Rise My Child Music Video - New Orleans

A partnership among the New Orleans Video Access Center's Digital Filmmaking Institute (DFI), the City of New Orleans and the Keller Family Foundation has led to a workshop to teach local artists about music video production. The program was developed after musician Tonya Boyd-Cannon approached the New Orleans Office of Film and Video to seek advice about producing a music video for her song "Rise My Child," which addresses the challenges of everyday life. "You can see the parallel between the song and what we New Orleanians experience as we rebuild our city," said Jennifer Day, Director of the New Orleans Office of Film and Video. "We wanted to find a way to help Ms. Boyd-Cannon while collaborating with other local artists to create something unique." The Office of Film and Video contacted NOVAC, who provides community-based workshops in digital filmmaking. NOVAC suggested the two work together to create a workshop about music video production. The first workshop was conducted with six students and a crew of five. The Office of Film and Video consulted and assisted with logistical matters such as permitting, while NOVAC created the curriculum. Funding from the Keller Family Foundation provided tuition scholarships for the students. In addition, NOVAC produced the music video and hired local filmmakers to serve as instructors and production crew. "This collaboration is a perfect example of how we as a community of film and video professionals can creatively work together to build talent and opportunities for our citizens that bridge the artistic forms of music and film," said Day. Students were instructed on pre-production planning, budgeting, timelines, location scouting, city permits, camera operation and lighting as part of the three-day, hands-on workshop. Students also played a variety of crew roles, gaining hands-on production experience at shooting locations throughout New Orleans including the Holy Cross Levee, the Musician's Village, and Austerlitz Baptist Church. Filmmakers John Richie, Jonathan Jahnke, Mickey Gaidos, Sean Finnegan and Terrell Jackson coached the student filmmakers as they captured footage of Boyd-Cannon. Tim Ryan, novac's Executive Director and project Producer was thrilled with the outcome. "We have offered one workshop per month on average since Katrina. This was by far the most challenging and rewarding workshop for our students and instructors. It's amazing how much work and detail go into creating a 3-5 minute music video. We're thrilled to have worked with the City on this project. They have helped us continue serving the community with training opportunities while helping out a local musician. We're also happy to be able to offer tuition scholarships to students through a recent grant from the Keller Family Foundation."