A great song can carry us through, take us away, and remind us of the extraordinary things discovered within the human spirit. Some of my favorite memories are tied to the music that was playing when those moments occurred. Tunes like The Climb by Miley Cyrus, the song my class sang at high school graduation and The London by J. Cole, a song that was coincidentally released the same day that I arrived in London for my senior class trip have become elemental in the soundtrack of my life. Anytime I hear Nonstop by Drake I flashback to when I heard the song playing in my neighborhood of Charles Village. My mother, driving in her car behind me with her windows rolled down and radio turned up, honked her horn the whole way to ensure everyone knew that it was a special night, senior prom.
Read MoreThe Kirwan Commission is named after the chairman Dr. Brit Kirwan. The purpose of the Kirwan Commission is to recommend policies that enable Maryland schools to reach the levels of the best performing school system in the country. The Commission also recommended changes to current funding formulas for schools in the state of Maryland. What they recommended became the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
Read MoreChris Holloway - he/his pronouns - specializes in editing, 2D and 3D visual effects, and graphic design for film, commercial, tv, and games. He recently returned to Baltimore after training at Full Sail University and a year of working on visual effects for feature films (like Catz!) in Montreal. Chris was first introduced to media making in Wide Angle’s Baltimore Speaks Out (BSO) program at Cherry Hill when he was 12 years old. Before Covid-19 hit the US, he was working for Outlook VFX, a new startup visual effects studio started by Trevor Price, a retired Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos linebacker. Outlook VFX is working to put Maryland on the map for visual effects.
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One Love Foundation is a national organization that educates young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships, helping them to identify and avoid abuse and learn how to love better. One Love was founded in honor of Yeardley Love: A young woman who tragically lost her life at 22. Her death was completely preventable. Their mission is to make sure that it doesn’t happen to others.
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This winter, our Design Apprentices took on Wide Angle as a client to create custom temporary tattoos for our annual Valentine’s Day mailing. We use this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to the supporters in our community. If you received a tattoo in the mail, snap a pic, post on social media and tag Wide Angle! We’d LOVE to see them out in the world : )
Learn about the creative process and design inspiration for each one below.
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In mid-August, members of Wide Angle Productions had the opportunity to visit Video Production Consulting, Inc. (VPC, Inc.) in Reisterstown, Maryland. VPC is a production company that specializes in content creation, live event production, digital signage, and A/V systems integration. This was VPC’s second summer hosting WAP for a Job Shadow day, and our team had the pleasure of meeting many members of their incredible staff!
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This summer, Wide Angle Productions Producer, Tahir, completed a summer externship with Exelon’s Creative Media department. This was a 40 hour/week paid position that runs from June through August as part of Exelon’s summer intern program. Tahir, a Senior at Morgan State, has been with Wide Angle Youth Media since 2013. This post includes reflections from Tahir and Mark Colegrove, Video Producer at Exelon who worked with Tahir this summer.
Read MoreThis year Wide Angle launched its first Student Planning Committee aimed to share more ownership of the annual screening and exhibition with students - after all this event is about sharing their voice! The group met bi-weekly for four weeks over the summer. They used human-centered design, a creative process dedicated to understanding people’s needs and designing interventions that better serve people’s needs. This included interviewing different event stakeholders (parents/caregivers, students, teachers, etc.), finding themes in the research, identifying opportunity areas, brainstorming ideas, and testing them with prototypes. Student Planning Committee member Bryce spoke with us about his experience.
Read MoreListen. Amplify. Repeat. is our 2019 exhibition and screening event. The night will feature an exhibition of photographs and design projects, premier new films and include commentary from youth presenters as well as esteemed community leaders. We are thrilled to have youth media makers involved in every stage of the event. In this post you will hear from our youth designer, Aiara, about her process creating the visual assets for this year’s event.
Read MoreDestiny Brown - she/her pronouns - is a young filmmaker and actress born and raised in Baltimore, MD. She began at Wide Angle as the lead actress for a CSX train safety video, and over the years has transitioned into an Assistant Producer and Youth Ambassador. She is also part of the Youth Advisory Council and wants to be on the Board one day. Destiny has created a national award-winning film, traveled to South Africa to film internationally, and has spoken on numerous panels including Light City and Grantmakers for Education. She will be entering her first year at New York University (NYU) this fall, studying acting and theater, while also working as a Video Generalist at the Stern School of Business at NYU.
Read More#IamMoreBmore is a social movement for the youth, by the youth that launched in June 2019. Through media, this campaign aims to change the narrative of youth - specifically in Baltimore - to highlight positive stories that often go unheard. This blog includes a Q&A with two of the leaders of this movement, Chamia and Lacee. They were both Urban Alliance interns placed with Wide Angle Youth Media for spring - summer, 2019.
Read More“BlackStar is a gathering of filmmakers, supporters, and enthusiasts who attend screenings and participate in panels, workshops, and conversations to expand the vision and understanding of the global experience of communities of color. Acknowledging the diversity and complexity of identity within several diasporas creates space for dialogue and opens the opportunity for a greater perspective of what it means to be Black, Brown, and Indigenous.”
This was the second year in a row that a Wide Angle Youth Media film was featured in BlackStar Film Festival. Thanks to support from BlackStar, Communications Assistant, Hannah Shaw, and Youth Producer, Israel McNeill, travelled to Philadelphia to attend the festival. Below, Israel reflects on his experience.
Read MoreMediaWorks Journalism Team worked with the Capital News Service at University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, to write five blog posts and create a photojournalism package about climate change, environmental racism, and health. This summer collaboration was a continuation of partnership that started in the 2018-2019 academic year.
Read MoreSakinah Bowman - she/her pronouns - is a Multimedia Apprentice for Wide Angle Productions (WAP). Originally from Philadelphia, Saki moved to Baltimore to study Screenwriting and Animation at Morgan State University. She is a 22-year-old filmmaker, poet, curator of frequency, and a woman of many talents.
Read MoreThis spring, Wide Angle’s Design Team collaborated with the LGBTQ+ group GLSEN (pronounced "glisten") and the Baltimore City LGBTQ Commission on a project about how transgender and gender nonconforming students are treated in schools based on their identity. Every day, these students are ostracized for who they are, and not just by their peers, but by their teachers and administrators as well.
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The timeline displays our history and the effects of school segregation on black youth in America. It all started from an idea that my team had and brought to life. I hope that the reader can view this timeline and take a lot from it because it is important to know your history and learn from it in order to be aware of the present and improve it.
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If there is anything taken away from this project, I want it to be that it isn’t just about AC, or heat, or books. It’s about the quality of the education that’s being given to the people that will determine the future of our world. Our kids can’t wait, because change rests on them; and without change, this world wouldn’t be where it is today.
Read MoreGoing through middle school I hardly knew what a composite score was, nor that something like this even existed until it was too late. Being involved in this project gave me the opportunity to make sure that all students from Baltimore City Public schools are informed on what a composite score is, the importance of it, and how it can affect their high school choice. Being given the opportunity to be involved in the composite score project that me and my fellow peers worked on has been a memorable moment in my life here at WAYM.
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Wide Angle Designers decided to come together and create a black history month project. We all chose 12 African Americans that influence us here in Baltimore. The calendar starts from February 2019-January 2020. This calendar also gives you a small explanation on who the people are.
Seeing our youth producers become better artists and speakers -- in real time -- is one of the many pleasures of instructing. It is times like these that remind me of the importance of instructors’ long-term commitment and the Wide Angle pathway aimed at keeping students involved. Victories like these instill confidence in our young people and motivate them to continue in their creative paths.
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