Is Mediation Ready for Primetime?

Is Mediation Ready for Primetime?

Two television producers think it is.

Claudio Ruben and Charles Fox both took mediation training from me, a mediator and trainer of 23 years. Years later, they hooked up to create a one-hour television drama about a very robust full-service mediation firm located in colorful Santa Fe, New Mexico.

They are now setting up meetings with studios and television executives to market their very well developed project. To facilitate successful outcomes in those meetings, they need to produce a seven to eight minute trailer or teaser to demonstrate the dramatic viability of their project. They need our support. We—the mediation community—can help them realize their goal of making it into primetime, by assisting them to make this trailer.

What could a dramatic and authentic TV series about mediation do for us? I believe it could raise public awareness about the resources we offer.  Possibly, the viewing public would more quickly think, “I need to call a mediator,” when conflicts arise. And if the show had a long and successful run, it is quite possible that such programming could raise the level of public discourse, in this country and around the world.

Think about how we all feel when we read the headlines or watch the news. Leaders are not listening to their constituents; increasingly polarized factions in our communities are not listening to one another. This dreadful polarization creates increasing peril and violence. It could even be said that the pandemic of not listening puts us all at risk. This television series models to the viewing public how to listen again, how to negotiate, how to solve problems.

So, if you would like to see our field get into the limelight, I urge you to visit this link and to vigorously support this project. Please go to: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shift–21/x/3648209

                       

Debra Oliver

Debra Oliver has been a mediator and trainer since 1989. She has mediated over one thousand cases in three states: New Mexico, Texas and Arizona, logging over 7,000 hours at the mediation table. She serves a variety of businesses and state agencies, as well as a substantial family clientele, with… MORE >