by Admin | Oct 5, 2016 | Press
By Aimee Chiavaroli [email protected]
NEW BEDFORD — As the New Be music video festival kicked into gear at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center Wednesday night, host Tem Blessed had a question for those gathered:
‘Why are we here today?,” he said.
Erryn Jones was ready with a response: “Hope,” she called out.
The festival was the reveal of the “New Be, New Me” website (werunthisnb.com), encompassing a campaign that provides resources and links for youth to community programs and tips on how to better themselves — such as how to set up a checking account or buy a car – focusing on health and wellness, kids’ future and plans, community and passions.
It also marked the premiere of New Bedford native Samantha Johnson’s video “We Run This (With Pride)”
Jones, wellness and public speaking teacher at Our Sisters’ School, said there were about 25 participants from OSS in the video.
“It brought tears to my eyes to see the work these kids did,” she said. Also from Dream Out Loud, she was the assistant director of the video. It’s about “getting (kids) to understand it’s more about themselves,” she said.
Ben Gilbarg, director and producer of the video, said he had the idea to create an anthem for the city which was written and recorded by Johnson. His idea was “to try to inspire young people to grow more positively.”
The owner of Visionary Communications, Gilbarg told the audience, “There’s an inner fire that burns in each one of you.” He said some of them may live with a single parent, no longer have parents or may be in foster care. “We know the issues you’re facing,” he said.
“Still, all you guys are special and are just worth everything,” Gilbarg said.
While last year’s “America’s Got Talent” semi-finalist Johnson was unable to attend, about 200 turned out to see her new video, as well as those by other local musicians Matthew Neves and Koda and Sky from the Youth Ambassadors Program (YAP).
The “We Run This” video featured kids picking up trash, riding bikes, exercising, doing their homework and being positive in the community.
Shadeh Mokolo, 16 said she liked all the videos, but Johnson’s was her favorite. “It was really good,” she said of the event. Standing beside Mokolo, Keyaree Perkins, 15 said she decided to go to attend after seeing it advertised at her school – the Global Learning Charter School.
At the end of the program, Gilbarg called those onstage who took part in making the video. He gave the mic to a few kids who said it was a great opportunity and they had fun.
Roberto Torres, 11 didn’t get to see himself on the big screen that night because he wasn’t in the video, but he caught one of the T-shirts being tossed into the audience.
by Admin | Oct 3, 2016 | Press
Featured story in the SouthCoast Today about our project’s impact on local youth:
By: Mike Lawrence
NEW BEDFORD — Wednesday night’s music video premiere and youth outreach event at the Zeiterion could give several young students an inspiring look at the bright lights of the performance industry — something that city resident and Tabor Academy freshman Mia Vaughn said she’s been trying to find for years.
“I’ve been searching since I was 9,” the ambitious Mia, 14, said Monday, referring to on-screen performance opportunities. “I had lost all hope for how to form my career in New Bedford.”
Mia said she’s performed in several plays with SouthCoast Children’s Theatre, is taking drama classes at Tabor and even auditioned over the summer, in Boston, for the upcoming Walt Disney Co. movie “A Wrinkle in Time.”
But she had never appeared in a music video until the recent production, at sites across New Bedford, of the video for Samantha Johnson’s “We Run This (with Pride).” The community-focused anthem premieres Wednesday night at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center downtown.
“I’m hoping this kind of opens up new opportunities,” Mia said.
Creating new opportunities, dreams and inspiration for local youth is a theme of the event, which also will launch the New Be, New Me community outreach campaign. The New Be, New Me website, at WeRunThisNB.com, will contain a youth-friendly resource guide with links to information and resources to help youth become healthier and more community-minded.
Visionary Communications Consultants owner Ben Gilbarg led the music video’s four-month production, which involved more than 300 local youth and included an energetic march July 27 on William Street.
Casimir Pulaski Elementary School fifth-grader Johnnyel Vega, 10, took part in nearly all of those shoots, including a staged race in Buttonwood Park.
“When we were sprinting, we did like 200 takes — I was tired,” Johnnyel recalled Monday.
Creating new opportunities, dreams and inspiration for local youth is a theme of the event, which also will launch the New Be, New Me community outreach campaign. The New Be, New Me website, at WeRunThisNB.com, will contain a youth-friendly resource guide with links to information and resources to help youth become healthier and more community-minded.
Visionary Communications Consultants owner Ben Gilbarg led the music video’s four-month production, which involved more than 300 local youth and included an energetic march July 27 on William Street.
Casimir Pulaski Elementary School fifth-grader Johnnyel Vega, 10, took part in nearly all of those shoots, including a staged race in Buttonwood Park.
“When we were sprinting, we did like 200 takes — I was tired,” Johnnyel recalled Monday.
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