Clara Bryan Volunteers with Wesleyan Film Outreach to Teach Local Youth about Filmmaking

2017 Nov 1

Through the group Wesleyan Film Outreach, Clara Bryan helps teach a class in filmmaking for local youth every Tuesday as part of the YMCA's Kids' Korner, an after-school enrichment program held at MacDonough Elementary School in Middletown. Participating school-aged children learn skills to write, film, direct and edit.

Bryan enjoys teaching to a diverse group of learners. Witnessing the hegemony in film and media industries from the perspective of an audience member and as a creator has shown Bryan the common nature of this exclusion. “A way to change this exclusion and counter this hegemony is to distribute resources, knowledge and opportunities. At Wesleyan, we have access to film equipment, professors, transportation, creative drive — everything needed to facilitate the Film Outreach program. Now, instead of feeling frustrated with the film industry’s hegemony, I can help do something about it.” “What’s most important is that there are resources being extended to a diverse group of today’s youth and this is crucial for the progression of the film and media industries,” she says.

"Having two kids in the public school system, I see how starved they are for arts education," said Wesleyan film professor Stephen Collins, who leads the program. "Filmmaking can be an outlet for the spirit, a way to harness all the goofball energy of youth into something productive, rather than just stuffing it down until you get home. It also teaches you to work in groups, to respect each person's contribution, to plan and organize, practice and rehearse, and to problem solve all the hundreds of things that go wrong when you try to make a movie."

More information on the program is available here.