Nuevas Novelas: Media Literacy to Prevent Violence

Dear Generous Donors,

Happy New Year! This is Julissa, Programs Assistant from Justice for My Sister, bringing you the latest update on the PA Certification program. 

First, we want to thank everyone for showing us a lot of love and support during our Fundraising campaign over the holiday season. We are so grateful for all the generous donations. To all our new donors, welcome! To those who have stuck around for longer, we thank you for your continued support! We are nearly of the way towards our goal of securing 1440 hours of job training for 20 PAs in 2024! 

Since our last update, we were able to welcome 22 PAs into Phase 2 of the PA Certification program. This meant that they were able to transition from the virtual space to the physical space of the training. They were invited to three in-person training days, each day an opportunity to handle prosumer camera gear and set equipment guided by professionals in the industry. On Day 1, participants were getting acquainted with how to set up and break down camera packages, C-stands, and lighting equipment. On Day 2, participants learned how to build sets and took turns documenting each others’ testimonials of their experience in the PA Certification program. On Day 3, we invited professionals from different departments to mentor as we built and filmed a narrative style film. Director and Screenwriter, Armando Ibañez, generously allowed us to film one of his original scripts, and allowed two participants shadow him as he directed the scenes. 

Additionally, they were also invited to receive mentorship from industry professionals for on-the-job training. In the Fall season we were able to build new partnerships with more independent productions, and oversaw more on-the-job training opportunities for our 2023 PA Cohort. During the fall season, we sent 26 PAs to support 15 new productions. We anticipate supporting an additional five more productions by the end of January, including production crews from the CBS Leadership Pipeline Challenge. 

We also hosted a mixer for the PAs to celebrate all their training and effort, and to reconnect with producers and directors who mentored them on their respective productions. 

Here’s what some of the PAs from the 2023 Cohort have said about their time on set:

“This set experience will help with my professional opportunities in the future because I was able to work closely with the set designer--which is a position that I am currently very interested in, I got along really well with the other PA's and one of the producer's at the end of my time made it clear that she wanted to work with me in the future. The production designer and I got along very well and have made plans to meet for coffee to discuss my interest in the work I want to do, if I were to work again with the same PA's we will continue to make a great team, and the Production Manager has already contacted me about a PA opportunity for another project she will be working on in the coming weeks. Working on this set has definitely helped with my future professional opportunities, more than I could've anticipated.” - Diana M.

“I had the opportunity to work with David Geathers. He expressed that he was very pleased with my work and would like to bring me back on his team when the opportunity presented itself. I feel that knowing that the Producer of a project is pleased with my work opens the opportunity for me to be hired directly by his team in the future and be recommended for other productions.” - Jacqueline G.

“With the experience gained on set, I became familiar with effective communication skills in a fast paced production environment. Additionally, being exposed to certain production jargon will assist communicating in future projects. Having realized the workload capacity jumping into my first production work prepared me for a fast paced schedule.” - Joseph M.

We are happy that more BIPOC-led productions are learning about this program, and we foresee more opportunities coming our way as a result. All the funding from these donations will continue to support these on-the-job training opportunities that our PAs need in order to continue cutting their teeth in film and TV production. We have more plans in the spring for our PA cohort who have shown dedication to their craft, and so we ask for everyone’s continued financial support to meet our goal of $30,000. Together, we are transforming the film and TV industry to be accessible for emerging artists of color. 

Sincerely,

Julissa Villatoro

Programs Assistant