Entertainment as Ambassador

The Media Impact Project conducts program evaluations of a slate of projects sponsored by the U.S. State Department designed to share American entertainment expertise with media makers worldwide. Serving as cultural ambassadors, U.S. media professionals travel to embassies and consulates around the world to teach, screen their work and share. In other components of these programs, mid-career media makers from countries far and wide travel to the USC School for Cinematic Arts for intensive study in entertainment-related fields such as writing, producing, marketing, directing, virtual reality and editing.
American Film Showcase

The American Film Showcase (AFS) is the US State Department’s premier American film diplomacy program, organizing screenings and workshops with American filmmakers in more than 35 countries. AFS is a partnership between the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. AFS reached out to the Media Impact Project to serve as program evaluator. In this role, MIP has developed an evaluation protocol for the program and is leading the evaluation for the current program.
Middle East Media Initiative

Middle East Media Initiative (MEMI) is an innovative professional exchange and partnership program between the U.S. TV industry and counterparts in the Middle East. This 2-year program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and produced by USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in partnership with USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center. Recognizing that television serves as a major influence in entertaining and informing audiences in the Arabic-speaking world, MEMI seeks to support and train the current generation of regional television writers and content creators in telling entertaining, local stories that can spark important conversations and actions around pluralism and mutual understanding.

Read more about our partnership with MEMI here:
Hollywood Reporter. Variety. USC News.
Working in collaboration with the USC School of Cinematic Arts' Middle East Media Initiative (MEMI), our research team looked at entertainment preferences of audiences in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The research, based on surveys from November 2021, reveals significant opportunities for content creators to connect with MENA audiences eager for expanded scripted programming across multiple genres and platforms.

Read the report.
The Norman Lear Center's Media Impact Project researches how entertainment and news influence our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and actions. We work with researchers, the film and TV industry, nonprofits, and news organizations, and share our research with the public. We are part of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.