Project Youth Doc at New Columbia (PYD@NC) program will accommodate sixteen 13- to 15-year-olds. PYD@NC is scheduled to begin in June 2007 soon after the end of the school year. Classes will be held on weekdays from noon until 5pm. The four-week intensive course will include group-building activities, studying the history of documentary filmmaking, learning basic operations of digital cameras and sound equipment, and using Final Cut Pro editing software. Most of the time, however, will be spent doing hands-on filmmaking. Working in groups of three or four, students will spend time during and after class filming and editing, both assisted by instructors and independently. A significant contribution of non-scheduled time is required to complete the course. The Housing Authority of Portland will provide facility support and assistance in recruiting students as well as market the program to the community.

Program participants will be empowered to tell stories on their own terms. PYD/NC will be one of the first opportunities for these students to control the artistic and technical content of a film that is shown publicly. Often youth documentary programs dictate a topic for students’ films or have others edit their work, shortchanging their education and creativity. Our participants choose their own topics, arrange for interviews, shoot footage, and edit their films – giving them complete immersion in and responsibility for their ideas.

Organizational Background – The Housing Authority and New Columbia:

The Housing Authority of Portland (HAP), together with its partners, is engaged in the largest neighborhood revitalization project ever undertaken in Oregon’s history. Columbia Villa’s 462 World War II-era homes on 82 acres in North Portland have been demolished and have been replaced by a mixed-income community of 850 households known as New Columbia. New Columbia is one of the largest single investments of public and private dollars in Oregon’s history and is a key part of the ongoing revitalization of North Portland, a once isolated and historically underserved region. At the heart of this new neighborhood, HAP is providing space for a Life Long Learning Center to serve New Columbia and the surrounding North Portland neighborhood.

New Columbia is located in the most ethnically diverse sub-region in Multnomah County, and has the lowest level of educational attainment and the highest poverty levels in the county. Of the 850 units being built at New Columbia, 620 are targeted to households whose incomes range from 10 percent to 60 percent of median household income. The majority of the households that HA