This Fall, San Diego and Tijuana teens will work together to create a series of short digital stories as part of Media Arts Center San Diego’s Teen Producers Project. Media Arts Center helps teens serve as leaders and catalysts for positive action through the use of media technology, and to support these efforts, was awarded a Youth Action Grant by Star-bucks Coffee Company to encourage young people to drive change in their communities.
Through collaboration and creation of digital stories, Teen Producers Project students will explore issues that they are faced with everyday including immigration and border matters. Students will learn all aspects of filmmaking from interviewing skills to editing and graphic design through hands-on experience in start to finish video creation.
“We believe it’s important for teens to work together and become a part of the conversations affecting their communities,” said Melissa Johnson, Media Arts Center San Diego’s Education Coordinator. “These youth-produced videos represent more than just the skill of learning how to create videos, but more importantly, how to be an active citizen in our country.”
Throughout the project, Media Arts Center will compile the collection of youth-produced videos highlighting their unique perspectives. Once completed, the videos will be distributed online and will be made available to the public to encourage further conversation.
This effort aligns with Star-bucks Shared Planet commitment to community involvement. In 2008, the company announced a goal to engage 50,000 young people to innovate and take action in their communities by 2015. In 2009, Starbucks awarded Youth Action Grants totaling $2.1 million to more than 70 community organizations across the country, engaging over 20,000 young people in service activities.
“We’re pleased to support organizations that are dedicated to cultivating tomorrow’s change makers,” said Rodney Hines, Starbucks director of Community Investments. “We hope our Youth Action Grants will enable a new generation of creative problem-solvers to make a meaningful impact in their communities while gaining valuable life skills.
Youth, ages 14-18, from throughout San Diego County and Tijuana are encouraged to apply. The classes will be on Saturdays from 10am – 2pm starting September 11th and running until November 27th. The San Diego class will be held at the Media Arts Center San Diego’s new location (2921 El Cajon Boulevard San Diego, CA 92104). The Tijuana class location will be announced on our website. Space is still available. Interested students can sign-up on www.mediaartscenter.org/upcomingtpp.
For almost 10 years, Media Arts Center San Diego has helped “change lives through film” with the Teen Producers Project. The program has helped over 1,000 local high school students have a voice in their community via film production.