2nd Annual Mashed Media Awards celebrating youth media

Posted by Philly Youth Media Collaborative on April 20, 2015

Awards Show Celebrating Youth Media Takes

Center Stage at Kimmel Center:
PYMC Presents 2nd Annual Mashed Media Awards

An evening to showcase and recognize youth voice, creativity and vision, Saturday, April 25th, 6-8pm

Over 90 short films and music files by youth artists and activists in the Philadelphia region were reviewed for the upcoming 2015 Mashed Media Awards. While the winners will only be announced on Saturday, April 25th at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater, the finalists span the gamut from “Not Your Mama’s Drama,” submitted by Scribe Video Center in the documentary category, to a music video entitled “Ignorance” by Hip Hop Heritage at SEAMAAC, to the narrative film “Social Switch” from youth at WHYY to “Voguing Train” from youth at the Attic and Drexel University in the visionary category.

Last year’s event attracted over 300 people, with showings of all finalist submissions, including pieces of joyful, high-production music videos, documentaries on the school-to-prison pipeline, and narrative and visionary films urging responses to homophobia, conformity, violence, and more. “It was incredible to see the Perelman Theater filled with over 350 young people and their families, friends, teachers and mentors assembled to celebrate such high caliber work” said Gretjen Clausing, Executive Director at PhillyCAM.

Like the inaugural year’s awards, honors this year will be given by personalities such as Helen Gym, activist (Education category) and candidate for City Council, and Ivan Barias, President of the Philadelphia Grammy Chapter (Music Video category).

The event is being sponsored by the Wyncote Foundation, with support from the PA Council on the Arts and PhillyCAM. The audience for this event will include families, educators, artists, youth media mentors, and young people age 12 – 23. The event will be MC’ed by Tot Metz, AKA Yellow, who with her collaborators from the Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project, won one of last year’s awards, for “Stolen Dreams II,” about youth incarceration.

The Kimmel event is being organized in part by the Mashed Crew, the PYMC youth council, ages sixteen to twenty-two who have been leaders in Philly youth-led media.

PYMC is a network of organizations that support youth to “develop as creative media makers, critical thinkers, and engaged global citizens.” Since its launch in 2011, it has grown to serve over 4,500 young people each year. Youth-led media work is a growing youth-development strategy. It has inherent appeal to youth, and member organizations demonstrate success in helping youth reach positive social outcomes, such as high school graduation, college attendance, and lower rates of teen pregnancy and incarceration. Current member organizations include: Norris Square Neighborhood Project, Lil Filmakers, Big Picture Alliance, Spiral Q, the Free Library, WHYY, Girls Rock Philly, West Chester’s Youth Empowerment and Urban Studies Program, People’s Emergency Center, Philadelphia Student Union, PhillyCAM, University Community Collaborative, Scribe Video Center, YESPhilly, the Center for Media and Information Literacy.

The event intersects with Philly Tech Week as well as the Education for Liberation Conference, both in downtown Philadelphia.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact Laura Deutch.

PYMC promotional video available at: http://goo.gl/RWhT8B
Social Media Tags: @philayouthmedia #youthmedia #mashedawards2015
Tickets available online: http://www.kimmelcenter.org/events/?id=5217