00:00 I've done some various work in this area this year.
00:03 I was on a uh panel
00:06 that was the jury for the World Health Organization's uh
00:11 film festival,
00:13 and that,
00:13 that's quite informative for a,
00:15 a panel such as this,
00:17 um,
00:18 because we started to see documentaries about disease and
00:22 illness and,
00:23 and that around the world and how that really affects and impacts filmmaking.
00:28 And I see that we can really,
00:31 filmmaking can affect all corners of the way we think and the way we feel.
00:35 One of the key things that I think
00:37 we have to really understand about the entertainment
00:40 world
00:41 is that here in America,
00:44 it is our 2nd
00:45 largest taxable export.
00:49 And if you think about that from the financial aspect,
00:53 from the banking aspect of what that really,
00:55 really means,
00:57 country to country,
00:58 and then what that means politically,
01:01 because politically,
01:03 We are losing all of our
01:07 arts programs.
01:09 Politically,
01:09 our governments are shutting down all of our arts programs,
01:13 which is in direct
01:16 conflict
01:17 with the fact
01:18 that this raises more money,
01:20 entertainment raises more money
01:23 for all of our countries and all of our government's taxes
01:27 than
01:28 almost any other revenue
01:30 that we make.
01:32 So one of the things that we have to get clear about
01:36 in each and all of the countries that we serve
01:40 is that
01:41 entertainment is bringing more tax revenue than only one other thing
01:46 that's happening,
01:47 and our politicians are trying to crush
01:51 this venue.
01:53 And even though I have gone to the Capitol and discussed this with senators,
01:58 there is no logic.
02:00 In this
02:02 Relationship between entertainment and government.
02:06 And this is something that we really,
02:08 really,
02:09 really need a bridge to.
02:11 Because it does not make sense.
02:14 We understand that recidivism in prisons
02:18 is absolutely
02:21 directly affected by arts programs.
02:24 When prisoners have arts programs,
02:27 they don't go back to prison.
02:30 A direct fact.
02:31 It's a fact.
02:33 But the government cancels those arts programs.
02:37 Are prisons more
02:40 Financially,
02:42 Serving the country and the community?
02:45 Are they more financially rewarding?
02:48 No.
02:49 Entertainment is.
02:51 We know that.
02:54 But it's more oppressive.
02:57 To put people in prison.
03:00 So we have to start looking at what is cooperative entertainment development.
03:04 What does that really mean?
03:07 And what do we put the grants forward for?
03:11 And where are our political liaisons?
03:14 Where are our lobbyists
03:17 that are helping us with this political
03:20 Giant
03:22 Misunderstanding.
03:24 And this oppression that's coming back and forth
03:28 because
03:29 frankly,
03:30 banks work with the government.
03:33 And they must work with the government for banks to stay afloat.
03:36 So one of the key things we have to
03:38 do is get the government in league with the understanding
03:42 that this is one of our largest taxable resources.
03:45 This is one of the key elements that we have here.
03:48 Whether you have 800 films a year in Hollywood
03:51 or 3000 years,
03:53 3000 films a year in India,
03:55 an incredibly impoverished
03:57 environment,
03:58 we need to start to see a cooperative effect between the government.
04:03 And the entertainment community.
04:06 Because
04:07 it's the only thing that has logic.
04:11 Right?
04:12 So we have to start figuring out
04:15 why,
04:16 why we are having this
04:19 freeze.
04:21 We look at the fact that
04:23 when I started working on AIDS,
04:25 there were
04:27 9 to 11 million people with AIDS.
04:30 When I would go and speak,
04:32 people did not want to listen.
04:33 They didn't want to hear.
04:34 Then we had
04:35 20 million,
04:36 30 million.
04:38 Then eventually,
04:39 we have 40 million people die of AIDS,
04:42 right?
04:43 But we couldn't get people to get,
04:45 we have to get an AIDS vaccine,
04:48 right?
04:48 We still don't have an AIDS vaccine,
04:51 right?
04:52 When we had COVID,
04:53 immediately we flew into getting a vaccine.
04:57 But why don't we fly into getting an AIDS vaccine?
05:01 Why when we flew into getting an AIDS COVID vaccine,
05:04 didn't we not fly into getting an AIDS vaccine?
05:07 Because we,
05:09 as entertainments have the opportunity to influence what happens.
05:14 There's
05:15 what,
05:15 200 people in the Congress and the Senate.
05:19 In my country.
05:20 In each country,
05:21 how many people are in government?
05:24 And you look at how many people are in entertainment
05:27 and you see how many films come out a year,
05:29 800,
05:30 2000,
05:31 3000.
05:32 The influence
05:34 That
05:35 is happening in the entertainment community is greater.
05:40 Van
05:41 The amount of people and influence and policymakers
05:45 that are happening in government.
05:48 And yet the resistance from government is far greater,
05:52 even though the benefits to government
05:54 are far greater.
05:56 Than any resistance.
05:59 So why aren't we working hand in hand?
06:03 We have to figure this out.
06:05 Why are we not working hand in hand?
06:09 Why when we have so many,
06:11 why when we are beneficial to one another,
06:14 are we not working hand in hand?
06:17 Why,
06:17 when we could,
06:18 for example,
06:19 organize these 5013Cs.
06:23 Country to country,
06:24 to be working developmentally together
06:27 through the entertainment group.
06:29 All these people,
06:30 Matt uh
06:32 Damon
06:33 is putting in water wells in one country,
06:36 for example.
06:37 Why are we not as an entertainment
06:41 organization helping other people
06:43 organize putting in seeds
06:46 and
06:47 Uh,
06:49 lights and um,
06:52 Muhammad Yunus's microloans in the same places that those water wells are going in.
06:57 If we're going to give grants,
06:59 why aren't we giving them logically?
07:01 So that all of these,
07:03 all grants go in
07:05 to repair
07:08 whole,
07:08 in a whole way.
07:10 So that there's a wholeness to the grants that we give.
07:14 So that we organize our grant giving,
07:17 so that when we're reparative,
07:19 we repair in a wholeness.
07:22 So there's a whole
07:24 A wholeness in the way that we think about our grant giving
07:27 and our,
07:28 and our
07:29 movement forward.
07:31 So that when we move forward,
07:32 we move forward
07:34 in a unified way.
07:36 So that
07:37 why isn't government benefiting entertainment,
07:40 entertainment working together when we know we're providing these services?
07:45 When we know we can provide grants,
07:47 why don't we provide grants that work beneficially with other grants?
07:51 When we know like Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Prize for the microloan,
07:56 why aren't we put bringing
07:57 microloans in with,
07:59 say,
08:00 another organization,
08:01 the heifer organization to bring livestock into a place
08:04 that's bringing water into a place that's bringing seeds?
08:07 Why aren't we bringing
08:09 all the wholeness in
08:11 instead of just throwing spaghetti at a wall?
08:14 I think we have to think about what we do because
08:18 we are the one
08:19 thing.
08:21 Entertainment
08:22 That is a global touch.
08:27 We go beyond
08:28 policy.
08:30 We go beyond
08:31 every other.
08:34 Business in the world.
08:37 I know this specifically because Sharon Stone is like Tampax or Q-Tips.
08:44 It's a word that goes into the
08:46 Amazon rainforest.
08:48 It's a word that goes into Dubai.
08:50 It's a word that goes into Saudi Arabia,
08:53 it's a word that goes into China,
08:55 it's a word that goes into Brazil.
08:58 I'm no longer just
09:01 I'm Sharon,
09:02 but Sharon Stone.
09:04 Is a,
09:05 is a global
09:06 construct that goes everywhere.
09:10 And by understanding what happened with my fame,
09:13 I've came to understand what happens by creating a unified perspective once
09:18 I became a global.
09:20 Um,
09:21 being.
09:23 I understood that everything is a global reality,
09:26 and we have the opportunity through entertainment.
09:31 To touch on it in a global way and then to heal and impact in a global way.
09:37 So when we do that,
09:39 if we do it logically and sensibly,
09:41 we can actually heal communities.
09:45 In a hole
09:47 Way
09:53 Thank you,
09:54 Sharon.
09:54 In fact,
09:55 this is exactly what we're here for,
09:57 to understand how we can collaborate in a very cohesive manner
10:01 and bring unity
10:03 to our common efforts from the development sectors and the entertainment
10:06 sector and work together to really affect change in the world.
10:10 I think we have a lot of work ahead of us and then we are really thankful uh for you,
10:14 you appearing,
10:15 um.
10:16 Today,
10:17 but also kind of,
10:18 I hope you continue working with us
10:21 to
10:22 sell this message,
10:23 um,
10:24 which is exactly how you framed it.
10:26 We need to work together,
10:27 figure out how we make more of the whole,
10:30 uh,
10:30 than of its component parts.
10:32 And from our side,
10:34 and from our side on the scientific side of development,
10:37 we are here to document.
10:39 The impacts
10:41 that the different initiatives have
10:43 and make it very clear to policymakers and other actors
10:48 that this is not just entertainment,
10:51 but it's actually contributing
10:53 to our development objectives,
10:55 the sustainable development goals and other development
10:57 objectives we are all working towards.
10:59 So I'm,
11:00 I'm really,
11:00 really thankful uh for you and
11:03 Helen to start us off.
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