Girls Film LA - Their Very Nature

Green Space, Park Access, and Trees

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Allowing the LA public to discover new ways to use and participate in our parks and green/blue spaces for work and play is the purpose of the Girls IN Focus(GIF) filmmaking workshop series, 'Their Very Nature' for short films and PSAs. Spending more time outdoors enhances mental health and gets everyone to re-learn engagement with the natural environments our city offers underscoring the need to expand and provide more outdoor public access. Our 12-18, all-girl & non-binary youth filmmaking program offers a unique perspective on the importance of LA's green and blue spaces and access to nature both on land and water. Committed to helping youth find their voices through our virtual filmmaking program, our workshop series uses LA outdoor environments as their stage. Working in a safe, supportive environment, participants sharpen filmmaking skills while shining a light on the importance of increasing access to green/blue spaces in our daily lives from the youth perspective.

Students choose whether to do a scripted or documentary film topic and proceed either creating a screenplay or interviewing their documentary subjects on location to create a PSA set at the various open, green spaces in LA. Our hybrid workshop series will be dual-purpose: Location scouting and highlighting various green spaces in creative, filmic ways while teaching filmmaking from ideation to festival ready screenings. Taught by film professionals, students learn screenwriting, story boarding, camera, lighting, sound, directing and acting all the way through editing on Adobe Premiere. GIF makes use of teaching the skill of location scouting, incorporating nature as a key role in story telling and our successful Zoom classroom approach to focus public awareness on the increased need for green spaces. Grant funds will allow us to offer scholarships to those from under-resourced areas ensuring that all LA communities are represented in the films. We will utilize our partnerships with LA Maritime Institute and the LA STEM Collective to gain entry to their numerous outdoor program locations. Films will incorporate LA's hidden places into the story lines and the PSAs will be used for our LA STEM Collective non-profit partners. Film is the perfect medium to showcase the beauty and uses of nature found in local communities. Through the powerful lens of our young filmmakers, films will share a powerful message about the benefits of green and blue space.

Los Angeles County will be improved through our program for participants, the public and its landscape. Our participants will not only learn and utilize their skills to make films, but they will also discover the importance of connecting with nature both on a personal level and as filmmakers. Public awareness of the access that exists in current outdoor spaces will improve the utilization of parks and waterfront in LA, perhaps igniting action-oriented projects to create even more green/blue wild space. The overall health of the public will improve as it has been widely documented that being outdoors for work and/or play benefits people both physically and mentally.

Our films are screened for the public at the final 'Their Very Nature' GIF Film Fest, which closes with a panel of directors and city planning officials, discussing the many topics explored in the films. With moderators leading a Q & A conversation between the audience, the filmmakers and city officials, more actions toward green and blue space in LA will be presented. A compilation of the ideas and discussions will accompany the films on our website. Coverage of the panel discussion will be posted to YouTube. Additionally, our diverse roster of girls and members of the LGBTQ community add clear perspectives for equitable outdoor access to all. Building upon our successful signature LA STEM Collective middle school and high school PSA/filmmaking curriculum taught year-round within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), we use the final 'Their Very Nature' GIF Film Festival to compile, share and discuss the films' impact and impressions.