PROGRAMS
Lil Filmmakers offers Workshops, After School, Summer, and Feature Film Project-based programs that provide young artists hands-on exposure to the filmmaking process. Creative adjustments are made based on an assessment of the academic, artistic, and personal needs of each artist in order to retain and enhance their skills. Additionally, our programs work towards transitioning artists into becoming successful critical thinkers while learning to sustain a career in their chosen field.
Story to Screen
Story to Screen is Lil’ Filmmakers’ community filmmaking program. Through collaboration with schools
and organizations, Story to Screen offers an extensive entry-level, 4 - 6 week, interactive, filmmaking
program. Youth, 11 to 17 years old, will come together to learn acting, screenwriting, camera, audio,
directing and producing, then create and produce a short film. Story to Screen incorporates
Social-emotional Learning (SEL) through storytelling as the basis of our curriculum. SEL is the process
of understanding emotions, maintaining positive relationships, and making responsible decisions. Our
program provides in-person classes at schools’ or community partners sites or a hybrid model. Students
will walk aways with a filmmaking experience from development to the final product, social-emotional
growth, and meaningful collaboration with their peers.
She Shoots Movies
She Shoots Movies is a 12-month program that prepares young black women to confidently pursue career opportunities in the media industry by learning the business of media and providing them with hands-on experience with industry technology.
Real to Reel
Real to Reel is an immersive 3-month program for storytellers (13-24 years old) to develop and produce a
short film. This program is designed for those passionate about pursuing a career in the film industry.
Through virtual and in-person workshops, participants undergo all aspects of professional filmmaking,
from learning how to light a set to directing actors. Real to Reel is ideal for storytellers who are looking to
build their portfolio, gain on set work experience, and collaborate with their peers all while crafting a
unique cinematic experience for audiences. Each cohort will have their project premiered and submitted
to film festivals across the country.
Participants are divided into the following age groups: 13-17 years old and 18-24 years old
Participants are:
● Actors
● Screenwriters
● Directors
● Editors
● Producers
● Boom Operators
● Music Composers
OUR APPROACH
Social-emotional Learning is an Essential Part of Storytelling.
Social-emotional Learning (SEL) is the ongoing process of internalizing socially constructed social-emotional practices. In other words, SEL teaches the skills, knowledge, and mindsets that shape how we think about, feel towards and engage with ourselves, each other, and the world. Successful storytellers are those who have the ability to express their inner voice and deliver their sincere emotions to the audience. Therefore, at Lil’ Filmmakers, we use emotions as the approach to better help next-generation storytellers. We realize that helping our students understand other's emotion and their relationships with society and the world is also important for them to develop advanced storytelling skills. As a result, we polish our storytelling curriculum and embed advanced social-emotional learning elements into our program to better prepare youth to be next-generation storytellers. Lil’ Filmmakers build all our storytelling programs and professional training programs around several critical social-emotional skills, such as collaboration, empathy, responsible decision-making, etc. Our approach is guided by various education research and practices. We are also collecting data and evidence for social-emotional skills development in every program.