CEI Short Film “I, Pencil” Wins Grand Prize at Manning Centre Competition

WASHINGTON, March 28 –The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) animated short film, “I, Pencil” about the free-market wonders of making the common pencil won first place at a prestigious film contest this month co-hosted by Canada’s Manning Centre and the Free Thinking Film Society. The award was presented at the 2014 Manning Networking Conference, held February 27 – March 1, 2014, in Ottawa. The films were evaluated by a three-judge panel and featured themes on conservatism, liberty, free markets, and democracy.

“The Competitive Enterprise Institute is honored to have the ‘I, Pencil’ film garner such high acclaim and recognition from the Manning Centre and the Free Thinking Film Society,” said CEI President Lawson R. Bader.

CEI’s 6 minute long “I, Pencil” film was adapted from the 1958 essay by the late Leonard E. Read and produced by Drew Tidwell of Passing Lane Films. The film is accompanied by a series of five extended video commentaries featuring Carden and fellow libertarian luminaries Deirdre McCloskey, Larry Reed and Walter Williams, each discussing different themes of the story’s narrative.

Runners up in the Manning Centre and the Free Thinking Film Society competition included:

The film previously won first place in the Reason Video Prize, as well as Best Short Documentary and Audience Choice at the Anthem Film Festival.

ABOUT “I, Pencil”: The 1958 essay by Leonard E. Read shows how no mastermind dictates the making of a pencil. Rather, it takes bits of know-how from thousands of individuals – from loggers in California to factory workers in China to miners in Sri Lanka to transport workers the world over – to bring an ordinary pencil into being. By trading their skills and labor for wages, these individuals each bring the pencil a step closer into being.