DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Writing a Director’s Message allows me to voice the things that we care about at Brooklyn Young Filmmakers that might be thought to have little to do with filmmaking careers. I’ve been dreaming for sometime with some dear friends, many of whom are neighbors here in Fort Greene Brooklyn, about how to tie together our social concerns with our love of film.

I ran a family violence prevention project for men and couples on court referral in East Oakland, California years ago. We successfully helped participants put an end to the violence with a type of crisis intervention that utilizes therapeutic storytelling to help redirect a person’s life choices. But as I witnessed a new consciousness and hope awaken in them, I also saw their bewilderment as they looked around their blighted community and found no reflection of or support for their internal growth. Almost without exception they felt too intimidated and self-conscious to venture out into the surrounding prosperous areas for new stimuli.

At a time of unprecedented wealth for a large number of Americans the poor increasingly have become isolated by geographic, occupational, and social barriers. Here in Fort Greene, considered now to be one of New York City’s major ‘cultural meccas’ (link to ‘Community’ page), houses now regularly sell for millions even though they are only a few minutes walk from the Fort Greene public housing developments where the median income is $11,344 and 46% of the residents live below the federal poverty level. James Fallows, a New York Times writer, says, “Our poor are like people in Madagascar. We feel bad for them, but they live someplace else.”

Brooklyn Young Filmmakers is excited to have its office in that ‘someplace else’. The New York City Housing Authority has donated space to Brooklyn Young Filmmakers within it’s Whitman Community Center in Fort Greene public housing, in hopes that BYFC can build a career guidance resource center that will attract an intergenerational, interracial, mixed income community of inspired thinkers and doers who all want to be involved in the largest collaborative and most technically complex art form – filmmaking.

The cultural fulfillment that young blacks gain from being part of a ‘cool’ street culture feeds off mainstream entertainment, sports, and advertising. The comradery, intensity, and rhythms of belonging on the street is not easily replaced by a counter job at Subways or a suit and tie that chokes during the daily commute to and from work. The film industry is definitely seen as ’cool’, but getting started in a decentralized, highly specialized industry based on freelance work can seem overwhelming.

Brooklyn Young Filmmakers has developed a basic introduction to how to get started in filmmaking careers (link to Production Assistant page). How many people who explore filmmaking will actually make a career in film? Very few. But those who work on even a couple of film productions as interns will learn an incredible amount about being part of a team, dealing confidently with the unknown, how to mingle easily with many different kinds of people, and will discover new hope and excitement about living ‘within the system’. Our new kind of ‘boot camp’ will prepare participants for exploration of careers in every kind of industry.

Trayce Gardner
Founder / Director

Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center