Creating in Place: Take 2
On May 18, Youth Beat hosted Creating in Place: Take 2 -- our second end-of-the-school-year virtual Screening Party and Fundraiser . . . and we have one word for it . . . WOW! Thanks to the caring Oakland community, the night was a huge success!
HUGE thanks to the Oakland community, parents and far-flung supporters who (virtually) showed up to support Youth Beat students and their creations.
Students showcased their Quarantine Creations, shared about their Youth Beat experience, and of course . . . their new documentary, “Of Oakland,” premiered for the very first time!!
The student-made documentary was highly praised as parents, students, and community members were blowing up the Zoom chat with how impressed they were with the cast and crew -- Sofia, Sara, Azi, Gudelio, Sam, and Kaya (pictured above).
After the screening, the six students who worked on the documentary did a short Q&A detailing their experiences making the short film. A clear theme of their comments was that they inspired each other to open up about their personal stories.
“It was great to get to talk about my culture,” explained Gudelio. “It was kind of like taking a weight off my chest, and it felt good to have other people see my side of the story.”
Gudelio also noted how important the project was for him during the pandemic. “I didn’t really interact with other people,” he said. But because he was working on “Of Oakland,” he got to “talk to people, work with them, analyze things, plan things out and execute them. And it really helped me out of this little dark place. It really helped me through this tough time.
Samantha Ivey explained that the project made her super excited about filmmaking. “I’ve got the smallest taste of it, and now I want more!” she exclaimed.
We’re sad to see Sofia, Sara, Sam, and Kaya graduate from Youth Beat, but we’re so happy for them as they will continue their film studies at Emerson College, Cal State Long Beach, UC-Berkeley, and UC-Santa Cruz.
If you missed the show, watch it here! “Of Oakland” is at about 51:10 in the recording.
Make sure to share it with your friends! Youth Beat has so many talented students who are dreaming of becoming filmmakers, but most can’t afford expensive camera gear or film classes. They need people like YOU to help make it happen!
You can still change a life and help make inner-city kids' dreams a reality by donating at YouthBeat.org/Donate.
Special thanks to everyone who not only showed up but also donated to support Youth Beat’s students. And a big round of applause for the Miranda Lux Foundation, which provided a generous $15,000 matching grant to help inspire giving. You all are changing lives!