“You never hear of someone so young doing such big things.”

This summer, Youth Beat’s students took their skills to a whole new level working on a promo video for Senyours – a Silicon Valley start-up!

The student team worked with the client to produce, write the script and shoot the commercial over the summer. They are now in post production. We will, of course, share the finished video when it is done. For now, we wanted to share what one of our interns and a YBPro crew member, Itzel, has to say about the experience so far. Pretty inspiring stuff!

“This past summer I directed my first film, which was a commercial for a local tech startup called Senyours. As the director, I made sure that everything we did was according to the plan we created and according to the script we had agreed upon with the client.

“I helped create our production schedule, find and rent a shooting location, cast the actors for the film, and made sure the crew was on top of all their various jobs.

“The experience was great! Oh my god, it was amazing! I am a 16 year-old who never thought I would be directing a film for a client. Never even thought I would have the chance to do this in the first place. You never hear of someone so young doing such big things.

“It made me feel proud of the person I've become and everything I've learned.

“Until now, I always felt like I was missing something – I didn’t know exactly what I was passionate about. But when I directed this film, it showed me how much I really love directing and making films. Now I know what I want to do with my career. And it feels good!”

Not really much we can add to that . . . except to say how enormously PROUD we are of Itzel and the entire Senyours project team. What a talented, hard working group (and FUN!) group they are!

If YOU or someone you know has a video project, hire Youth Beat PRO for the job. You’ll get a professional quality video . . . AND you’ll provide inner-city Oakland students with paid, real-life, resume-building experience.

You’ll be in good company, too. Past clients include big name clients such as the Oakland Museum of California, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Girl’s Inc., the Thomas J. Long Foundation, the Oakland Mayor’s Office, and the Oakland Public Education Fund . . . to name just a few!  Learn more here.