Lab Grad Kiri Davis (Spring 2005) will discuss her film, "A Girl Like Me" live on ABC's Good Morning America this Wednesday Morning, October 11th, at 8am!

Kiri's film, which examines the standards of beauty imposed on young black women, has been viewed by nearly a half million viewers online. Kiri has been interviewed on CNN's "American Morning", ABC World News Web, NPR's "Talk of the Nation" and the film has been written about in newspapers and weblogs worldwide, from the New York Daily News to the Miami Herald to the Corriere Della Sera in Italy.

"It’s been an amazing experience," says Kiri. "It’s been great to know that my film has had such an impact around the world, and that something I created is making a difference."

Veteran CBS News reporter, Morry Alter, proclaimed that Reel Works "really works" for NYC teens in a Sunday morning segment that aired on August 27th.

Alter interviewed 2006 Student Emmy Winner Christopher Irrizarry (Fall 2003) about the impact The Lab has had on his life. "I believe I have a career in filmmaking," Chris told Alter, "I couldn't have done that without Reel Works."

The segment also captured our Spring 2006 Lab students busily preparing their films for their October 19th Premeir at HBO. Melinda Tenenzapf and her mentor, Michael "Boogie" Pinckney, discussed the making of "Jewmaican," the story of how she was raised by her Jamaican nanny after her mother's death. Pinckney, who works as an assistant director to Spike Lee, remarked, "I wish there was a program like this when I was coming up."

Filmmakers: Imagine if a professional director or producer helped you make your first film? How would that have impacted your life and career?

The Lab is the only youth media program that matches each teen participant with a professional filmmaker who mentors him/her through the challenges of producing a short film.

"Mentoring is an important and necessary reminder for those of us in the business of how powerful pure expression, unmitigated by sales and the bottom line, can be," says filmmaker Shola Lynch (Chisolm '72: Unbought & Unbossed). "These teens are making films for all the right reasons: they have something to say. As a mentor it was invigorating to both cheer and challenge my mentee as she worked her idea into a poignant documentary short. Having her complete the work was the greatest satisfaction and a proud moment. Watching Kiri and "A Girl Like Me" make such an impact out in the world is just a great big bonus."

Reel Works needs talented, experienced and committed filmmakers to volunteer as mentors for our Fall 2006 class. To learn more, visit our website, download an application or call Kristin Wernicke, Lab Coordinator, at (718) 768-7100 Ext. 139.

This past weekend, Vanessa Bateau (Spring 2005) was flown out to San Diego by ListenUp! for the San Diego Women’s Film Festival. Vanessa’s film, "Scrolii," was part of “Our Take” the youth-made program at the festival. There were three screenings of the program, each followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and audience. On the final day of youth-made screenings, Vanessa was awarded the Youth Judges Award. Her film was selected out of 23 films by a panel of 50 youth judges. Congratulations, Vanessa! Also featured this past week in the Tower of Youth Film Festival, was the film, The Other Side of the Picture, by Isaac Shrem (Fall 2005).

The next festival coming up is Hamptons International Film Festival. "Journey to the Unknown," by Lizbeth Mejia (Spring 2005), and "A Girl Like Me," by Kiri Davis (Spring 2005), will be screened twice as part of the Youth Media program, on Thursday, October 19, at 11am and Sunday, October 22, at 11am.

The Surdna Foundation has awarded a third year, $40,000 grant in support of The Lab and Reel Impact programs.

"Surdna is thrilled to be able to offer a third year of funding in support of the excellent work ReelWorks does with teens," says Kimberly Bartosik, Associate Program Officer for the Arts, Surdna Foundation. "The quality of the work is extremely high, with the young artists receiving one on one mentoring from professional filmmakers, and being challenged to create meaningful, rigorous documentaries which are not only self- portraits, but reflections on universal themes of what it is to be a teenager in the 21st century"

Surdna was the first private foundation to help fund The Lab, beginning in the fall of 2004. It is no exageration to say that Reel Works would not exist without their support and faith in our work. Thank you!