Youth Workshops
Question of the Week
Our 2006 summer youth team created a "Question of the Week" series where youth went into the streets, taking the pulse
of the neighborhood over an 8-week period. This simple excercise allowed the
youth the flexibility not only to come up with their own questions but also
constantly to re-evaluate/redirect the topics according to their interests. All the while online audiences are able to learn more about the youth and their neighborhood through these weekly postings.
Check out these Videos now!
Digital Media Lab
A New Website
The 2006 summer youth team, led by Emunah Yuka Edinburgh, re-designed our Media Lab website, with a heavy emphasis on audio/visual content. Our goal is to make the website more accessible and relevant to youth while opening up opportunities for new art forms, increased interactivity, and outreach to farther communities.
No Donation Left Behind
DVDs as Outreach
Summer 2005, The Lab released our 2 retrospective DVDs "Spencer Nakasako's Trilogy" and "Tenderloin Stories: Youth Produced Videos 1989 to 2004". Production of the content-rich DVDs, was led up by Aram Siu Wai Collier (Lab staff member 2001-2005) and Emunah. Filling out the crew was our DVD Team, made up of neighborhood kids who produced the DVD interviews and other Special Features under the leadership of Aram--who was himself learning what goes into self-produced DVDs. This was a new venture for The Lab as we were experimenting with a more creative way to get our work out there; instead of taking the traditional approach to distribution, we were trying a grassroots route that served our simultaneous goals of getting the films seen and raising money. Thus was born "No Donation Left Behind"--make a donation of any amount ($25 suggested) to VYDC, and receive both dvds free. Since the release, the DVD Team youth have transitioned to heading up this outreach campaign--customer relations, processing donations, and shipments (mastering simple business skills that are wildly outside the range of anything they have ever done before). In the past year this team has "given away" almost 3,000 dvds, mostly through word-of-mouth, community collaborations, outreach screenings, educational contacts, web-donations, and just hitting the streets. Although it's nice to raise money for The Lab, our primary goal is to make the DVDs as accessible as possible, especially to those who normally can't afford it, or wouldn't have access to them.
Tru Cambodian
A New Script
Spencer is heading up the team that is collaboratively writing a script for a feature film (Tru Cambodian - working title) that takes place across one summer in the Tenderloin. This project provides professional development opportunities for the entire Lab, including Spencer - whose feature work has largely hibernated in the years since we expanded VYDC's workshop program. The script is based entirely on stories coming out of our workshops and out of the neighborhood. Drafts have already led us to meetings with prospective co-producers, although in the end, we may decide to option it (Justin Lin's company Trailing Johnson Productions has the right of first refusal) - or produce it ourselves.
