Overview

Youth Media Documentary Film Instructor

Educational Video Center is an award-winning non-profit youth media organization dedicated to teaching documentary filmmaking as a means to develop the artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of young people, while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change. Now in its 40th year, EVC currently has openings for Youth Media Instructors for in-school and afterschool documentary filmmaking programs.

EVC offers in-school and afterschool documentary filmmaking programming for youth across New York City. In each program, students collaborate on the production of a short documentary film about a social justice issue of their choosing that they identify as having significance to their own lives and communities. The program culminates in public screenings of their documentaries.

The curriculum draws from both EVC’s signature Youth Powered Video curriculum, and curriculum crafted by individual instructors in coordination with the supervisor in order to meet the particular needs of the group, the social justice topic, and the filmmaking process.

Responsibilities Include:

  • Lead and facilitate a diverse team of 10-20 high school students in an intensive, collaborative process of creating a documentary film.
  • Teach collaborative research, shooting, and editing of a social issue documentary.
  • Guide students through media literacy lessons connecting ideas of power, oppression and media production.
  • Develop engaging and creative lesson plans that promote students’ critical literacy, civic engagement, social emotional development, and documentary arts skills.
  • Accompany students to interviews, local forums, or conferences related to their filmmaking topic and process.
  • Facilitate student reflection and self-assessment of learning through journaling and rubrics
  • Coach and facilitate students’ public premiere screening and presentation of student documentaries
  • Help facilitate partnerships with local community based organizations to support students’ development of strategies for using their film as a tool for education, civic engagement and activism.
  • Communicate as needed with students’ schools and advisors to support students’ learning and social emotional development, report attendance, student participation, and credit earning.
  • Ensure proper care and maintenance of production and post-production equipment used by the program participants
  • Attend EVC staff meetings and Professional Development sessions

Required Knowledge, Skills and Qualifications Include:

  • Extensive experience in all aspects of documentary film production (producing, shooting, audio recording and editing)
  • Experience with nonlinear editing software (Adobe Premiere, iMovie or WeVideo)
  • Extensive experience working with high school aged youth is a must (specifically from historically marginalized communities)
  • Experience writing student-centered, culturally relevant curriculum that engages with social justice
  • Demonstrates a longstanding commitment to social justice media making and organizing
  • Understanding of principles of positive youth development
  • Demonstrated commitment to EVC’s educational philosophy
  • Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
  • Strong planning and personal organization skills
  • Flexibility, resourcefulness and a sense of humor

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Qualifications Include:

  • Experience assessing student work
  • Familiarity with student-led portfolio assessments
  • Bilingual English-Spanish speaker, Bilingual English-French speaker, and/or additional languages

Specifications:

This is a part-time contract position contingent on project funding. The rate of compensation for coaching is $250 per full day, and $150 per half-day session. Coaches also attend EVC full staff Study Group and periodic coaching program meetings.

This position reports to and is supported by the Director of Professional Development Programs and the Deputy Director of Programs.

As an organization EVC is committed to engaging in work that disrupts and roots out systems and structures that perpetuate racial inequities and oppression. We intentionally seek to build and maintain a diverse and talented team that reflects the backgrounds and experiences of our students and creates an inclusive environment for all employees. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, EVC encourages applications from all individuals regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, physical ability or any other legally protected basis.

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