There’s a genre of paperwork called media release forms. Sometimes they’re called waivers. These forms are legally binding documents that grant authorization for a party to produce, reproduce, and edit videos of an individual, where the individual waives their rights to those reproductions and releases the filming party from liability. In short, it’s a document that severs relations of accountability between filmmakers and those filmed.

We can do better. We can create consent forms that build and foster good relations, rather than sever and thin out relations.

The form below is a collective consent form that outlines the responsibilities, accountabilities, and processes for good relations between CLEAR members and filmmakers from Couple 3 Films, Inc., who are making a film about and with CLEAR. It assumes reciprocal relationships between scientists and filmmakers but also recognizes differences in our roles and accountabilities. The document was crafted through a consensus of the entire lab and the filmmakers.

This form can be freely shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license, and should be cited as an intellectual product. Recommended citation:  CLEAR, Couple 3 Films, Inc. (2018). “Collective consent form.” Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR).