ColorXFilm

The Variety Group

Access to Creative Industry Employment (sponsored by Snap Foundation)

Central LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Compton is a creative city, yet for many young people aspiring to join the creative industry there is little to no support within the community. Aspiring artists and creatives often have to work for free and exposure, which further creates economic gaps. Many young people in our community are first generation or come from low-middle income class and are often faced with the decision of taking an unpaid creative opportunity or paid employment in an unrelated industry to help support their families. Additionally to the lack of access and funding, young people also struggle in having access to creative mentors or participate in a creative community. Compton does not offer any creative or cultural spaces for young people to meet which further becomes a barrier for possible collaboration.

Color Compton is growing our ColorXFilm collaboration project with The Variety Group, a multimedia company, as a youth centered initiative that provides young people in Compton and surrounding areas experience in the arts and media. We hire creative youth and help them develop their unique projects from idea to finish product. Through ColorXFilm, young people are paid to develop their creative portfolios and receive mentorship from artists to be better prepared to pursue a career in the creative field. Youth interested in the arts are selected to participate in ColorXFilm and are encouraged to complete a project they are passionate about. Many of the youth selected have not had previous employment experience or been a part of a creative community. Collectively, young people produce, edit and develop film projects, photography series and multimedia works.

Numerous stories and film projects have been developed and released in Hollywood about Compton and its surrounding communities. Unfortunately, these stories are seldom written, produced or directed by people of color or people from the community. We believe that by empowering young people from an early age, they can begin shifting this dynamic and reclaim control and ownership of their community’s stories. Overall we feel that the greeted Los Angeles County will be impacted by this project through the amount of authentic stories being produced.

We are currently measuring our impact by the amount of projects completed, post-work surveys, and questionnaires that address issues of community, identity, arts and skills learned. Additionally, youth take turns in leading projects and assisting in other projects to develop both their leadership skills and collaboration skills. Finally, we also measure how many student applications we received during a new enrollment cycle as an indicator of need.

The Variety Group is providing technical support and equipment support. Youth are recruited through Color Compton and participate in storytelling and rrative building curriculum. After this introduction, The Variety Group will provide media support and teach skills of editing, recording and producing.