Media & Policy Center: Press

First Prize – Edens Lost and Found - Los Angeles: Dream a Different City
Third Prize – Edens Lost and Found - Chicago: City of the Big Shoulders

"Prizes were offered for programs that tell a positive story of how individuals and communities have come together to solve environmental problems. The Film and Video Festival is one element of a larger effort by NAAEE to re-invigorate the use of arts and culture in the environmental education field."

"Between them, Dale Bell and Harry Wiland have won an Oscar, five Emmys, one Peabody, and numerous other awards for their movie and TV productions. They've now taken documentary filmmaking to the next level through their Media & Policy Center Foundation. The Foundation's first project, And Thou Shalt Honor, addressed the overwhelming issue of eldercare in this country, and their second venture, Edens Lost and Found, tackles quality of life issues for American cities. But the films go far beyond the reach of the usual documentary, adding town hall meetings, local coalitions, continuing series of PBS broadcasts, and massive community outreach to accomplish real social change in critical areas.

For their vision in finding creative and effective ways to inspire citizen action through the power of media, Wiland and Bell are among the 18 social entrepreneurs from the United States, Canada and Mexico who will be inducted into an international fellowship by "Ashoka: Innovators for the Public" at a special ceremony on November 14, 2006, at the Google campus in Mountain View, California. "

The mission of "Inform, challenge, and ultimately ENGAGE a responsive citizenry has earned the founders Harry Wiland and Dale Bell of The Media & Policy Center Foundation election to an international Fellowship of social entrepreneurs. In 2003, Dale Bell and Harry Wiland launched The Media & Policy Center Foundation to create, organize, and produce innovative film, public television, print, multimedia, and software programming dealing with the emerging issues of social welfare, public policy, education, healthcare, and the environment. Since then, M&PCF has expanded its media model to include national PBS broadcasts, companion books, action guides, web sites, academic curricula, town hall meetings, symposia, and a speaker's bureau.

Bell & Wiland, through their work with PBS, have been leaders of public policy and educational media programming. Working nationally, Wiland & Bell are currently involved with a number of national PBS education and outreach programs including Edens Lost & Found (www.edenslostandfound.org) and And Thou Shalt Honor (www.andthoushalthonor.org)."