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MillimeterDream Job: Video Outlet
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Kristinha M. Anding
Nonprofit BayKids gives hospital-bound youth a video voice.
BayKids’ Executive Director Devora Kanter helps young people in hospital care share their experiences through video storytelling.
Devora Kanter doesn't come from a production background, but that hasn't stopped her from using video to make a difference. The former corporate marketing manager now serves as the executive director of BayKids, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that brings video storytelling tools to youth undergoing long-term care and treatment in Bay Area hospitals.
“In the beginning, I think it was actually an advantage that I wasn't familiar with [the technology] because the ownership went directly to the kids,” says Kanter, who found BayKids through a fortuitous ad on Craigslist. “Having an ability to be silly and relate to kids is just as important sometimes.”
Teachers, child-life specialists, and social workers at BayKids' partner hospitals regularly identify children who might benefit from the program. Kanter and a team of local professional production and editorial volunteers (some of whom come from such respectable companies as Industrial Light & Magic) then work with the kids, either in classroom settings or one-on-one, helping them develop ideas and learn the movie-making process. The organization uses Panasonic AG-DVX100 and Canon XL1 cameras, Sony lavaliers, and a small lighting kit. The hospitals provide Apple iMacs.
“The process starts with building rapport and trust,” Kanter says. “For many, making a movie is an intimidating process, so it's really important that we get to know the children, and often their families, figuring out what their interests are and who they are as people, rather than just what [disease] they have.”
The movies, Kanter says, range from video postcards created for loved ones to informational films assisting children struggling through the hospital system. The works are beginning to get airtime on the hospitals' closed-circuit television networks, and they are also shown at BayKid's annual awards night.
Currently the nonprofit operates solely in the Bay area, but Kanter says she envisions the organization expanding nationwide.
“There is a strong need for video making in hospital environments,” she says. “Many kids are isolated and lonely, so for them to take on any and all aspects of making their own movies is really exciting and empowering. It's inspirational to see that even though they are going through such challenging times, they have this amazing ability to rise above it all and be leaders for other kids.”
For more information, visit www.baykids.org.
