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By Takayuki Higuchi
September 3, 2009 (San Diego)--Imagine going to any San Diego County library and asking for help to create a video to tell your own story. Now you can do just that—thanks to a new project launched by Media Arts Center San Diego. The group will send a videographer out to create a short video, provide you with a CD, and even upload your story on the Internet so people elsewhere can access your personal narrative.
Under the slogan “Social change through films,” Ethan Van Thillo, a founder and an executive producer of Media Arts Center San Diego, has repeatedly challenged himself to shed a spotlight into communities which are unseen in the mainstream media and to enlighten community members. Starting with the Latino community, he has expanded his mission to empower voices from a diverse range of people—including individuals in East County and San Diego’s eastern region.
The new project, San Diego Original Information Initiative, is just the latest in a series of creative endeavors fostered by filmmaker Van Thillo and the Media Arts Center San Diego to help ordinary citizens share their stories.
Personal motivation launched a filmmaking career
Growing up in San Clemente, Van Thillo witnessed how the Latino community was invisible from mainstream society around 30 years ago. His exposure to Latino issues began with his mother, a Spanish/English teacher to immigrant families from Mexico.
“I used to visit the homes with my mother, connected to the community that was definitely being underserved and not being looked at,” he recalled. Going back and forth between Latino and Anglo-Saxon communities, he developed a sensitivity to the treatment of Latino people. “I saw both sides. I saw [myself] working with the Mexican community and being with my mom. At the same time, [I saw] surfers in San Clemente and negative stereotype and racial slurs…” The experience convinced him to take action. “It is all about education and reaching people who need help,” said Van Thillo, who resolved to devote his life to “ education and working with underserved communities.”
After high school, he went to the University of California Santa Cruz. “One of the main focuses [of UCSC] is social change. ..That’s where I started the first Chicano Film Festival, as well as learning about grant writing and marketing.” After completing the study in UCSC, his new life journey began.
The Organization Takes Root
Van Thillo was instrumental in finding "Cine Estudiantil: The Chicano & Native American Student Film Festival," 14 years ago. The purpose was to project accurate and positive images of the Latino community though films.
“If you see Latinos, they are usually Gang-Bangers or Drug-Dealers,” said Van Thillo, who wanted to provide young Latinos with “opportunity to see positive mentors such as lawyer and doctors.” Having screened films from many Latino countries including Chile, Spain and Mexico, Van Thillo called the festival ‘an education event to promote Latino culture and cinema.’
Film festival members found Media Arts Center in San Diego over 10 years ago to run the event and expand their mission to support local filmmakers by helping them with workshops, training and technical skills as well as sponsorships. Two of their major accomplishments are the Teen Producers project and Digital Story Station.
These projects place strong emphasis on local voices. “The whole point of the organization to get voices that are unheard from the main stream media,” Van Thillo explained. “We want to hear someone in Jamul saying ‘the economy is really affecting me and there is unemployment in here, instead of just listening to… policy makers and the governors talk about the issues.”
His projects focus on greater depth and diversity than traditional media outlets. “What happens in main stream media is that you only have two words or you only get one minutes to tell your story….We want to interview people getting a little bit more of their personal background such as who they are, how long they have been here, why they came and what they do for a living.”
Teen Producers Project
Teen Producers Project is teaching young kids living in the community how to produce their own stories. In addition to English Language skills, students learn high-tech/computer/production/editing/researching skills as well as work skills. Mentors work as a team to migrant/ESL students who belong to after school level. Kids also learn high-tech skills such as how to use the cameras, ultimately producing their own documentaries. So far, the project has made over 200 short films covering issues including education, health, immigration and environment--working with over 100 kids a year.
In San Diego’s eastern region, Teen Producers Project has a partnership with the organization called Migrant Education in Escondido. The Project has worked with migrant families and migrant students in high schools over the past decade to help them graduate at Orange Glen High School. “They sometimes make films for clients,” Van Thillo said. For example, the Registrar of Voters asked the Media Arts Center to produce videos in Spanish, teaching Spanish-speaking community members why it is important to vote. In about 10 years, the students have made over 10 short videos in the Escondido area ranging from immigration to cultural activities in school, as well as stories about the difficulties of living in the U.S. as a second language learner.
Digital Story Station
Another prominent project the organization is engaging in is ‘Digital Story Station’. The goal is similar to Teen Producers Project: wanting community members from diverse cultures and age groups to tell their own stories—this time, using high-tech tools such as Youtube and Myspace. The project “gives them an opportunity to tell the stories and upload on the Internet and send it to their families.”
Starting in San Diego Public Library, the group has built 30 Digital Story Stations across California over the past three years—including communities in eastern regions of San Diego County.
Van Thillo introduces Digital Story Station in the Escondido Public Library two years ago, where more than 30 digital stories about community members have now been produced. Stories include tales of Escondido’s first woman mayor, farm land, and the old parade and grape festivals. “There are a lot of great stories come up, which otherwise would not been seen in main steam media,” Van Thillo told me enthusiastically. “Also, you can see different age groups and cultures making up Escondido.”
The organization also has done some projects with the non-profit organization Community Housing Works, which owns affordable housing complex in Poway. Van Thillo explains the importance of letting people know how beautiful and wonderful the complex looks and why it is important to have the place for those who otherwise would not live in a safe and clean environment. Currently, Digital Story Station is working on an entire documentary, Solar Housing Project, about new community housing works. Shooting starts this fall. Van Thillo disclosed, “We are going to make a film to educate people the importance of solar, living green and taking care of social panels and all kinds of issues.”
New Project: San Diego Original Information Initiative
The organization has recently launched a new project called ‘San Diego Original Information Initiative’ in conjunction with San Diego Foundations, Civil Society and Knight Foundation as well as partnerships with San Diego County library and Voice of San Diego. By networking with these other organizations, the organization can compile community stories, upload them on the Internet and provide access to all libraries across the County.
“Anyone can call the libraries and say, “Hey, I want personal Digital Story Stations,” Van Thillo said. “Call us and we will send video makers and make a two or three minutes DVD for them. “
Power of Art and Culture in the society
In terms of how media and art take a role in the society and how they affect the people, he explained heads and tails of their influences.
“What we have done with festival is that we have changed the cultural landscapes …young kids can actually go to the space and see [the positive images of their race] “Oh! I want to be like that guy…I believe that there is a huge cultural shift that we did in our own way.” Van Thillo also values nurturing kids’ creativity. “They are second language learners,…so we have given them for the first time the chance to express yourself even in your own language, too…We gave them a little spark in their lives that says, “Yeah, I can do something.”
Art is too often neglected from school curriculum, he believes. But he added that the good thing about art is that there is no mistake in art; people just should enjoy what they are doing. Moreover, Van Thillo sees influence of art in media affecting one’s future. “Maybe that’s [art] get installed in your brain five years later, and you might remember that great dance and film. That changes your perspective…”
He concludes with this message to our readers. “We want people to see that the organization is the resource for them to document their stories…We want all people to get engaged,” he added. “Also, we want the people to understand the importance of their voice and their personal stories. If we don’t know the stories, we are going to lose variable information. We will never know what used to be down on the street that no one tells us.”
Although the organization started with a Latino film festival, Van Thillo emphasized that the mission has expanded far beyond its roots. “We are not just a Latino organization,” he observed, adding that the Media Arts Center has helped people from all walks of life tell their personal stories, and “continue to change lives through the film.”
To learn more, visit http://www.mediaartscenter.org.
Takayuki Higuchi is a sociology major at San Diego State University and an intern with East County Magazine. A native of Japan, he is also an aspiring musician and an aficionado of American arts and culture.
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