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John Wellington Ennis
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John Wellington Ennis is a filmmaker in Los Angeles. His production company Shoot First Inc. in Beverly Hills specializes in political messaging with a viral sensibility.

FREE FOR ALL!, his 2008 documentary about election fraud, was called "engrossing, even enraging" by Roger Ebert. You can see it online for free at www.freeforall.tv. His next film, PAY 2 PLAY, explores political corruption at its comic heights while examining the need for campaign finance reform. Ennis directed and produced a feature comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade, Wild Girls Gone, starring Amy Poehler in a Florida political satire. His documentary Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety was recommended by the American Library Association as a must-see.

Ennis blogs about politics and street art at www.johnennis.tv, and is Executive Director of Public Interest Pictures. Ennis is a co-founder of Video the Vote, a non-partisan, not for profit group that documents and reports voting problems, at videothevote.org. Ennis was voted Mr. Lower East Side for 2002.

Blog Entries by John Wellington Ennis

The Vision & Mission Of Bob Edgar (Video)

(4) Comments | Posted April 25, 2013 | 5:01 PM

Bob Edgar, the president and CEO of Common Cause, has passed away at the age of 69. Bob was active and on point up to the end, having recently held a forum for the 40th Anniversary of Watergate, speaking in public last week, and even

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VIDEO: Voter Protection Or Voter Suppression?

(1) Comments | Posted September 21, 2012 | 12:53 PM

During the 2012 election, the realities of voter suppression have become the new horse race. Where campaign coverage previously relished the focus on who was raising the most money, this year, cable news has been delivering the updates from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, as various voting restrictions are shot down...

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In Charlotte, Not The Usual Protestor Problems

(0) Comments | Posted September 12, 2012 | 6:27 PM

The political conventions have become a reliable playing field for protesters from all walks of life to gather outside the conventions where their voices won't be heard otherwise. This was most dramatically realized in 1968 at the DNC in Chicago, when over a million anti-war protesters descended on the streets...

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Creative Coalition Takes The Patron Express To The DNC

(0) Comments | Posted September 11, 2012 | 5:43 PM

At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the art of hospitality, celebrity sighting, and charitable causes converged at the Patron Express party held for the Creative Coalition. The Creative Coalition attends both conventions to look after interests affecting the creative community and social causes that the group believes belong front...

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As He Returns To Prison, Don Siegelman Still Seeks Justice (Video)

(2) Comments | Posted September 11, 2012 | 4:16 PM

Today I received an email from Dana Siegelman, sharing her sad situation--she was about to drive 485 miles to take her father, the former Governor of Alabama, to prison.

In a labyrinthine epic that would make Kafka blush, Don Siegelman has spent the past 13 years ensnared in...

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John Conyers At DNC Discusses Pressures Facing Obama

(2) Comments | Posted September 6, 2012 | 11:18 AM

Where the conventions were once a confluence of ideas, it's no secret they have come to strive for spectacle, turning earnest debates for improving the quality of life for Americans into platitudes. But the opportunity that the conventions have come to embody is the assembly outside the official proceedings, where...

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When Even Amazon Won't Sell Your Films

(0) Comments | Posted July 13, 2012 | 4:39 PM

For independent filmmakers, just completing a film and making it available in a releasable form is an Herculean task that represents countless struggles from the beginning of the project. But what happens when you cannot even get your modest masterpiece out on the open marketplace?

Amongst the many titles available...

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Gay, Christian, and Proud in Love Free or Die

(5) Comments | Posted July 11, 2012 | 11:06 AM

Winning a Special Jury Prize at Sundance, Love Free or Die has already become a pivotal film this year as President Obama has embraced its subject matter: gay marriage. Even more timely, the Episcopal Church has just approved a same sex blessing service.

The documentary...

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This July 4th, Our Elections Are in a 'FREE FOR ALL' (Documentary)

(3) Comments | Posted July 3, 2012 | 4:22 PM

On July 4, 2011, former President Bill Clinton spoke to students in Washington for the annual convention of Campus Progress. His message to them was surprisingly stark and pulled no punches. Coming from the famed triangulator who faced impeachment from Republican lawmakers after giving them NAFTA and Glass-Steagall's repeal, this...

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Performing Gay Marriages at the 1998 NYC Pride Parade (VIDEO)

(3) Comments | Posted June 25, 2012 | 11:26 PM

In 1998 my friends and I took to the West Village of Manhattan at the intersection of Christopher Street and Gay Street to document the festivities at the Pride parade. We set up just a stone's throw from the former Stonewall Inn, where a police riot in 1969 thrust the...

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WATCH: 'The Koch Brothers: Godfathers of Greed'

(3) Comments | Posted June 21, 2012 | 6:23 PM

In celebration of the Koch Brothers' San Diego convention this weekend, here is a newly-released short doc highlighting the nefarious background of the Kochs and revealing how a little protest and exposure can send the billionaire brothers into a tizzy.

Public Interest Pictures are proud to...

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WATCH: What is the Pay 2 Play System?

(1) Comments | Posted June 15, 2012 | 8:40 PM

For the last six years, I have been on a mission to document the cycle of how money works its way through our political system, how this cycle steals from the public and where opportunities lie to reclaim our democratic process. Just unveiled at Netroots Nation, I am proud to...

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Mission: May Day Monopoly Board (PHOTOS)

(0) Comments | Posted May 3, 2012 | 9:15 PM

May 1st is a traditional Worker's Day observed in Los Angeles with marches for immigration and unions, and this year's May Day was also the call for a general strike led by the Occupy movement. Occupy Los Angeles called for actions around the city, which was highlighted by an Occupy...

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Review: Bonsai People: Celebrating the Work of Muhammad Yunus

(1) Comments | Posted February 16, 2012 | 3:46 PM

In a destitute country facing famine, natural disasters, and a beleaguered government, Muhammad Yunus saw an opportunity to help people one by one, and built an organization of others helping poor people help themselves. Yunus's Grameen Bank, through micro-lending of small loans of toward local agriculture and commerce, has seen...

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Documentary Filmmaker: What I Really Do

(1) Comments | Posted February 15, 2012 | 5:05 PM

The fun meme of career slideshows depicting others' perceptions versus their own offers something for everyone, including a way to open up about their careers. Just when stock photography had found new heights in humor, there is now a need for everyone's ridiculous job experiences to...

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Why Mitt Romney Won't Get the Job

(28) Comments | Posted February 6, 2012 | 8:45 PM

The 2012 campaign may have already reached an apex of agape anticipation at what Mitt Romney is about to subject himself to.

In an economy run into the ground by Bush's $2 trillion tax cuts, after the unrelenting arrogance of Speaker John Boehner's sole recovery strategy to...

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Sundance Doc Review: Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap

(3) Comments | Posted January 30, 2012 | 1:47 PM

"Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap"
(Director: Ice-T, Co-director: Andy Baybutt)

Ice-T revisits his roots as a rapper by visiting with an endless parade of legendary emcees to discuss how they approach their songwriting in Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap, which had its premiere at the...

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Citizens United: How Did it Happen? (VIDEO)

(2) Comments | Posted January 21, 2012 | 4:36 PM

Though the manifold problems of money pouring into our campaigns have become a source of daily news and mounting public backlash, the anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission is an opportunity to review how this transformative decision was reached -- the perfect storm...

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Get Ready to Occupy Sundance

(0) Comments | Posted January 11, 2012 | 3:58 PM

This year during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, amongst the corporate carpet bombing of branded swag up and down Main Street, there will be a venue for voices other than studio buzz machines, celebrity side projects and gossip columnists. While the exclusivity of the Sundance Film Festival...

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Behind Mr. Brainwash's Art Show 2011 (Video)

(0) Comments | Posted January 7, 2012 | 4:10 PM

Sunday, Jan. 8, will be the final day of Mr. Brainwash's Art Show 2011, an exhibition which has drawn thousands each day to behold the childlike imagination of Thierry Guetta. This abandoned industrial space also happens to be adorned with a significant contribution from the street art community...

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