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MillimeterDream Job: Silver Lining
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Kristinha M. Anding
Out of the storm, the New Orleans Video Access Center rises.
Instructor Wylie Whitesides (top, right; bottom, center) demonstrates how to use the Panasonic AG-DVX100 at “48-Hour Film School,” one of several workshops offered to the community through NOVAC’s Digital Filmmaking Institute.
Tim Ryan is a survivor. The executive director of the New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC) lost both his house and community media facility during Hurricane Katrina. Now, living in a FEMA trailer and working out of donated office space, Ryan is successfully reviving the 34-year-old nonprofit.
Shortly after the hurricane, NOVAC received private funding to create “The Drive,” a documentary that takes viewers on tour of the neighborhoods affected by Katrina. “For those who couldn't see it firsthand, we wanted to give them a raw look at what actually happened,” Ryan says. “But the other point was to build awareness and show Congress that this is for real. The devastation goes on for mile, after mile, after mile.”
The documentary — shown on YouTube, on DVD, and at screenings across the country — also grabbed the attention of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and other foundations. Through NEA funding, NOVAC recently launched the Digital Filmmaking Institute, which makes film-school-quality instruction accessible to the local community. The program, held at the Louisiana Institute of Film Technology (LIFT), offers students hands-on experimentation with Panasonic AG-DVX100 and Sony DSR-PD170 cameras, a Lowel lighting kit, Sennheiser microphones, and Apple Final Cut Pro editing software.
As part of the Digital Filmmaking Institute, NOVAC is also launching a summer video camp to give teens a taste of the film industry. By offering scholarship opportunities, Ryan hopes to attract a diverse group of students.
The nominal fees of the adult and teen workshops will help provide much-needed funding for NOVAC's general operational expenses. While he sees the partnership with LIFT as long-term and appreciates the office space donated by New Orleans-based Turbo Squid (an online distributor of 3D plug-ins and other assets), Ryan says he would like to regain the media center that NOVAC lost in the hurricane. “We don't have the community home we once had, where people can come and do some editing or borrow or rent equipment,” he says. “Ideally, we'd like to get our own home base.”
But for now, Ryan is counting his blessings — and writing his grants. “All these different opportunities are developing, in part because of the hurricane, but also because we've managed to survive the hurricane. People realized, ‘Wow, these guys are here; they're not going anywhere.’”
For more information about NOVAC, visit www.novacvideo.org.
