The Apollos

Bay Area Video Coalition -- The Factory

Nick Parker
Jazmin Jones

Low In The Sky

Tay McArthur
Karen Freeman
Nick Parker

Documentary
Short Film

More About The Apollos from Director Nick Parker

My role in the making of The Apollos was primarily focused on expressing our shared vision. Jazmin’s role was to formulate a coherent yet beautiful story out of many lengthy interviews. We both had an equal part in the development of the story and how the story was being presented. We collaborated in joining our qualities as filmmakers to produce a balanced piece of film work. We both brought different ideas to the table but the whole process was positive due to our professional and personal compatibility.

More About The Apollos from Director Jazmin Jones

The collaboration with Nick worked out nicely because we were able to use both of our strengths to make the documentary happen. Nick used his gift for finding stories and telling stories (as evidenced by his appearance in the film) and brought this amazing story to us. I took his idea, and proposed a story structure and editing strategy. This film was a true collaboration.

More About The Apollos from Producer BAVC

The Apollos is about the struggle of a high school senior class to pass a bill making Martin Luther King’s birthday a nationally recognized holiday. The idea behind The Apollos came from us wanting to increase youth involvement in social issues, so we decided to use a powerful example. By combining the different interviews into one powerful story we created a non-traditional hybrid interview style to show the union of new and old ideas working towards the same goal. Hopefully today’s youth will learn from The Apollos and flex that metaphoric bicep in today’s adult run society. We want youth around the world to know they too are world citizens and have a voice. USE IT!

FILMMAKER BIOS

Jazmin Jones, Director

Jazmin Jones is a high school junior living in Fremont, California. She enjoys filmmaking because she feels that by blending audio, visual and storytelling media, one is able to create a more powerful piece than by using just one art form alone. Jazmin believes that her generation in particular tends to accept what media tells them, therefore wants to create films that have something positive to say. She feels honored by the response to The Apollos and is excited that the film will now reach many audiences to share a unique story that many people do not know about. A source of inspiration for The Apollos is the film I Promise Africa . Using her passion for film and the world in which she lives, Jazmin hopes to inspire others through her work.

Nick Parker, Director

When Nick Parker was twelve years old he saw a coyote running through the streets of San Francisco and filmed it with a camera he happened to have with him. This great reminder of nature’s existence in an urban setting inspired Nick to watch more films and he signed up for a film class at school. His mom then told him about the YouthLink Video training program at BAVC. Nick has made two videos with BAVC so far and is currently working on a project about his neighborhood as part of an international media exchange with the Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program at Stanford University. He believes that media has an immense power to educate and inspire people to take action. Through the art of film, he would like to increase knowledge and understanding while promoting awareness and activism.

BAVC, Producer

Bay Area Video Coalition is the nation’s most advanced nonprofit media technology access and training center. Since their founding in 1976, BAVC has been connecting underserved populations with new opportunities in media technology and providing leadership to the field with its innovative programs in training and media production. Since the late nineties, BAVC has actively supported a new generation of diverse media makers through Youth Media Training Programs.

BAVC’s Next Generation (youth) programs are unique because our pathways model allows students to grow into various roles: teachers, advisors, college students, entrepreneurs, and producers. As members of the youth advisory board, as advanced producers, as teachers alongside our adult instructors, and as entrepreneurs in their fee-for-service business, young people are directly involved in the growth and direction of these programs from the ground up.