Eighteen year old Chris Irrizarry (Fall 2004) has won a National Student Television Award for Excellence (Student Emmy) for his powerful documentary, "Happy Ending," which chronicles Chris' dreams of reuniting with his mom and step-dad, both recovering addicts living in Philadelphia. When he visits them for the first time in three years, he discovers that some hurts can never be healed. "I had a secret and I felt that people needed to know. My mom always told me never to tell anybody about the secret. Making this film was a big step for me," said Chris, whose film won the Family and Society Award in the 2005 Media That Matters Film Festival and was screened at the Brooklyn International Film Festival in 2004. Chris will receive his statue at the awards ceremony in Manhattan on June 9th. The Lab has received four Honorable Mention Student Emmy's since 2002, but this is the first national award for any Lab film. Congratulations Chris!

Our Fall 2005 class celebrated their graduation from The Lab at a gala screening of twelve new films at HBO on May 5th, 2006. Over 200 guests - friends, family, supporters and industry pros- filled the HBO Theater in Manhattan. "It was nerve-wracking, stomach turning, and undeniably exciting." says Kiara Cadman-Donohue, 17, whose "I'm Not Racist!" explored the sometimes troubling attitudes toward race among teens. "I could not believe how professional it was. I was blown away." Once again, Lab filmmakers tackled diverse and challenging subjects inlcuding divorce, identity, mental illness in the family and the struggle to stay in school and out of gangs. The class is currently creating a DVD of all films for release in July.

At Reel Works, our mission is not simply to have an impact on our teen filmmakers, but to bring their powerful stories to the wider community. That’s why we created Reel Impact, a new program that teaches Lab Grads how to find new audiences through broadcast, web-cast, film festivals and community screenings. Festivals such as Urban Visionaries, Media That Matters, Tribeca, Brooklyn International, DocuJam – are just a few of the over 20 venues that have presented our films in the past three months! Our partnership with Uth TV – a new broadband site for teens nationwide - presents a new Lab film each week. Dave Yanofsky, Director of Programming, says "Uth TV's mission is to elevate the authentic voice of youth, and we've been seeking partners who share the same goal. The quality and depth of the stories coming out of the Reel Works allows us to shine a spotlight on some amazing youth media makers." This summer, look out for “The Lab” a half-hour student-produced television show on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network’s Youth Channel and community access channels citywide.

Each summer, we open the Lab to teens and pre-teens from across NYC in our annual Teen Film Camp. With classes in digital filmmaking and computer animation - taught by Lab grads- film camp is designed to be engaging, hands-on and fun. Tuition, which starts at $249 for a three-week session, helps support the Lab and keep it free for all students during the school year. Spaces are still available for workshops beginning July 11th, but hurry – classes are already half full!

Reel Works Teen Filmmaking is made possible through the generous support from the YMCA of Greater New York, Time Warner, HBO, The Surdna Foundation, The New York Community Trust, New York State Council of the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, JP Morgan Chase, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Guild Family Foundation, The Park Slope Civic Council and our many amazing individual donors and volunteers. We gratefully acknowledge recent grants from the Independence Community Foundation ($5,000 in support of Reel Impact) and Con Edison ($500 in support of The Lab.) We also are thrilled to announce recent service grants from The Taproot Foundation (to create a branding and marketing campaign) and The Foundation Center’s First Steps/Next Steps program (for development staff training).