The Power of Storytelling

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Great documentaries don’t just inform, they ignite action. How do filmmakers turn powerful stories into real-world impact long after the credits roll? Join SIFF filmmakers Judd Ehrlich and Chase Joynt and producer Chris Temple for a dynamic conversation moderated by Deadline's Matthew Carey about activism, audience engagement, and the bold strategies they’re using to spark meaningful change. 

Matthew Carey has been Deadline's Documentary Editor since 2020. He produces and co-hosts the news outlet's podcast Doc Talk, which is Webby Award-winning. Before joining Deadline, Carey was the senior producer in CNN's entertainment news division and was a freelance journalist whose work appeared on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, Documentary Magazine, NBC News, and TheWrap. He also founded his own news outlet, NonfictionFilm.com, dedicated to documentaries. Carey is a two-time Peabody Award winner and received a DuPont-Columbia University Award for his journalism. 

Judd Ehrlich is an American director and producer. He is a Grand Clio, Cannes Lion, and Emmy Award winner who, according to The New York Times, “clearly knows his craft.” His films, including The Price of Freedom, Keepers of the Game, and We Could Be King, have premiered at the Tribeca Festival and aired on ABC, CNN, ESPN, and HBO. His latest feature documentary, Jane Elliott Against the World, had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival before coming to Sonoma. Ehrlich leads the Brooklyn-based production company Flatbush Pictures.

Chase Joynt is a documentary filmmaker and non-fiction author of three books: the Lambda Literary Award Finalist You Only Live Twice with Mike Hoolboom and Boys Don't Cry with Morgan M. Page. His latest book, Vantage Points, was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust of Canada Prize for Nonfiction and named a Best Book of the Year by CBC Books, The Walrus, and Autostraddle. As the filmmaker behind State of Firsts, which he produced with his production company, Level Ground Productions, Joynt aims to explore the edges between genre and story. His other documentaries include Framing Agnes - named a Best Movie of the Year by The New Yorker after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Innovator Award and the NEXT Audience Award before being screened at over 200 film festivals and distributed by Kino Lorber - No Ordinary Man, a co-direction with Aisling Chin-Lee about trans American Jazz musician Billy Lee Tipton, which was presented at Cannes Docs as part of the Canadian Showcase of Docs-in-Progress, and more. 

   

Chris Temple is a director, producer, and founder of the non-profit Los Angeles-based documentary production company Optimist. His film credits include Living On One Dollar (Netflix 2015), Salam Neighbor (Netflix 2016), Five Years North (PBS 2020), This Is Not Financial Advice (Fuse 2024), Champions of the Golden Valley (Olympics 2025), and, most recently, State of Firsts (Tribeca 2025). For his work, Temple was named by HBO as a 40 under 40 filmmaker to watch, as a finalist for the DuPont-Columbia award for outstanding journalism, and as an awardee of the Muslim Public Affairs Council Annual Media Award. He has won 1 Gold Telly Award, 2 Anthem Awards, 1 Imagen Award, 4 Shorty Awards, 2 ADDY Awards, 2 Webby Awards, and 2 AVA Digital Awards. With Optimist, Temple aims to pair the company's films with impact campaigns, raising money for various causes.