What is FORUM:
A 3-day conference that will take place August 14 - 17, 2008 in Oakland, California with 30 young women media producers. The conference will provide an important opportunity for them to receive more media production training, to share skills and lessons with each other, and to create a lasting national network that will support their work in local communities.

Why we need FORUM:
Young women who come from at-risk communities are not encouraged to make media. They do not have access to the skills, tools, resources and support necessary for them to be able to tell their own stories of survival, through powerful and timely media. This conference, FORUM, is an important opportunity for them to create a national support network that will keep them engaged in media production, a field dominated by largely male-driven corporations.

What we hope to accomplish:
One outcome of the conference is an ongoing proj-ectPRO:JECT online forum. Another is publication of a cultural journal. These all tie in to proj-ectPRO:JECT's vision of supporting and developing a new generation of young women producing media. proj-ectPRO:JECT's goal is to train 100 highly-skilled young women by 2010, through media trainings and hands-on experiences such as this conference. We want to facilitate the development and resourcing of a new generation of media/ new media producers (especially young women of color) who have the skills necessary to tell the untold stories of their communities!

To support, participate and/or find out more info about FORUM please contact us at info [at] reelchange [dot] org or send us an email through our contact page.

proj-ectPRO:JECT's curriculum and cultural workers, with Step Up Women's Network support, bring documentary filmmaking to Los Angeles Leadership Academy High School's Young Women.