We’ve had the pleasure to talk to our brilliant girls doing our AOL Makers editing workshop!
Check out their thoughts on the workshops and women in the film industry.
The program that the girls did was funded by the AOL Foundation. It was an intensive all-girls advanced editing program with Makers.com. The girls worked in pairs editing 3 separate makers pieces on female change makers. The class focused on advanced editing techniques in Adobe Premiere, motion graphics in After Effects, and film scoring and production in Garageband. It also focused on feminism and gender empowerment in the film industry, with trips to CNN, CBS Sports, Big Sky, and AOL/Makers.com.Georgia Rae Lyken When I saw the opportunity to do this program I was beyond psyched, and it totally lived up to my expectations. I was challenged, I learned A LOT, and I've become more confident in my skills as and editor and a team player. The partnership dynamic taught me how to compromise and work with another person. I gained a deeper understanding of the editing process and an even deeper love of it. I'll never forget this experience and I'll take the skills I've learned here into future endeavours.Monet MassacThe thing I took away most in this workshop was the empowerment I gained working in a environment with all girls. I was comfortable and unafraid in to share my thoughts with peers. People had confidence in my skills as an editor and I was taken seriously as a professional. In my all boys high level math class, I do not remotely feel the same respect as I do here. With this workshop, I built up my confidence and belief in myself as an editor and a person. Though the film industry is male dominated, this all girls workshop prepared me to face it head on and showed me that I do have a place in this industry. During the field trips we went on, I saw women already successful in the industry at CBS, CNN, Big Sky Edits, etc. and because of this representation, I know I can do it too.
Hillary SafadiWorking with AOL couldn't have been more of an amazing experience than it did. Getting to work on my own to edit and create a fantastic piece over a subject I admired greatly was time that I'm grateful I continued spending at Reelworks. Through the program, I received hands on training in not only Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and even GarageBand along with Photoshop, the course Reelworks provided us left me more experienced than I thought could like, be possible at my age. Instruction by Katy Walker-Mejia and Bianca Rogers was top not ch, and I've never felt more proud of a piece to have on my edit reel. While the collaborative experience wasn't perfect, it definitely trained me for what I'd receive in a workforce environment.
Yesterday the girls and our Reel Works team went back to AOL to screen their films. It was an incredible experience to see what they had achieved. Everyone was very pleased with the result and we at Reel Works are very proud of our talented girls.https://www.instagram.com/p/BJyEAgWAXMs/?taken-by=reelworks