Last month New York Film Academy (NYFA) partnered for the second time with the nonprofit WACO (Where Art Can Occur) Theater Center to instruct youth in acting and filmmaking.
The 1-Week Filmmaking camp was held in August at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus, the second part of a 2-Week summer intensive on-camera acting and filmmaking camp at Richard Lawson Studios. A graduation ceremony was held at NYFA at the end of the course.
Tina’s Angels and Richard’s Warriors are two of WACO’s esteemed programs. Located in the NOHO Arts District, WACO is dedicated to the empowerment of people within the diverse communities of the greater Los Angeles area.
Tina’s Angels is a mentorship program for young teenage girls, who are assigned a mentor hand-picked by Artistic Director, Tina Knowles-Lawson. Lawson is the mother of pop superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Richard’s Warriors is a mentorship program for young teenage boys, who are assigned mentor hand-picked by Artistic Director, Richard Lawson. The mission of both programs is to help youth who have potential and desire to live a successful productive life but do not have the guidance, financial ability, or access to the road map to get there.
NYFA partners with WACO to help the programs give these young teens the training and tools to fully actualize aspirations, and transcend limitations and borders to distribute their work in a variety of mediums and deliver their message to anyone, anywhere.
After completing the intensive program, the students came away with more confidence and a passion for the arts. Here are what some of the graduates had to say:
Ariel (Tina’s Angels): “I might get into filmmaking more because I like it. At first, I was unsure because I never did it before. but it is actually fun.”
Carlos (Richard’s Warriors): “I’ve actually learned a lot. I didn’t think of this as a career but now I am, and I want to learn more about film directing and I hope maybe to become one.”
Destiny (Tina’s Angels): “I’ve realized that I’m usually my own obstacle. I stop myself from being a more positive individual and thanks to the mentors who are really helpful, I’ve learned a lot more about myself and I’m really grateful for all you guys.”
Steven Foley, WACO Director of Operations and Production, was also thrilled at the success of the camp. “I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and NYFA for being integral partners in ensuring that the students from our Angels and Warriors program who participated in our two-week film camp had an amazing experience,” Foley told Veronika Kurshinskaya, NYFA Community Outreach Manager. “The week that we spend at NYFA and the instruction and resources that you all provide are a great benefit to the students and to WACO. We look forward to continuing our partnership with you all.”
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