The Young Filmmaker’s Initiative

NYFEST provided NYC middle schoolers with the tools and guidance to realize their creative ambitions through filmmaking about soccer culture and community in the five boroughs.

Through its flagship industry tournament each April and a growing list of activities throughout the year, NYFEST, a 501(c)(3), worked to elevate and enrich the unique relationship between the creative community and the game of soccer. In fall 2016, it launched a program in partnership with the City of New York Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), and the Tribeca Film Festival. This initiative gave middle schoolers across NYC the opportunity to develop their creative skills by making stories about the beautiful game in the Big Apple—a city with a rich soccer tradition and a growing reputation as a global hub for the sport.

Production for the first Young Filmmakers Initiative (YFI) began in October with the start of the 2016-17 school year. The program challenged teams of students from all five boroughs—participants in DYCD’s SONYC citywide after-school film program—to create two-minute documentary shorts exploring the people, places, and moments, both contemporary and historic, that defined NYC soccer culture. Under the technical and creative guidance of accredited SONYC instructors and volunteer YFI mentors—practicing professional filmmakers (and footballers) selected by NYFEST—the assignment unfolded over the fall and winter and culminated in a screening of the finished films in April, on the eve of the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and the NYFEST industry tournament.

The YFI program followed guidelines from the Blueprint for the Moving Image, a curriculum developed by MOME for NYC schools to encourage lifelong learning and development in film. Drawing from the blueprint’s Careers and Lifelong Learning strand—one of five pillars of the curriculum—YFI provided students with valuable time to engage with mentors and instructors, discussing their continuing education and professional aspirations in the film industry.