Music, Movie and Beat Making Reality Show Starts Filming In Huntsville In April,2013

ALABAMA, Ala. - March 26, 2013 - PRLog -- The Boys & Girls Club of North Alabama and the MediaArts Institute of Alabama (MAIA) have partnered to create the MediaArts Mentoring Academy (MAMA), a unique approach to mentoring and STEM education, that will give thousands of at-risk youth of North Alabama a new way of looking and understanding how STEM is used in the digital media of their “passions” like music, movies, gaming, and the internet. Mentor instructors from NASA and other STEM based digital media organizations will explain the STEM requirements and production process and rigors of creating digital media design, film-making, gaming, animations and music production. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in hands-on learning activities so they can have the opportunity to experience the exhilaration of making short films, animations, games, mobile Apps and music CDs from start to finish.

Students will gain an understanding of the fundamental processes of digital media design, visual storytelling and music production so they can organize, produce, direct and edit their own projects.

Students will learn the job role and responsibilities of the art director, screenwriter, film director, cinematographer, video editor, sound engineer and music producer by working with professionals in each of these crafts.

As part of their digital content making exercise, students will form film crews, music production crews and run a student operated music label & film/video production company.

Mr. Pat Wynn, Executive Director of the BGCNA is excited to partner with MAIA in this endeavor. According to Mr. Wynn, “It is imperative that we realize how much our future depends on how well we integrate the magic and creativity of the arts into the lives of our future generations.  The Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama is committed to doing that.  With violence, crime and drugs impacting our communities every day, we have to pursue every avenue to do away with this destruction and the negative impact it has on our young people.  We want our kids in this program!”

Leon Burnette, Founder of the MediaArts Institute of Alabama, and Executive Producer of MAMA states   “all students, not just the privileged ones, should have equal access to and benefit from a STEM based digital media education. Studies have shown that certain groups like at-risk minority students, have been unrepresented among these learners. Digital media technical training whether in school, in college or in an after school program like ours can help at-risk students become community activists, and help them develop the 21st Century workforce skills they need to succeed in school or on the job, especially  in a technology driven community like Huntsville, Alabama.”

In addition to organizing MAMA’s program activities, Leon Burnette will produce a 16 episode Documentary/Reality TV series entitled:  Huntsville 2 Hollywood (H2H).

H2H will chronicle the journey of 15 gifted at-risk Huntsville teens as they learn how to connect, collaborate and express their individual creativity through digital media technology to rise above their given circumstances, graduate from high school, become successful, and find their own exuberant voices & purposes in life.

With a blend of humor, grittiness and unexpected emotion, this series captures the passionate lives of these unforgettable youth as they seek to utilize and grasp digital story telling technology and techniques to share their unique personal story with the world. H2H will follow these teens as they travel to film sets, recording studios and cities such as, Atlanta, Nashville, New York and Hollywood to research and tour the digital media technology industry getting tips and insights about music production, entertainment entrepreneurship, social media and movie making techniques. Along the way they tour digital media companies like, EA Sports, Facebook, Google, Apple, Universal Studios, and CNN. They will meet famous broadcasters, music producers, musicians, actors, film directors and entertainment executives who give them tips and career insights while they discuss their unique approaches to their work such as, branding, marketing, storytelling, song composition, methods, as well as their mental process, influences, and how to make successful life choices. This series also examines the complex issues of equal access to digital media education, and using music, visual art and digital media to teach STEM to communicate across economic and social boundaries.

For more information on how you can support this program or become a mentor, contact: Marcia Burnette, 256.525.1923, 256.525.1203 or email MediaArtsWorld@Gmail.com

About Media Arts Institute

The Media-Arts Institute of Alabama (MAIA) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that designs creative entrepreneurial learning and training programs that delivers to today’s “tech savvy” youth the skills they need to express and share ideas in compelling ways. Our program activities are designed to help inspire and give students the technical and critical thinking skills they need to become college or career ready. All donations are tax deductible.

About Boys & Girls Club of North Alabama

For more than 73 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama (BGCNAL) has been in the forefront of youth development by helping to strengthen communities. We are dedicated to ensuring our community’s disadvantaged youth have greater access to quality programs and services that will fulfill our mission of helping our youth reach their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.