From Place to Place—Interview with Documentary Producer Matt Anderson (Part One)

The feature documentary From Place to Place follows two youth who age out of foster care and then set out to change the system that raised them. (The trailer can be seen on the film’s website.) From Place to Place began as a 12-minute short film, released in 2009. We spoke to the producer, Matt Anderson. This is the first part of a two-part interview.

“You cannot put a price on this film. What these kids have given us is invaluable.” —Edna, CASA of Monterey County

National CASA: Tell me about how this project began.

Matt Anderson: The back-story of this film starts over three years ago, when I was an MSW student at the University of Montana and running an independent living program in Missoula. I was working at the time with seven youth who were all about to age out of foster care. We were their final stop before they emancipated. It was my job to help them learn how to live independently—housing, employment, education, that sort of thing.

As I reflect back on that position now, the biggest thing we forgot for these kids was the supportive relationship and the supportive network they were going to need post–foster care. We were providing all these services and learning opportunities, but we weren’t providing them with the permanent relationships that they would need to be successful as an independent adult.

One day, I was talking to one former foster youth, Codie. He was 18, trying to graduate from high school, working full time and living on his own. We’re sitting on his couch and he’s reflecting on his experience in foster care—he was removed from his family on his 11^th birthday. So he went from his 11^th to his 18^th birthdays in foster care, and he had 17 placements. He was recounting all of this to me and telling me about just moving from place to place. Then he gets serious and he says to me: “My life is important. My story matters. People need to know what happens in foster care. I want to tell my story.” And then he says, “I don’t want just anybody to see the film. I want the people who are in a position to make a difference for the next generation of kids in foster care to see it.” So that’s how it started.

National CASA: Did you have any filmmaking experience?

Anderson: Not at all. I wasn’t a filmmaker. I was coming at this purely as a social worker. But someone needed to tell these stories, and it ended up being me.

So we started talking more about the film and what it would look like. We came in contact with Paige Williams [founder of Porch Productions], who actually was a filmmaker in Montana. We pitched her the idea, and we started working together to make a film about Codie. The film then grew to include five other kids who I had worked with. That short film was released in January 2009.

National CASA: What kind of impact did the short film have?

Anderson: The film was picked up by a Montana state representative, Trudi Schmidt. She shared the film with the political leadership in Montana, and she told all of them, “You need to see what’s happening with this population.” And because of her advocacy, two important things happened. State workers were trained to use the Family Finding model so that foster children could be more easily reunited with family members. The second change was that the state made it possible for social workers to call relatives when children are placed in foster care without worrying about privacy restrictions. Because she listened to their stories, the system has really changed for kids in care in Montana.

During the making of the short film, Mandy and Raif were also invited to Washington, DC, to speak to the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth. That really gave us an opportunity to tell a different story: the short film was about six young adults aging out of foster care, but now we had a chance to really talk about the country’s foster care system and what changes needed to be made. And that’s how the idea for the feature documentary began.

Caption: Mandy and Raif share a light moment with Congressman Jim McDermott (WA).

Next week: Matt Anderson talks about the feature-length documentary From Place to Place and shares the impact of the film on audiences, political leaders and on the youth who participated.