Award-Winning Director Marc Levin’s Guaranteed Income Documentary IT'S BASIC Has West Coast Premiere

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After its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, director and producer Marc Levin’s new feature IT’S BASIC has its West Coast Premiere at the 15th Annual DTLA Film Festival on Thursday, November 2 at 7:00PM PDT.

IT’S BASIC looks at guaranteed income pilot programs—which test the effects of giving middle- and low-income people $500 to $1,000 monthly with no strings attached—in five cities across the US. The film follows recipients’ real-life challenges and the life-changing impact of these programs on their economic security, with commentary from former Stockton, CA Mayor Michael Tubbs and other participating mayors. IT’S BASIC is a compelling account of the benefits, criticisms, and outcomes of providing unconditional cash payments directly to people in need, examining whether these community-centric programs can help eradicate child poverty and level the racial playing field.

Marc Levin is an award-winning independent filmmaker dedicated to telling powerful and authentic stories. He has won four Emmys, four duPont-Columbia awards, the Peabody Award, the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, among others. Highlights of his work include: SLAM, his hit breakout film about the impact of the spoken word movement; Brick City, the groundbreaking docu-series about Mayor Cory Booker and the city of Newark, NJ; GANG WAR: BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK, winner of a CableACE Award; THUG LIFE IN DC, winner of an Emmy Award; CLASS DIVIDE, winner of the DOC NYC Grand Jury Prize; and Chicagoland, a docu-series for CNN and Sundance Productions, nominated for an IDA award. Since founding the production company Blowback Productions in 1988, Levin and his producing partner Daphne Pinkerson have made over 30 films—including over a dozen acclaimed documentaries for HBO—which have won numerous prominent accolades.

Michael Tubbs currently serves as the Special Advisor for Economic Mobility and Opportunity for California Governor Gavin Newsom and is the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a coalition of over 120 mayors committed to advancing a federal guaranteed income that expanded to include city and county legislators with Counties for a Guaranteed Income. These networks act as research and resource hubs for 48 municipal pilot programs around the country.

Levin says, “At a time when we are bombarded by news of economic instability, inflation, debt crisis, drastic cutbacks in social services, and fears of more layoffs and recession, here’s a story about a subterranean movement that has grown from one city: Stockton CA. From back in 2018, when we released the documentary STOCKTON ON MY MIND, to now, over 100 cities are actually doing something to improve the lives of their citizens and IT’S BASIC gives the participants themselves a chance to tell their stories.”

Director/Producer: Marc Levin
Producer: Daphne Pinkerson
Executive Producer: Michael Tubbs
Co-Producer: Aurielle Akerele
Editor: John Maidman
Cinematographer: Allen Dobbins
Coordinating Producer: Elizabeth Sehring, MA EA
Associate Producer: Dan Levesque, Robert Brooks
Creative Consultant: Kimberly A. Miille
Original Music by Khari Mateen