Docs In Progress believes you can never be too young to start thinking about how to tell real stories effectively and understand the process of making a documentary. These are just a few of the ways we have worked to build the next generation of documentary filmmakers:
Youth Summer Camps: Since 2010, Docs In Progress has offered a two-week summer daycamp experience where budding filmmakers produce a short documentary film in downtown Silver Spring. We offer one camp for youth entering grades 7-9 and another for youth entering grades 10-12.
2012 Camps
June 25-July 6, 2012 (Grades 7-9). More info.
July 9-20, 2012 (Grades 10-12). More info.
To see works produced by past students, please visit our YouTube page.
Showcasing Student Work: Docs In Progress work-in-progress screening programs are always open to works produced by students. We have screened works by students at American University, George Washington University, Howard University, Towson University, Stevenson University, and other colleges and universities around the region. We have also featured works by high school students who have participated in youth media programs, including Wide Angle Media and the Sitar Arts Center. Our annual Spring Stories Festival features works produced by our Youth Summer Camp students and gives them the opportunity to share their works in a festival environment.
Advisory Services: Docs In Progress has partnered with the Gandhi Brigade, another Silver Spring-based nonprofit which prepares young people to become leaders in the community through media-making. In 2009, Docs In Progress provided retreat space and cultural training for Gandhi Brigade’s international exchange program which took a group of Silver Spring youth to El Salvador to engage with Salvadoran youth on a joint community mapping project and documentary film. Docs In Progress staff and board members have served as jurors on youth film festivals including those of Gandhi Brigade; panelists at the American Film Insitute’s SchoolDocs Conference; and have provided advice to teachers in the Montgomery County Public Schools’ Lights, Camera, Literacy program.
