PSA aims to give Alhambra Creek a voice
- September 28, 2010
Alhambra Creek, along with dozens of Martinez residents of all ages, starred in a new public service announcement (PSA) created by students of the New Leaf program at the District’s Briones Independent Study School, in partnership with Cal State East Bay and the City of Martinez.
The project began last fall, when New Leaf leader Dr. Rona Zollinger forged a innovative partnership with a faculty member at California State University East Bay (CSUEB) to offer a year-long course on film critique, scriptwriting and production, held on the Martinez ESA campus and attended by both high school and Cal State students.
“We were trying to help our at-risk kids have more exposure to college, and it has turned out amazingly,” Zollinger said last week.
Students enrolled in the New Leaf program, an expansion of the Briones Environmental Studies Academy (ESA), earned eight college credits while being exposed to possible future careers in the film industry and witnessing a project grow from mere idea to finished product.
Steven Cleveland, a lecturer in the Department of Ethnic Studies at CSUEB, moonlights as the executive director of a film production company named Lunch Box International. Cleveland said Monday he designed the class’s curriculum looking through the lens of the African-American experience.
Throughout the fall and winter semesters, the students created the blueprint for their film by making a connection between how African-Americans lacked a national voice prior to and during the Civil Rights Era and the absence of advocacy on behalf of the Alhambra Creek over the past several decades, leading to pollution and disregard, said Cleveland.
“We called [the finished PSA] a ‘Creek Without A Voice’ to bring attention to the fact that many people live and access the creek but don’t have to deal with it on a day-to-day basis, they don’t pay attention to it. That’s how we came up the idea thematically, and then we pitched it [to film industry] professionals,” said Cleveland.
At the May 5 City Council meeting, Cleveland appeared with several of his students to ask the Council for funding support, which the members approved unanimously. Cleveland said he took the City’s grant of $10,000 and hired a professional director and local filmmakers to complete the 60-second TV spot.
“It was a chance for the City to get a product it can use for promoting clean water,” explained Cleveland. “It was amazing when we were shooting on Saturday because we had the professional film crew, a Masters student, two undergraduates, high school and elementary students, so the youngest saw this whole line of education. The project served to promote education itself because all the students saw what’s possible through education. It was a wonderful by-product of what we did.”
The entire class offered a hands-on lesson on how to write scripts and stories portraying ethnic studies issues, write movie business plans, pitch films to industry decision makers and obtain funding. Cleveland explained that last fall was spent developing ideas, the winter on pitching the project and the students spent the spring raising funds
“They went through the whole process, and during the filming, the whole community came together,” said Cleveland.
The class project got an extra shot in the arm when Susan Vaill, editor for the popular TV show Grey’s Anatomy signed on and offered a script writing workshop earlier in the year. Vaill is returning later this week to edit the PSA in preparation for its debut at the Nov. 3 Council meeting.
“It’s pretty awesome for Steven to extend this opportunity to our high school students,” said Zollinger. “And he was able to convince the California State University Chancellor [Charles Reed] to waive the fees for our kids – essentially a $10,000 donation to the program.”
Since Cleveland’s parents live in Martinez, and his younger brother attended the ESA in its earliest years, he has a strong connection to the City, a contributing factor to offering the class to New Leaf students.
After placing ads calling for extras over the past few week, “an absolute abundance of people showed up to participate and hang out in the sun with us,” said Cleveland. “[The director] commented on what a shared sense of community there was, how [City Engineer] Tim Tucker was on hand to lend support; so many people from school teachers to City workers to families [showed up to appear in the film]. There was an amazing diversity. We can’t wait to share [the finished PSA] with the community.”
Read article :