Collection Guide
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Inventory to the GroundSpark Records, 1978-2013
GLC 156
GLC 156
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Table of contents
Title: GroundSpark Records
Date (inclusive): 1978-2013
Identifier/Call Number: GLC 156
Creator:
Groundspark (Firm)
Creator:
Chasnoff, Debra, 1957-2017
Physical Description:
33 Cubic Feet
(33 cartons of records, 1 oversized envelope, 1 oversized folder), and approximately 1,259 film and video elements.
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: The collection contains the organizational records of and film and video elements created by GroundSpark, a documentary film
company established by Debra Chasnoff. GroundSpark's educational films often address subjects of human rights and sexuality.
Physical Location: The paper records are stored offsite and should be requested 48 hours in advance. The film and video materials are stored
offsite; please contact Hormel Center archivist for access.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
UNPROCESSED COLLECTION. Box inventory available. Contact Hormel LGBTQIA Center archivist for access.
Copyright retained by GroundSpark.
[Identification of item], GroundSpark Records (GLC 156), LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Donated by Debra Chasnoff, November 22, 2016. Additions received, August 29, 2018. And, in November 2021, Mimi Kim Klausner
donated 3 cartons (boxes 31-33) of files and audio-visual materials related to the film
Choosing Children
which she made with Chasnoff.
Debra Chasnoff (1957-2017) was an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and producer whose educational films promoted greater
tolerance for gays and lesbians. She was president of GroundSpark, a nonprofit company whose Respect For All Project distributes
films and companion educational guides for classroom discussion. GroundSpark was preceded by Women's Educational Media (WEM)
and an association with New Day productions.
Chasnoff's first film was
Choosing Children
(1984) and was co-produced with Kim Klausner, her partner at the time. The film profiled six same-sex couples who were raising
children. Chasnoff's documentary short
Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment
won an Academy Award in 1992. She is probably best known for the films
It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School
(1996) and
That's A Family
(2000). Other films produced and/or directed by Chasnoff include:
Straightlaced: How Gender's Got Us All Tied Up
(2009),
Let's Get Real
(2003) about bullying,
One Wedding and a Revolution
(2004) about the legalization of same-sex marriage, and
Celebrating the Life of Del Martin
(2011) about lesbian activist Del Martin.
The collection contains organizational records, documents (contracts, releases, etc.), digital files, working files, moving
image materials (screening prints, as well as additional footage such as outtakes), and printed materials (pre-production
and production notes, photographs, publicity materials, articles and releases, posters, fliers, catalogs, etc.). In addition
there are business records of GroundSpark. There is also collected research on the Sharon Kowalski and Karen Thompson case,
and for a television project called "Digital Divide" / Wired4What.
UNPROCESSED COLLECTION. Box inventory available.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bullying in schools -- United States
Documentary films.
Gay parents
Homosexuality and education -- United States.
Lesbian mothers
Lesbians -- United States -- Attitudes
Same-sex marriage -- California -- San Francisco.
Gays -- United States -- Attitudes
Gender indentity.
Chasnoff, Debra, 1957-2017
Groundspark (Firm)
Klausner, Kim
New Day Films
Women's Educational Media, Inc.