Outside the Box [Office] and Music Box Films invite you and a guest to attend

A Special Theatrical Screening of

STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE!

Official Selection: Telluride Film Festival
Official Selection: International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam
Official Selection: Sheffield DocFest
Centerpiece Selection: DOC NYC, New York

Directed and Produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
Produced by Karen Ranucci, Diana Cohn, and Caren Spruch 

Followed by a Q&A with Tia Lessin and Doc Protagonist Amy Goodman

7:00 P.M. on Monday, October 19th, 2026

The Eileen Norris Cinema Theater at the Frank Sinatra Hall
3507 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089

FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. RSVPs REQUIRED.

FOOD AND DRINKS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED IN THE AUDITORIUM.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

About Steal This Story, Please!

Taking on politicians, CEOs and riot police, Amy Goodman has reported some of the most urgent and underreported stories of our time. Steal This Story, Please! is a gripping account of the trailblazing journalist whose unwavering commitment to truth-telling spans three decades of turbulent history. Drawing on an extraordinary archive, Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (Trouble the Water, Citizen Koch, The Janes) take us behind the scenes with the warm, wisecracking granddaughter of an Orthodox rabbi — raised in a tradition of asking hard questions — as she navigates a media landscape reshaped by technology, corporate consolidation, and political assaults on the press. Urgent, provocative and unexpectedly funny, Steal This Story, Please! is both a powerful critique of mainstream media, and a celebration of those who challenge it.

Provided courtesy of Music Box Films. Running time: 102 minutes.

About the Guests

TIA LESSIN (Director, Producer)

Tia Lessin and Carl Deal were nominated for an Academy Award for the critically acclaimed feature documentary TROUBLE THE WATER, about survivors of Hurricane Katrina which won the Gotham Independent Film Award and Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Their second feature, CITIZEN KOCH, which documented the origins of the MAGA movement and the extremist takeover of the Republican Party in the Midwest, premiered in competition at Sundance and was shortlisted for an Oscar.

Most recently, Lessin directed THE JANES (with Emma Pildes), a film about the underground abortion service in 1960s Chicago, for HBO Original Documentaries. After its premiere in competition at Sundance, THE JANES won three Emmy Awards (Outstanding Documentary, Best Social Issue Documentary, and Best Directors), the DuPont Columbia Journalism Award, and was on the 2023 Oscar shortlist.

Lessin and Deal’s first film collaborations together were on Academy Award®-winning BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and FAHRENHEIT 9/11, winner of the Palme d'Or (she as supervising producer, he as archival producer). They went on to produce Michael Moore’s CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT, and FAHRENHEIT 11/9.

In television, Lessin’s documentary short A FAMILY DIVIDED, about the FBI’s targeting of a Pakistani family after September 11th, aired on Bill Moyers Journal (PBS). She was awarded the Sidney Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism for BEHIND THE LABELS (Oxygen), about labor trafficking in the garment industry, produced in partnership with the human rights group WITNESS. She also line-produced Martin Scorsese’s Grammy Award-winning NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN (PBS). Her work on the groundbreaking satirical series The Awful Truth (Bravo/BBC) earned her two Primetime Emmy nominations and one arrest.

Before making films, Lessin worked as a labor organizer and Deal worked as an investigative journalist and television news producer. They first joined forces on a campaign to expose and disrupt the covert wars in Central America.

Lessin is a recipient of the Women of Worth Vision Award from L’Oréal Paris and Women in Film, The Ridenhour Prize, The Reel Women Direct Award for Excellence in Directing by a Woman, and the Black Lily Lifetime Achievement Award. She and Deal received the Woodstock Film Festival Art of Activism Award. They are past fellows of the Open Society Institute, the Sundance Institute and Creative Capital and are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Directors Guild of America, and the Writers Guild of America.

AMY GOODMAN (Documentary Protagonist)

Amy Goodman is an award-winning investigative journalist, author, and host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, which airs on more than 1,500 public television and radio stations worldwide.

Goodman is a recipient of the George Polk Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, the Society for Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence, American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award, the Paley Center for Media’s She’s Made It Award, and the Overseas Press Club Award.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard honored Goodman with the 2014 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.” She is also the first co-recipient of the Park Center for Independent Media’s Izzy Award, named for the legendary journalist I.F. Stone, and was later inducted into the Center’s I.F. Stone Hall of Fame.

Goodman was awarded the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship and has received awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Project Censored. Goodman received the first ever Communication for Peace Award from the World Association for Christian Communication. She was also honored by the National Council of Teachers of English with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language and received the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting.

Goodman is the author of six New York Times bestsellers: “Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America,” co-written with David Goodman and Denis Moynihan (2016); “The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope” (2012); “Breaking the Sound Barrier” (with a preface by Bill Moyers), (2009); “Standing up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times” co-written with David Goodman (2008); “Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back” co-written with David Goodman (2006); and “The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them” co-written with David Goodman (2004).

About Outside the Box [Office]

Outside the Box [Office] is a weekly showcase for upcoming releases highlighting world cinema, documentary and independent film titles. The series draws from around the globe to present movies that may challenge, inspire or simply entertain.

To view the calendar of screenings, click here

To SUBSCRIBE to our MAILING LIST for upcoming free screenings and events, e-mail the word "Subscribe" to: aago@cinema.usc.edu

Check-In & Reservations

This program is open to all eligible individuals. The USC School of Cinematic Arts operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.

This screening is free of charge and open to the public. A reservation confirmation will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 6:30 P.M.

All SCA screenings are OVERBOOKED to ensure seating capacity in the theater, therefore seating is not guaranteed based on RSVPs. The RSVP list will be checked in on a first-come, first-served basis until the theater is full. Once the theater has reached capacity, we will no longer be able to admit guests, regardless of RSVP status.

Accessibility Needs

Individuals with disabilities who need accommodations to attend this event may contact Alessandro Ago, Assistant Dean, Programming and Special Events, at aago@cinema.usc.edu or 213-740-2330. It is requested that individuals requiring accommodations or auxiliary aids such as sign language interpreters and alternative format materials notify us at least seven days prior to the event. Every reasonable effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodations in an effective and timely manner.

Parking

On-campus parking at the University of Southern California is limited. We recommend buying a day pass for the Royal Street Structure, located at the intersection of Royal Street and W. Jefferson Blvd. Parking passes are $20/car. For more information about parking at USC, please visit USC Transportation Website:

https://transnet.usc.edu/index.php/daily-and-hourly-parking/
https://transnet.usc.edu/index.php/about-us/entrance-hours/