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Digital Dove An HBO Films/CHC Initiative with the support of Time Warner, Inc. |
Digital Dove is the brainchild of a natural bond between an active member of our volunteer Board of Directors and CHC staff members. What began as a one-time collaboration between HBO Films and CHC is growing into one of our more popular programs among residents and staff alike.
As an eight-week program to teach eight CHC residents skills in video production, Digital Dove was a valuable job development tool for our youth looking for verifiable job skills and employment in Hollywood. Digital Dove serves the dual purpose of providing our residents a powerful mode of artistic expression; it is the ultimate in Art Therapy for a pop culture thriving on visual stimulation.
In the spring of 2004, an HBO employee on sabbatical from production and editing, volunteered his time to train eight of our residents in documentary- style film-making skills in which they were able to translate their lives on the street into a visual medium. Residents reaped the opportunity to visit HBO Films and benefited from discussions led by HBO executives including Colin Callender, president of HBO Films. The uniquely severe and honest pieces produced by CHC residents gained acclaim among our HBO benefactors and HBO Films offered to sponsor another eight-week session for eight additional youth in the fall of 2004. Unable to pass up a popular and educational program for our youth, we accepted the offer and again, the digital products of the young people living in our shelter won praise.
Digital Dove became an opportunity for our youth to see their lives from a different perspective and a chance for them to unload the burden of their histories. In learning production techniques they developed transferable skills for the Hollywood film industry. Through Digital Dove, they gain new interests, values, and social networks. One graduate of the program went on to participate in Street Lights, a non-profit training underprivileged young people in production assistance. She now owns her own van and is an intern with HBO Films.
Because HBO Films and CHC recognized the value of this effort we discussed the possibility of growing the program into a year-round opportunity. After dialogue between HBO Films and CHC, we now have an official one and a half year partnership and funding from Time Warner, Inc. to continue Digital Dove as a permanent addition to our Art Therapy and job development efforts. Our faithful HBO volunteer, Jan Pfeiffer, agreed to teach the Digital Dove curriculum part time; his innovation and passion for the program are evident in his improvements for this year’s class schedule.
We thank Time Warner, Inc., HBO Films, our volunteer Board of Directors, and the CHC staff and residents who nurtured this collaboration from nascence to fruition.
