EPFC Youth Classes are a great way to explore the magic of the moving image, gain new film/video skills and meet new friends. All equipment, materials and instruction provided free of charge to local youth ages 12 – 19.

2021 Youth Classes

Fall 2021: CineKids – PET PROJECTS

Youth Workshop (Online via Zoom): PET PROJECTS
5 Sessions, beginning September 9
Thursdays, 4 pm – 5 pm Pacific Time
Join us online for Pet Projects, a special 5-week workshop that invites participants to cinematically consider, explore and celebrate the pets in our lives. Free! No filmmaking experience necessary! All kids and teens ages 8 to 18 welcome!

Sign up here for Zoom link:

 

 

Spring 2021: CineKids! New Monthly Series Begins April 8 at 4 pm!

Want to explore fun filmmaking techniques and technologies? Share works-in-progress? Check out and chat about cool movies? Create collaborative media arts project with your peers around the world?

Join us online for CineKids on the second Thursday of each month, 4 – 5 pm Los Angeles time.

Free! No filmmaking experience necessary! All kids and teens ages 8 to 18 welcome!

Sign up here for Zoom link: http://www.archive.echoparkfilmcenter.org/events/cinekids-a-monthly-filmvideo-online-workshop-for-kids-and-teens/

 

Winter 2021: Family Tree – The EPFC Winter Youth Workshop

6 consecutive Thursday afternoons, 4 – 5 pm Los Angeles time, beginning February 4

In this fun online workshop, we’ll create collaborative and individual media projects celebrating our ancestors and our unique family stories passed down from generation to generation. Each week we’ll explore different analog and digital image-making techniques using materials and equipment accessible at home.

This workshop is FREE for youth ages 11 – 17. Class meets weekly via ZOOM on Thursday afternoons, 4 – 5 pm Los Angeles time, but participants from outside the LA area are also welcome to join us!

Class limited to 15 participants; participants must be able to attend all six sessions.

Sign up here!

2020 Youth Classes

Winter 2020: SOUNDS GOOD! – THE EPFC WINTER INTENSIVE YOUTH WORKSHOP                           Five consecutive Saturday mornings in February, 10 am – Noon: February 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Learn everything you need to know about sound for cinema and radio! Each week, this fun 5-session youth workshop will focus on different sound techniques and technologies: DJ-ing and Podcasting, Soundtracks, Hand Held Sound Recorders, Foley and Sound Effects, Deep Listening, Adobe Premiere Pro, Garage Band… We’ll use everything we learn to make a special program for broadcast on Optical Track, EPFC’s weekly radio program on dublab.com. A great introduction to Echo Park Film Center Youth programs and instructors! FREE for youth ages 12 – 19. All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC. Class limited to 8 participants; students must be able to attend all five sessions. Sign up here!

Spring 2020: LET’S ANIMATE! THE EPFC SPRING INTENSIVE YOUTH WORKSHOP – Four consecutive Saturday mornings 10 am – Noon: April 4, 11, 18 and 25

Let’s animate! Each week, this fun 4-session youth workshop will focus on different animation techniques and technologies: drawing and painting on film, cut-outs, claymation and digital programs like iStop Motion and Dragonframe. We’ll use everything we learn to make a special program for exhibition on the big screen at EPFC. A great introduction to Echo Park Film Center Youth programs and instructors!

FREE for youth ages 11 – 19. All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC.

Class limited to 10 participants; students must be able to attend all four sessions.

THIS WORKSHOP WAS POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19. WE HOPE TO RESCHEDULE LATER IN THE YEAR.

Summer 2020: CINECAMP: REIMAGINE & REGENERATE – A FREE EPFC SUMMER ONLINE YOUTH WORKSHOP – Four Weeks: Mondays and Fridays at 1 PM * Classes begin July 13!

Join us this summer for a 4-week virtual film camp for dreamers, visionaries, and young brilliant minds. Every week, students will learn a different technique in analog image-making, and discuss themes of cultural geography, community safety, radical futurism, and the fight towards racial equality. A film kit will all the necessary supplies will be provided to each student free of charge.

FREE for youth ages 12 – 15. All instruction and materials provided free of charge by EPFC.

Class meets via ZOOM Mondays and Fridays at 1 pm.

Instructors: Eliza Jimenez, Gemma Jimenez and Penelope Uribe-Abee.

Class limited to 12 participants; students must be able to attend all eight sessions plus a mandatory orientation session via Zoom on Saturday, July 11 at 11 am. Film kits ready for pick up by appointment at EPFC between 12 and 5 pm Saturday July 11 and Sunday July 12.

Sign up here!

FALL 2020 – ACTION KIDS: AN EPFC ONLINE YOUTH DOCUMENTARY PROJECT STARTS OCTOBER 15

Sign up here! 

 

2019 Youth Classes

WINTER 2019: Building Blocks (4 consecutive Saturdays beginning February 2, 10 am – 12 PM)

Learn everything you need to know to make movies in 2019! This fun 4-week youth workshop will focus on a different cinema technique each week: Animation, Super 8 Cinematography and Hand Processing, Sound Recording and Digital Editing. A great introduction to Echo Park Film Center Youth programs and instructors! FREE for youth ages 12 – 19. All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC. Class limited to 12 participants; students must be able to attend all four sessions. Sign up here!

SPRING 2019: How Does Your Garden Grow? (10 consecutive Saturdays beginning March 2, 10 am – 12 PM)

Students will work on a collaborative film exploring urban gardening, plants as food and as medicine, native plants, and more, within the Los Angeles area. Using 16mm film and brewing their own eco-friendly developers from foraged plants, students will go out into the field to meet with gardeners, food activists, artists, and other members of our community to create a portrait of the current state of urban gardening in Los Angeles. In addition to weekly class meetings, students will be expected to go on extra field trips and out-of-class filming excursions. This class is FREE to teens ages 12 – 19 with all instruction, materials and equipment provided at no cost by EPFC. Participants must be willing and able to attend ALL 10 SESSIONS! A mandatory orientation session for all participating students and their parents/guardians will take place at EPFC at 10 am on Saturday, March 2. Sign up here!

SUMMER 2019: Nepantla: Migration Narratives (8 sessions, Monday and Wednesday afternoons 3 – 6 pm, beginning Monday, July 1)

Nepantla (Nahuatl word for being in-between): Migration Narratives is a free 4 week, 8 session film class for youth to explore migration narratives, especially focusing on migration to Los Angeles. We invite local youth to delve into and express these untold immigrant stories through film and video. We welcome all directly impacted by immigration, whether undocumented or documented, queer and/or trans; we have all experienced Nepantla.

This class is FREE to participating teens with all instruction, materials, equipment and field trips provided at no cost by EPFC.

The class is geared toward students ages 12-19, particularly students directly impacted by immigration policies. During the four weeks of class, students will view films relating to immigration histories and create their own short documentaries structured around guest lectures from activists and the students’ own personal and ancestral narratives. The program also includes two field trips to local social justice organizations. Tap cards with fare for the month of July will be provided.

***Students MUST be able to attend all sessions of the class. Consistent attendance and punctuality are absolutely crucial to the program. Guest lectures, scheduled field trips, and the filmmaking process are all necessary for the full educational and creative experience.***

Sign up here!

This project is made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org.

SUMMER 2019: Do You Like Eating With Your Hands? (3 consecutive Sundays beginning July 14, Noon – 5 PM)

Use of the hands and a traditional flatbread as utensils is common in many cultures, often holding deep meaning. The practice of eating with hands in Hindu culture translates to a spiritual level through the Pancha Bhoota, a belief in the five elements of being, triggered through one’s fingers. In the Islamic faith, it is believed to increase blessings. In Filipino culture, it’s referred to as kamayan (with hands), a symbol of pre-colonial cultural pride.

This interactive 3 session workshop focuses on the topic of eating with your hands. Using a variety of different cinema techniques, students will explore the concept of eating with your hands. For inspiration we will be showing works: Leche by Naomi Uman, the food fight scene in Daisies, Zina Saro-Wiwa’s table manners, and the work-in-progress video of Eva Aguila. The final videos made in class will be screened October 2019 at Reseda Park. Instructors: Eva Aguila with assistance from Eliza Jimenez and Amber Lee.

Workshop open to youth ages 12 – 19 All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC. Class limited to 10 participants; students must be able to attend all three sessions. Sign up here!

SUMMER 2019: Super Spicy Super 7 (August 13, 14 and 15, 4 – 6 PM each day)

 

This three-day workshop invites youth ages 12 – 19 to explore the wonders of Super 8 eco-processing using spices from around the world to create home-made, environmentally friendly film developers. FREE! Workshop open to youth ages 12 – 19 All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC. Class limited to 10 participants; students must be able to attend all three sessions. Sign up here!

 

2018 Youth Classes

WINTER 2018: Dear Diary (4 consecutive Saturdays beginning February 3, 10 am – 1 PM) This four-week intensive class will immerse students in the history and practice of personal / diaryfilmmaking. Through screenings and discussions students will explore the diverse forms personal filmmaking has taken, from amateur home moviemakers to the avant-garde. Students will keep their own film diary, using Super 8 mm film. All students will complete their projects entirely through analog means, and will learn every step from loading the camera, through editing using a splicer, and how to operate a projector. There will be one mandatory week-day field trip, date and time pending. Instructors: Dicky Bahto and Penelope Uribe-Abee. FREE for youth ages 15 – 19. All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC. Participants must be able to attend all five sessions. Sign up here!

SPRING 2018: HUMAN/ANIMAL  (12 consecutive Saturdays beginning March 3, 10 am – Noon)
Living in a city, it’s easy to forget our connection to animals–especially the fact that we humans are animals ourselves. What wildlife is hiding in and under our apartments and houses? What can we learn from our pets and the way they experience the world? Why do we eat some animals and protect others? How and why did humans domesticate so many animals for so many different purposes? In this class, students will learn a variety of film and video techniques and make short films that explore the ways we interact with the animal kingdom.

Instructors: Andrew Kim, Gina Marie Napolitan & Cosmo Segurson

This class is FREE to teens ages 12 – 19 with all instruction, materials and equipment provided at no cost by EPFC. Participants must be willing and able to attend ALL 12 SESSIONS!

A mandatory orientation session for all participating students and their parents/guardians will take place at EPFC at 10 am on Saturday, March 3.

Sign up here!

SPECIAL SPRING 2018 WORKSHOP: ALCHEMICAL NATURE

Alchemical Nature is a FREE film and nature hybrid workshop for low-income high school students in Los Angeles County. Over the course of two months, 10 students will experience trips to the Santa Monica Mountains and Angeles National Forest. There, they will learn about the landscape of Southern California, the history of the Haramokngna American Indian, and participate in nature art activities. Additionally,  the outings give students space to reflect and create short films, using 16mm, about themselves and their relationship to the environment. Between these adventures will be studio days held at Echo Park Film Center. In the studio, students will engage in several film workshops, film production, image theory, and eco-processing techniques. By the end of the workshop, the class each student will have made two shorts on 16mm film. The course will end with a celebratory camping trip, spending the weekend in the Los Padres mountains where an evening lesson in astrology and constellations will be taught by guest speaker, Professor John Hawk of California Institute of the Arts. The group will test their nature skills and enjoy the day in nature. In the evening, we will share a meal while watching the films, created by the students, projected under the stars. Their work will be exhibited for families and friends at an intimate screening in Echo Park and their work will be projected in Peter Strauss Ranch for a summer.

This class is taught by Sierra May and Lily Yu. They are filmmakers, youth educators, and nature enthusiasts. They aspire to share their knowledge and passion for storytelling with youth.

Class Dates

1. Sunday, March 18th (9am-5:30pm): Hike day: SoCal landscape with ranger
2. Sunday, March 25th (1pm-5pm): Studio time: Film lecture
3. Sunday, April 1st (9am-4:40pm): Hike/Filming day: Cultural center, black & white 16mm
4. Sunday, April 8th(10am-4:30pm):  Studio time: Eco-processing
5. Sunday, April 15th(9am-5pm): Hike/Filming Day Color 16mm
6. Sunday, April 22nd(9am-5pm): Hike/Filming Day Color 16mm
7. Sunday, April 29th(11am-4pm): Studio Time: Editing films
8. Saturday–Sunday, May 12th(11am)-13th(1pm): Camping trip

Class signup at https://alchemicalnature.tumblr.com/apply

 

SUMMER 2018: ANALOG FOREVER – AN INTRO TO HANDMADE FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY (4 sessions: August 14, August 16, August 21 and August 23 , 4 – 7 PM)                    

Discover the creative possibilities of analogue photography. In the DIY spirit, learn how to make your own camera, mix your own eco-chemicals and develop your own film! We’ll even do some camera-less photography, too. Come play with us! Instructor: EPFC Summer Artist In Residence Urizen Freaza . Language: English / Spanish

FREE for youth ages 13 – 19. All instruction, materials and equipment provided free of charge by EPFC. Participants must be able to attend all four sessions. Sign up here!

FALL 2018: DEAR DIARY: WHAT IF WOMEN RULED THE WORLD? (10 SESSIONS ON SATURDAY MORNINGS 10 AM – NOON, BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 15)

What if women ruled the world? We ask this question as a starting point to reexamine the history of non-fiction filmmaking. Using only works made by women-identified artists and filmmakers, we will focus on viewing and discussing works that emphasize personal lived experiences and perspectives as the source for art. We will watch works along the spectrum of non-fiction filmmaking, from experimental to diaristic, and from the observational to documentary. Students in the class will all produce their own non-fiction personal films, discovering how their own lives and experiences can be a powerful source for making art. Instructors: Dicky Bahto and Penelope Uribe-Abee. FREE for youth ages 12 – 19. All equipment, materials and instruction provided FREE by EPFC! More info and sign up here!

 

2017 YOUTH CLASSES

WINTER 2017: WE THE PEOPLE (4 consecutive Saturdays beginning February 4, 10 am – Noon)

There’s a new president in the White House and it’s time to let him know what’s on our minds! This four-session workshop is all about PROTEST FILMS: we’ll watch historic ones, check out contemporary ones and make our own using Harinezumi digital cameras. Think Global! Act Local! This class is open to youth 12-19 years old; all equipment, materials and instruction provided FREE by EPFC! Sign up here!

SPRING 2017: BLUE DAYS, BLACK NIGHTS: A DARK LOOK AT LA NOIR  (9 consecutive Saturdays beginning March 4, 10 am – Noon)
“It began last May. About the end of May, it was. I had to run out to Glendale to deliver a policy on some dairy trucks. On the way back I remembered this auto renewal on Los Feliz. So I decided to run over there. It was one of those California Spanish houses everyone was nuts about 10 or 15 years ago. This one must have cost somebody about 30,000 bucks — that is, if he ever finished paying for it… It was mid-afternoon, and it’s funny, I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that block. I felt like a million. There was no way in all this world I could have known that murder sometimes can smell like honeysuckle…” 

This Spring, the EPFC Youth Class explores LA Noir, the classic film genre with roots in a vanished Los Angeles. We’ll be looking at clips from classic films, checking out downtown’s changing urban landscape, and making our very own 21st century noir using Bolex 16mm cameras. This class is open to youth 12-19 years old; all equipment, materials and instruction provided FREE by EPFC! Sign up here!

A mandatory orientation session for all interested students and their parent/guardian takes place at EPFC on Tuesday, February 28th at 7 pm.

SUMMER 2017: LETTER TO MYSELF (6 sessions: August 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18 from 4 pm to 6 pm each day)
This two-week intensive workshop taught by the EPFC Summer Artist In Residence invites students to create cinematic letters to their future selves. This class is open to youth 12-19 years old; all equipment, materials and instruction provided FREE by EPFC! Sign up here!

FALL 2017: CITY OF ANGELS (10 sessions, consecutive Saturday mornings, 10 am to Noon, beginning September 16)
An experimental documentary class focused on family and community stories… The fifth in an ongoing series that began way back in 2005! This class is open to youth 12-19 years old; all equipment, materials and instruction provided FREE by EPFC! Sign up here!

 

2016 YOUTH CLASSES

WINTER 2016: FUNDAMENTALS (4 consecutive Saturdays beginning February 6, 10 am – 1 pm)
A film fundamentals course that includes both practice and theory and is digestible enough for young students while also being challenging enough to be inspiring. This four-session workshop will feature screenings and texts by teenagers, underground artists, political artists, women, people of color, activist communities, comedians as well as a hands-on introduction to a variety of filmmaking tools and techniques . This class is open to young women, and all self-identifying young women who are ages 13-19 years old.

SPRING 2016: SUNSET & ALVARADO: A YOUTH DOCUMENTARY PROJECT ABOUT ECHO PARK (13 sessions, Friday afternoons 4:30 – 6:30 pm beginning March 4)
The Echo Park Film Center offers free youth classes to teens age 12-19. In its early years (over a decade ago) the EPFC produced a documentary film about its direct surroundings, titled Sunset &  Alvarado. This Spring semester we will revisit this film. Sunset & Alvarado will be an exploration of the histories, people and establishments of Echo Park, the neighborhood as its been and how it’s changed. In the 13 classes between March and June we will set forth learning about Echo Park while producing an updated Sunset & Alvarado film with a new generation of youth cinema-makers in LA.

SUMMER 2016: INTRO TO 16MM – A 1-DAY WORKSOP on FRIDAY, JULY 8
Learn the basics of 16mm cinematography and hand processing in this hands-on 4-hour workshop. Class limited to 6 students, ages 14 – 19. Instructors: Paolo Davanzo and Lisa Marr. Sign up here.

SUMMER 2016: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC GARDEN (4 sessions: July 19, 21, 26 and 28 from 1 to 4 pm)
This two-week intensive workshop taught by EPFC Summer Artist In Residence Ricardo Leite focuses on the use of plants as the main ingredients of the developing baths in photosensitive film processing. Students will create their very own eco-friendly films! CLASS FULL!

SUMMER 2016: CINEMA ORGANICA FOR KIDS – A 1-DAY WORKSOP on SATURDAY, AUGUST 20
Learn how to use garden plants and kitchen ingredients to make your own eco-friendly films! Class limited to 10 students, ages 10 – 19 . Instructor: Lisa Marr. Sign up here.

FALL 2016: LOS ANGELES 2019 (Wednesday afternoons, 4:30 – 6:30 pm beginning Sept 14)
The opening title card of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner reads Los Angeles, November 2019. The film then proceeds to establish the dystopic, dark industrial sprawl of LA. This Fall, the Echo Park Film Center will hold a semester long youth class that explores the future. What does the future look like? What styles, subcultures, films and music will emerge? What will our city look like? The participants of this class will explore futurist thinking by experimentation of sounds and visuals. Throughout the class we will cover experimental techniques of making electronic music as well as creating abstract video and media art. We will study classic science fiction films and literature to excavate the social themes of those times and contemplate what today’s Sci-fi looks like. The class will culminate in a screening of the students final projects… An experimental video art piece with their own music score!

EPFC youth classes are FREE and all materials are covered by the film center.

This class is open to youth age 12-19 will meet weekly on Wednesdays 4:30-6:30PM from September 14 to December 14, 2016. There is a mandatory orientation on Tuesday September 13 at 6pm at EPFC. The final screening will be on Sunday December 11 at a location to be announced.

Sign up here.

 

2015 YOUTH CLASSES

WINTER 2015: MASTERS OF THE VIEWNIVERSE
We’ll be using one of the earliest and most enduring 3D viewing devices, the View-Master, to create a series of stereographic images that tell personal stories. Learn the surprising history of stereoscopes and gain practical hands-on experience with the basics of 3D photography.

SPRING 2015: LOST AND FOUND
Come explore the processes and concepts behind taking something old to make something new using found footage, sound loops, scavenger hunts, collage, montage, and analog video art. http://lostandfoundyouth.tumblr.com

SUMMER 2015: PROCESS, CONTACT, MOVEMENT! A HANDS-ON 16MM WORKSHOP
16mm cinematography and projection! Direct animation! Photograms! Optical soundtrack manipulation! It’s all part of the EPFC Summer Youth Workshop with visiting artist Meg Rorison!

FALL 2015: KNO UR SELF(IE)
This 12 week class will explore topics about the self and what it means to express, and identify one’s self in the digital age.

 

 

 

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