5 Blocks Project Media Mentors

Website

www.urbanstreetfilms.com

Twitter handle

: @urbanstreetfilm

Overview of Idea

In an area of San Francisco primed for revival, will the promise of "lifting people up" instead push people out? Will the voices of local residents go unheard? We are creating 5 Blocks Project - a documentary about neighborhood transformation told in video shorts on a mobile app.

The Specifics: What will the $5,000 fund?

$5000 will help us to reach out to the poor and underserved population of the neighborhood by creating mentor training within the non-profit Hospitality House Community Arts Program. The mentor will teach the low-income residents how to share their stories through effective use of video, sound and editing. We will use the funds to purchase two “flip-type” cameras, a sound recorder, and compensate the mentor. The video stories created will be included in the mobile app – slated to launch by the end of this year. Over 20 local artists and community organizations are participating. This project will allow us to activate the voices of a marginalized and downtrodden neighborhood while providing tangible skills to a underserved population.

Discussion

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