Our programs have provided over 450 marginalized youth from communities throughout BC and the Yukon with a chance to gather in a safe and respectful environment in which they can reflect on issues of concern to them while getting a chance to express themselves creatively.

Whether tackling issues of prejudice and discrimination, climate change or health, the videos made during these programs tap into and draw from the multiplicity of visions and experiences of people who have ‘been there’ and have dealt with these issues first hand.

Not only these programs give young people  a chance to be heard and have their stories and points of view validated, but it gives those of us watching an opportunity to challenge negative assumptions and stereotypes we might hold, expand our understanding, listen deeply and be inspired.

 

LOOKING BACK/MOVING FORWARD: CELEBRATING COMMUNITIES OF RESISTANCE – 2010

Moving Forward was a 7-day hip hop digital arts mentorship project that saw 12 culturally diverse youth from the Ray Cam Co-op Centre area coming together to work with accomplished filmmakers and hip hop artists to create 4 videos that recollect and celebrate the history of this resilient and resistant multicultural community as it looks to its future with solidarity and pride.

Funded by: Embrace BC

Link to videos:

 

SMOKE SCREEN 2: Through the Eyes of New Canadians – 2005/2006

Smoke Screen was a Health Canada funded and AMES run research and social marketing campaign that was designed by and for young immigrants and refugees in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA). It began with a community consultation process that involved peer-facilitated focus groups with a total of 194 newcomer youth. These focus groups were held to gain insight into the smoking attitudes, behaviours and awareness rates of newcomer youth in GVA. Next 16 young immigrants and refugees from 11 countries of origin came together to create a total of 12 ads to de-glamourize tobacco use among youth in general, and specifically among young immigrants. The ads were then focus-tested with 166 young immigrants and refugees in order to determine which ones would be broadcast and which programs/stations they should be placed on. In addition to airing 6 ads on 8 different TV stations over a 4 week period (February 2006), the Smoke Screen 2 campaign involved a high profile transit ad, a series of newspaper ads, an internet-based social networking/marketing component and the development of a documentary and educational resource package including sections in Plain English, Punjabi and simplified Chinese.

Link to videos:

  • Coming Soon.

 

PEER PERSPECTIVES: 1999-2004

Peer Perspectives is a youth-driven, video based program that enables youth to speak directly to each other about issues that matter to them. Rooted in belief in community-based advocacy, it draws from stories and experiences of culturally-diverse youth to create educational resources that address issues that are hard to get students to discuss: issues such as discrimination, social exclusion, cultural and sexual identities.

In total 200 youth have worked to bring this multi-layered project to  fruition:

  • A total 50 ‘multi-barriered’ youth worked with accomplished film mentors to learn how to tell their stories and share their perspectives through video (a total of 18 short videos were created during the first media production phase of this project)
  • 7 youth have worked on the documentaries below (which feature the short work produced  in the first phase of the project)
  • 8  youth have written, designed & helped to develop the Learning Resource Packages that accompany each of the Peer Perspectives documentaries.
  • Over 100 youth have acted as consultants for this project.
  • 15 Youth were trained as facilitators and delivered classroom workshops throughout the province between 2002 and 2004

The documentaries produced during this program are:

  • Racism for Reel: Media for Change(18 minutes)
    Equipped with cameras, a diverse group of BC youth set out to expose the realities of internalized and systemic racism and find ways to help dismantle and overcome it. Featuring vignettes both comical and disturbing, Racism for Reel is a fast-paced and candid examination of racial biases expressed through the media and in everyday life.
    http://www.youtube.com/AMESGaliano#p/u/25/4CxE5st50Xw
  • Outlet: Queer Youth Speak Out (23 minutes)
    Outlet gives audiences the straight goods on growing up queer in a heterosexual world. Featuring candid stories about the challenges of coming out, Outlet reminds us how complex identity is and how rarely people are supported in exploring it. Above all, this video celebrates people for having the courage to be true to themselves–whatever their orientation.
    http://www.youtube.com/AMESGaliano#p/u/20/b6tf-M2wWo0
  • Expressions of Aboriginal Youth(21 minutes)
    Built around the work of three emerging First Nations video artists, this piece explores the role video is playing in helping Native youth recover their culture and develop a powerful voice.
    http://www.youtube.com/AMESGaliano#p/u/17/AuhfenCO45U

Funded by: VanCity, Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, The Province of BC

 

GET THE WORD OUT (GWO) – 2002/2003

In late 2002 and early 2003 AMES began running an innovative new program to help non-profits “get the word out” about their causes while providing multi-barriered youth with hands-on media production experience. In addition to providing non-profits with affordable advocacy videos, this program has been effective in:

  • providing professional development and mentoring opportunities for some of AMES most enthusiastic students
  • raising the profile of both emerging media artists and AMES through an ever-extending network of Vancouver-based non-profits
  • introducing high school students to the media arts and inspiring them about video’s potential as both an artistic medium and an effective advocacy-tool.

Among the organizations we worked with on this initiative were:
Galiano Island Conservancy, Check Your Head. Anti-Patti-Project Purple Thistle Centre, Tribal Harmonics Dusk ‘Til Dawn, BC Self Advocacy Foundation and Headlines Theatre

Funders: The Vancouver Foundation, The United Way of Lower Mainland & VanCity

 

SMOKE SCREEN 1: ANTI-SMOKING ADS BY AND FOR GIRLS – 2003

SMOKE SCREEN: Behind the Scenes was a by and for girls social marketing and educational campaign funded by Health Canada . In the fall of 2003 twenty-four BC and the Yukon-based girls between the ages of 14 and 19 went to the Gulf Islands Film and Television School (GIFTS) for 10 days to make a series of ads to educate the TV viewing public about what makes young girls want to smoke and why they should resist! Six of these commercials were broadcast on seven different Canadian networks and were also incorporated into a 20-minute documentary which is being used, along with an accompanying Teacher’s Guide, in high schools throughout the province. This project gained profile through both the ads that DID and DID NOT make it to prime-time TV. One of the Public Service Announcements created during this program, Agent Tobacco, was banned from CBC TV because it was decided that its suggestion that ‘BIG Tobacco’ targeted young girls was a contravention of their ‘Truth in Advertizing’ guidelines.

Link to videos:

 

The Pride House Project – 2002/2003

AMES’ first video ethnography program brought together community and university-based youth to learn image-based research techniques. This video component was part of a larger research project that was spearheaded by the Pride Care Society, to create a better understanding of the living conditions and in particular the housing needs of homeless queer youth. The program, involved 7 days of ‘video boot-camp’ on Galiano and 3 days of post-production at AMES’ Urban Outreach office in Vancouver. It ended with the production of a series of videos, one of which promoted the importance of Pride House, a safe house for queer street youth.

 

PLAY-RIGHTS: 2002

This program, created in partnership with the Langely Association for Community Living and Video In saw 5 folks with developmental disabilities learning the technical and journalistic know-how to create a short documentary about a “Bill of Rights” play that folks at Langley Association for Community Living have produced. The video will include interviews with actors, producers, and the audience.

 

AMES/IDERA Anti Racism PSA project -  2001

This project, undertaken in collaboration with the International Development Education Resource Association, led to the creation of five youth-produced Public Service Announcements, tackling the subject of anti-discrimination.

 

Youth Action on Climate Change: 2001

In September 1999 ten AMES grads and ten young environmental activists came to Galiano Island for ten days to produce Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to educate the television viewing public about climate change and global warming. A total of 16 PSAs were produced and 9 of these were broadcast across Canada in 2000. This project was created in partnership with Molloy & Associates, Gumboot Productions and the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. A selection of works from this program can be viewed at www.youthinmedia.com

Funders:  Environment Canada

 

 

YouthQuake: Breaking the Barriers Video project:  2000/2001

AMES worked in collaboration with the B.C. Association for Community Living to create a media training program for developmentally disabled youth. This project saw five members of the BCACL youth caucus (three with developmental disabilities and two without) working together to create a documentary about YouthQuake, a national Conference involving 130 delegates strategizing ways that people with developmental disabilities could be more included in their respective communities. It was exciting and empowering for all involved to see these youth in the role of the official conference “documentarians”. In addition to this, this project enabled members of BCACL to get the tools to have their voices heard. The video was screened at their AGM (600 people) and has since been circulated to a number of community-based organizations and schools around the province.

Street Stories: 2000
Street Stories gave 11 youth who had been exploited through the sex trade a chance to learn media production skills to create prevention educational materials for other youth at risk.

Funded by: Nation Crime Prevention

 

A-Team: Autistic Video Project: 1999/2000

AMES raised funds to deliver a one week video production course specifically designed for High Functioning Autistic and Asbergers youth. The program took place at the The Gulf Islands Film and Television School and was sponsored by the Pacific Coast Foundation for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

 

WTN Foundation Girls TV Camp-1999

In the summer of 1999 AMES, in conjunction with the WTN Foundation Inc. offered 44 teenage girls an action-packed week of hands-on technical training at the GIFTS. The program was designed to de-mystify media production technology and get more girls involved in the technical side of television production.

Funded by the WTN Foundation Inc.


New Views: 1997/ 1998

New Views was the overarching initiative created to provide “multi-barriered youth” with a safe and supportive environment in which to learn the tools to tell their stories. Between 1997 and 1998 over 130 people participated in the different media intensive programs we offered through New Views. All of the New Views programs were held at the acclaimed Gulf Islands Film and Television School (GIFTS).

The individual programs were:

  • Multicultural Visions, for young people of colour
  • First Perspectives, for Aboriginal youth
  • Street Views for street involved youth
  • Queer Views for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth
  • Positive Visions for people living with HIV+.

These above projects were funded by: The Vancouver Foundation, The United Way, VanCity, The Province of BC and the Hamber and Koerner Foundations.