programs, ultimately finding the "ASK" program to be the only gun violence reduction program that has been independently evaluated and found to be effective. The report, entitled "Personal Firearms: Programs that Promote Safe Storage and Research on their Effectiveness," was prepared over a two-year period in response to a request by the Congressional HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee. The report evaluated 16 programs, both regional and national, that are aimed at spreading awareness of the importance of reducing gun violence against children and families. The ASK campaign was found to be the only verifiably effective program out of the 16 programs. Jim Accomando, president of The National PTA, said "Child and school safety starts at home. When families store their guns responsibly, they're much less likely to end up in schools and tragedies are less likely to occur. National PTA is proud to support the ASK campaign to help prevent gun-related incidents and keep children safe."

Democracy.com & Theory of Change

In 2012, Cooley founded Democracy.com while attending the Harvard Kennedy School's MPA master's degree program. The company launched its first generation site in 2014, which connected candidates and civic organizations with citizen supporters. The site was awarded "Best Technology Innovation" by the

American Association of Political Consultants The American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) is the trade group for the political consulting profession in the United States. Founded in 1969, it is the world's largest organization of political consultants, public affairs professio ...

, "Best Fundraising Platform" by Campaign and Elections Magazine and "Top Campaign and Organizing Tool" by Campaign Workshop. The company achieved over 30% month on month growth and reached over a million users. Democracy.com was acquired by

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

in late 2019 in a private transaction. Since 2010, Cooley has advised social justice organizations, impact-focused organizations, universities and non-profits throug
Theory of Change
a social impact consulting firm based in New York City.

Film & Photography

Film

In 2004, Cooley wrote and directed his first film, ''Pol Pot's Birthday'', a short

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

comedy which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, won numerous Best Film awards at festivals worldwide, and is included in the Sundance Collection at the

New York Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the ...

(MOMA). The film was featured in ''

American Cinematographer ''American Cinematographer'' is a magazine published monthly by the American Society of Cinematographers. It focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, covering domestic and foreign feature productions, television productions, short films, mu ...

'' magazine for its evocative use of newly emerging techniques for

digital cinematography : Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the mid- ...

. The film's style of awkward comedy has been compared to the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television series "

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

". In 2005, Cooley directed a short documentary, ''Dimmer'', about a gang of blind teenagers who roam the streets of the bleak industrial neighborhoods of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. Featuring a score drawn from music by the band

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

, ''Dimmer'' premiered at the

, was short-listed for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Short Documentary, and won numerous international Best Film awards as well as being exhibited at the

(MOMA) and included in its Sundance Collection. A review by

programmer Mike Plante said, "Cooley’s subversive comedy Pol Pot’s Birthday is a great crowd-pleaser and festival fan-favorite. The concept of Pol Pot forcing his staff to participate in his own birthday is so well done that it functions as both straightforward parody and high political satire, earning praise from circles connected with both high art and broad comedy." About Cooley's documentary Dimmer, Plante said, "Cooley discovered a gang of blind teenage boys and documented their life in the bleak, rust-belt town of Buffalo, New York. Tailoring the style and tone of his project to match the rhythm and feel of the subjects, Dimmer is a one-of-a-kind elegy to an under-represented slice of society." Cooley's films and scripts have been invited to over 100 festivals worldwide and won over 20 Best Film and other honors. Cooley has been profiled in numerous magazines, such as

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

br>
Create, and RES (magazine), RES Magazine. He was selected for the " RES (magazine), RES Magazine 10 Top Talents" issue and named by

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

as one of "10 Talents to Watch"

Film Awards

—Premiere (2 films)

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

("Oscars") -- Short Documentary Shortlist

Worldwide Short Film Festival The Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival (WSFF), founded by Brenda Sherwood in 1994, was an annual film festival held over several days in Toronto, Ontario in June, at The Annex- Yorkville area venues; including the Bloor Cinema, t ...

(Toronto) -- Best Film
Curtas Vila Do Cordo Festival (Portugal) -- Best Short Documentary
Seattle One Reel Festival—Best Film
Asian American Film Festival—Best Short Film
Nashville Film Festival—Special Mention
Aspen Film Festival—Silver Prize
NY Museum of Modern Art—Sundance Collection (2 films)
NY Museum of Modern Art—Special Exhibition
Hammer Museum LA—Special Exhibition
RESfest—Best Film
RESfest—Special Jury Prize
RiverRun Festival—Best Documentary Short
Dubrovnik Film Festival (Croatia) -- Best Short Film
Newport Beach Film festival—Best Screenplay
Filmstock Festival (UK) -- Best Film
Filmstock Festival (UK) -- Best Concept
Grenada Film Festival (Spain) -- Best Cinematography
Silverlake Film Festival—Festival Director's Prize
St. Louis Film Festival—Best Short Film
Cinequest Screenwriting Competition—Finalist

Photography

Cooley's editorial photography has been featured in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and other newspapers, magazines and books published in the US and Europe. His fine art photography was shown in the former

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

art gallery "CB's 313" next door to the now demolished club on the

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...

in New York City. Cooley also co-authored a photography and essay book with

Kate Spade Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade (born Katherine Noel Brosnahan; December 24, 1962 – June 5, 2018) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur as well as a fashion Icon. She was the founder and co-owner of the designer brand ...

Fashions and

Partners & Spade Partners & Spade, established in 2008 by Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti, is a branding studio in New York City, USA. Partners & Spade works across a range of disciplines including advertising, retail concepts, branding, experiential marketing an ...

co-founder

Andy Spade Andrew Spade (born May 5, 1962) is an American businessman. He co-founded the fashion brand Kate Spade New York with his wife, Kate Spade, as well as the design company Partners & Spade. Early life and education Spade was born in Michigan, the m ...

entitled ''Public Love'', published by

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children. The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...

. Source: Footnotes

Notes

External links

*
www.talmagecooley.com

www.democracy.com

www.theoryofchange.nyc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Talmage Newman 1965 births Living people Businesspeople from Charlottesville, Virginia University of Virginia alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni American documentary film directors Film directors from Virginia American chief executives