I met these folks after a panel I was a part of at the Tribeca Film Festival last month, and was impressed with what they were all about, from the conversation we had.
In their own words:
CITYLIFE is aimed at empowering at risk youth with the training, skills and infrastructure to create films from their own voices, and more importantly to help them gain the valuable industry working experience that they would be eventually be surrounded by if they choose film & TV as a career. We surround them not only with mentors and teachers but when it comes to production they create their films with professional crews and post production facilities. We are in our third year in the program and our students have created 9 short films, 3 of which screened at Cannes Short film corner and 1 most recently tied for BEST SHORT at the 2013 REELWORLD film festival in Toronto. We are looking to help expand the reach of the program, aide our alumni to connect with the new global community of filmmakers & producers, and foster relationships with other film festivals and organizations. Many of our students have followed your blog for years now and would love to have your support.
Like I said, a commendable effort taking place north of us, in Toronto, Canada.
I’ll be following-up with another post in the near future, but in the meantime, you’re encouraged to check out their website for more information about the initiative, and maybe there are opportunities to build relationships.
You can also watch some of the work produced under this initiative on the website, which can be accessed here: http://citylifefilmproject.com/#/
