As part of a collaboration between KVCR Public Media and Creative Corps Inland SoCal, KVCR received an $86,000 grant to hire local artists to work on projects that highlight public health awareness, water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, community engagement, social justice and more.
The result is a 4-part docuseries on the tangible impacts of logistics in the Inland Empire.
In “Warehouse Empire,” local filmmaker, Sofia Figueroa, explores “the good, the bad and the ugly.”
We asked Sofia about her background and what inspired her to pursue filmmaking.
Sofia Figueroa:
I think I always grew up gravitating to more creative outlets growing up; but I'd say I really got into video and film in high school when I started volunteering for my church, and that's when I kind of fell in love with like video and storytelling and just sharing people's stories. But after that, I went to CBU to study film and production, and pretty much have been doing creative work for the community ever since then.
We asked Sofia how she was drawn to this particular work, and how her understanding of the situation has evolved through this experience.
Sofia Figueroa:
Yeah, it was definitely an interesting process. You know, I'm born and raised here in San Bernardino, so warehousing was definitely nothing new, but it really started to catch my attention when I started working alongside community organizations and doing video work for them. And a lot of them were talking about the same thing; logistics, warehousing. So, you know, I started to look a little bit into it, started doing some more research, and you kind of start to realize how much of your life revolves around warehousing. You know, just commuting, or the air you breathe, and just little things that you thought were normal, that you're like, oh no, this is because the warehousing industry is so big in your own community.
Without giving away any spoilers, what are some key takeaways?
Sofia Figueroa:
I do see there's a lot of policies that are aiming to protect communities and workers that are being put into place. So that's like an optimistic thing. The second key takeaway, I'd say, is that the Inland Empire is no stranger to industries coming to their area and maxing out their presence, in you know that economy. We saw this with the citrus and agriculture industry, railroads, manufacturing plants. So it's nothing new that we haven't seen. And this time around, it's just the logistics industry. And the last one really, is, don't underestimate communities and organizations that you know are helping them; because going through this process, you know, they are one of the most powerful forces I've seen, and you know, they will make their voices heard, and just the unity and purpose that they have is, like, really admirable. Yeah.
That was Sofia Figueroa, Producer of Warehouse Empire.
KVCR will partner with the Civil Rights Institute in Downtown Riverside, in showcasing Sofia’s docuseries for a special VIP screening and panel discussion this Friday, June 28th, at 6:00pm.
RSVP for the event here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/nnv6u6w
I’m Jessica Greenwell, KVCR News.
