Teaching media skills is very important to every community…

The Bateman Group is collaborating with Citizen Space to produce a fundraising event (July 9/6:30pm-8:30pm/425 2nd Street, #100 in SF) for a really inspirational media project: WeOwnTV.

·       A collaborative media project from the filmmakers of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (executive produced by Steve Bing, Ice Cube and Shelley Lazar with major support from Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and the Sundance Foundation), WeOwnTV promotes self-expression as a way to explore our shared humanity and bridge cultural divides.

·         The first program will teach filmmaking techniques and styles – from documentary shorts to personal narratives - to a group of young Sierra Leonean ex-combatants and survivors of their country’s civil war, allowing them to share their experiences and creativity with the world. These stories will be shared via the WeOwnTV site this Fall, and the creators are working toward developing broadcast partnerships in the U.S. and internationally.

·         Proceeds from the upcoming event will be used to help fund delivery of a workshop in Freetown, Sierra Leone this August. You can learn more about some of selected workshop participants here: http://www.weowntv.org/node/37.

·         In addition to tax deductible donations which can be made through WeOwnTV’s fiscal sponsor BAVC, the team is also very open to creative partnership ideas. To explore a partnership please contact sierraleone@weowntv.org.

The event promises to be a great gathering of local artists, videographers, Web innovators and community advocates. We hope you’ll join us for drinks, African appetizers and an opportunity to meet members of the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars band.