Decisions on Deadline

An alternate reality game that offers players the opportunity to stand in the shoes of working journalists as they go through the process of investigating and reporting a fictional news story.

Film Signature Image
Premiere Date
May 5, 2014
Funding Initiative
Short-Form Series and Special Projects
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2015 Society of Professional Journalists - Northern California Chapter-Ethics Award for Journalism Innovation
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2015 Society of Professional Journalists - Northern California Chapter-Excellence in Journalism Award
    • Producer

    Samantha Grant

    Samantha Grant is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, and educator. Her approach to storytelling is influenced by both her undergraduate degree in American Studies/Literature from Yale University and her Master’s of Journalism degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Through her San Francisco-based production… Show more company GUSH productions, Grant has created work for clients including MTV, ABC, PBS, CNN, NPR, PRI, FRONTLINE, and Al Jazeera International. In 2007, she was named a Carnegie/Knight fellow as part of the News 21 Initiative on the Future of Journalism and in 2011 was named a BAVC MediaMaker Fellow. A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power, and Jayson Blair at The New York Times, Grant’s first feature documentary, was released theatrically and aired nationally on PBS in May 2014 as part of Independent Lens. Grant's film Daughters of the Forest tells the story of a revolutionary girls high school being built in one of the last pristine forests in South America. When she’s not shooting or producing independent documentaries, you can find Grant lecturing at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Stanford’s Knight Fellowship program. Show less

    Other ITVS Films
    The Daughters of the Forest
    A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power, and Jayson Blair at The New York Times
    Producer

    Brittney Shepherd

    Brittney Shepherd is a newly Texas-based documentary and narrative filmmaker. Her films have screened at festivals around the world, and she has also produced numerous hours of quality programing for public and cable television for outlets such as the Smithsonian Channel, ESPN, CNBC, and PBS's award-winning series Independent Lens.. She is a CPB/PBS… Show more Producer’s Academy alum, a former Bay Area Video Coalition MediaMaker Fellow and Emerging Artist Professionals fellow. Brittney holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley in Ethnic Studies. Show less

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    The Film

    This fast-paced online and tablet-based game puts players in the shoes of working journalists as they cover the daily drama of life in a fictional town somewhere in America. With the clock ticking, players are challenged to figure out the Who, What, When, Where and Why of a breaking news story, while navigating difficult ethical decisions that face all journalists working in the digital age. In conjunction with the film A Fragile Trust.

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