Apply for Native Youth Media Project – US

Storytelling remains a primary source of educating each other. Native American youth are the future, and like the elders, it will be incumbent upon them to eventually learn, protect, practice, maintain and in some cases revitalize Native cultural knowledge, science, and wisdom. Vision Maker Media’s Native Youth Media Project works in partnership with Native youth organizations to mentor and train Native youth in storytelling skill sets for short-format media.

This partnership between Vision Maker Media and Native organizations and communities will work together to strengthen Native youth’s story development for short-format media. Youth may produce short-format videos around such topics as science, health & wellness, climate & environment, education, art, culture, history, language, and empowerment. Finished videos are expected to be shared in a community engagement activity that is determined by the partner organization.

Funding Information

• Vision Maker Media is accepting applications with up to $25,000.00 in funding support from Vision Maker Media for existing Native American youth programs.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible communities or organizations must have a sustainable youth program of 2+ years.
• All completed projects should be in an exhibitable digital format and archived in the highest quality available to the original medium with little to no media or file compression.
• Eligible communities or organizations must reside in the U.S.
• Eligible communities or organizations should meet Vision Maker Media’s mission of empowering and engaging Native people to share stories.

Criteria

• The call for Native Youth Media Project partners is directed towards existing Native youth programs of 2-years or more, working with youth ages 15-24 years, in Native organizations and communities. The partnership is 100% collaborative where the partner has autonomy and oversight on the progress of the project, while Vision Maker Media contributes resources from the network of film and media makers. Vision Maker Media will collaborate with the community or organization on the training structure that works best for media development within the community and the existing youth program.
• Vison Maker Media’s Native Youth Media Project will engage Native youth to build skills towards story development for film and media. The intended outcome for the Native Youth Media Project is to produce a video piece around topics such as health & wellness, science, climate & environment, education, art, culture, history, language, and empowerment; and then the videos are shared in a community engagement that is determined by the partner organization.

Ineligible

• Communities or organizations with a youth program of less than 3 years.
• Industrial or promotional films and videos.
• Student productions of any sort, such as thesis films.
• Communities or organizations that reside outside of the United States.

For more information, visit Vision Maker Media.