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Film/Media Literacy Education Program Offerings to Launch in 2016

by Jennifer Saunders   •  

While every child deserves an education that culminates in 21st century readiness for college, careers or both, very few schools have the resources to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in our new digital age.

People 4 People Productions is a film/media literacy career technology education program provider. We teach students how to think critically about media and how to use 21st century digital technology to create videos, films, new public works and new jobs.

We’ve proudly joined the Opportunity Nation Coalition and are excited about working with and supporting a wider network of American businesses, corporations, community leaders and community organizations committed to restoring the American dream for our youth. Our program’s innovative approach to teaching and learning is why we support increasing and improving career and technical education in America and why we are part of the Opportunity Nation Coalition’s push for bipartisan legislation on this issue.

In spite of the economic downturn and the diminishing economic opportunities available for so many of America’s youth, I believe this time also marks a moment of economic, educational and technological opportunity. I’ve trained hundreds of students and know firsthand film/media literacy education’s potential for solving many of the problems we face in our communities today including the growing skills gap deficient.

I found my muse video production, in the 1980’s when music videos came into being. I was a junior high school teacher in Detroit when I got an opportunity through the Detroit Department of Education to take part in a program that allowed my students and I to work with a videographer for the development of a film project of our choice. Cable television was new and so was the cable network television station BET.

The material directors were creating was so fresh and so exciting to me. Seeing the music video “Private Dancer” starring Tina Turner on BET convinced me that using film to tell stories was what I wanted to do. I left Detroit and enrolled in Master’s for Media Studies at the New School for Social Research in New York City three months later.

Working with this medium, its energy and excitement has been positively transformative for me and many of the students I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the years. I believe that at this juncture, it would be a missed opportunity if society does not use the transformative power of film/media literacy education to revolutionize civic engagement, economic prosperity and youth opportunity in this country.

A former student of mine, Danny Ochoa says that by learning the meaning of colors, shapes and shots and angles, he learned how to interpret the reality of the environment we live in and the subtle messages being portrayed.

Our Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities program was developed as an exciting new way for communities to provide opportunities for our youth and for businesses to connect to a new generation of learners, thought leaders, potential future customers, product engineers, artists, producers and youth talent. We’re looking forward to partnering with celebrities, athletes, tech and political leaders, and other influencers to train and employ 200 students in 2016 for careers in media information technology in Broward County, Florida, Baltimore and New York City.

Our mission is to build the capacity for film/media literacy education to thrive as a community educational movement in America and to connect American businesses through film media literacy education to the communities they serve.

Jennifer Saunders

Jennifer Saunders is the Founder of People 4 People Productions.

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