DCTV invites public to the firehouse for indie film’s free night out.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/13/2011 -- For its annual extravaganza, DCTV is hosting another of its legendary Open Houses, where it invites the public to its landmark firehouse to get a taste of all of the services it has to offer to independent filmmakers and media artists. Sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery and The L Magazine, this free September 22nd event will feature an open bar, sample workshops, equipment demos, film screenings, facility tours, discounted memberships, raffle, after party, and more!

Among the highlights of the event is an open bar provided by Brooklyn Brewery, from 7pm – 8pm, and again during the after party at 10pm, featuring a DJ set by Big Party, also known as East Village Radio's Michael Hirsch, whose beloved show, Contemporary Adult, has been rocking New York City with the best rarities of 60s/70s Rock, Soul, and Disco.

Thanks to the generosity of The L Magazine, DCTV is thrilled to raffle off an Apple iPad2. The winner will be drawn at 9:55pm sharp, and one lucky attendee will go home with the gadget everyone wants. All raffle ticket proceeds will go to help support DCTV services.

In addition, DCTV's Fall 2011 Open House will offer sample workshops to introduce the public to some of its hands-on classes, ranging from the mainstay Final Cut Pro to the ever-popular After Effects and Video HDSLR. DCTV will also be offering the opportunity for visitors to test-drive the latest production equipment available to rent from DCTV, including the game-changing Canon 7D camera and stellar new LED light panels. Short films will be screening throughout the night, featuring an array of innovative and provocative films from the DCTV Presents signature screening and event series, as well as some of DCTV's own award-winning productions. DCTV will also be providing tours of its facilities, from its state-of-the-art edit suites to its community media lab.

"We just love meeting other artists and knowing that there are people passionate about making things just as much as we are," said Ashraf Rijal, Equipment Rentals Coordinator at DCTV. "The creative spirit that has sustained DCTV for years is always around, but having the opportunity to see hundreds of people really get a taste of that, at one special night, is just so great."

DCTV is proud to announce its Fall 2011 Open House and eagerly awaits everything this season has to offer. More information can be found at http://www.dctvny.org/openhouse.

About Downtown Community Center
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc. is a non-profit independent media arts center that fosters diverse viewpoints by providing professional media training, and state-of-the-industry resources, and by creating and exhibiting outstanding documentary programs, in the belief that diversity of expression strengthens our democracy and enhances civil society. DCTV's broadcast productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have won fifteen National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org.

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510 | http://www.dctvny.org

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

NO CONTRACT, NO COOKIES: THE STELLA D’ORO STRIKE Has Its World Premier at the Downtown Community Television Center Landmark Firehouse (87 Lafayette St NYC) On Thursday June 30th.

New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/28/2011 -- The world premier of "No Contract No Cookies: The Stella D'Oro Strike " will take place at Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) on Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 6:30PM.

138 former workers from the Stella D'Oro factory will gather at NYC 's largest community media center to watch the documentary of their heroic and tragic strike. This is the first time that the workers have reassembled in the year since their factory closed. It will be an opportunity to discuss their fate and the fate of factory workers in what was once one of the manufacturing centers of the world.

After a dinner reflecting the ethnic origins of the workers and the screening of the documentary, a panel composed of Stella D'Oro workers and award winning authors and newspaper columnists Pete Hamill and Juan Gonzalez will discuss the issues raised in the film.

Last week President Obama launched an "all hands on deck" effort to revive American manufacturing. Come meet the Stella D'Oro workers and find out what has happened to them in a city that has lost 80% of it's manufacturing jobs.

Stella D'Oro cookies were a part of New York City coffee breaks for over 75 years. For generations of immigrants, the Stella D'Oro factory in the Bronx was the first stop in America. It's where their American dream began. Now their American dream has become a nightmare.

"No Contract - No Cookies" follows the 138 workers, who fight to save their jobs after a private equality fund takes over Stella D'Oro.

The workers, mostly immigrants, represent 22 different countries. The equity fund represents investors who expect a 30% divided. When the new owners demand wage cuts, the workers go on strike.

After a long fight, a judge rules that the workers are entitled to their jobs, their pay, and their benefits. The cookie makers march triumphantly in to the factory. The owners respond by selling the business. Stella D'Oro cookies are now made in a non-union plant in Ohio.

Today, the factory that once perfumed the air of the Bronx with baking biscotti is boarded up. The owners have moved on to take over other companies. The cookie has crumbled.

NO CONTRACT, NO COOKIES: THE STELLA D'ORO STRIKE was directed by Jon Alpert (15 National Emmy Awards) and Matthew O'Neill (3 National Emmy Awards).; produced by Jon Alpert, Reina Higashitani, Matthew O'Neill and Shannon Sonenstein; edited by John Custodio. For HBO: supervising producer, Sara Bernstein; executive producer, Sheila Nevins. The documentary will be broadcast on HBO2 on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 8PM.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

DCTV invites public to the firehouse for indie film’s free night out.

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/06/2010 -- For the first time in years, DCTV is hosting another of its legendary Open Houses, where it invites the public to their landmark firehouse to get a taste of all of the services DCTV has to offer to independent filmmakers and media artists. Sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery and The L Magazine, the October 13th event will feature an open bar, an Apple iPad raffle, a Canon 7D demo, discounted memberships, sample workshops, film screenings, facility tours and more!

Among the highlights of the event is an open bar provided by Brooklyn Brewery, from 7pm – 8pm, and again during the after party at 10pm, featuring a DJ set by Baby Dayliner, a favorite of some of NYC's best musical acts, including The National.

Thanks to the generosity of The L Magazine, DCTV is thrilled to raffle off an Apple iPad. The winner will be drawn at 9:55pm sharp, and one lucky attendee will go home with the gadget everyone wants. All raffle ticket proceeds will go to help support DCTV services.

In addition, DCTV's Fall 2010 Open House will offer sample workshops to introduce the public to some of its hands-on classes, ranging from the ever-popular Final Cut Pro to the widely anticipated new additions of Illustrator and Video DSLR. DCTV will also be offering the opportunity for visitors to test-drive the latest production equipment available to rent from DCTV, including the game-changing Canon 7D camera. Short films will be screening throughout the night, featuring an array of innovative and provocative films from the DCTV Presents signature screening and event series, as well as some of DCTV's own award-winning productions. DCTV will also be providing tours of its facilities, from its state-of-the-art edit suites to its community media lab.

"Our mission at DCTV is to provide affordable and accessible resources to independent filmmakers and media artists from all walks of life" said Dara Messinger, Director of Training and Resources at DCTV. "Whether you've been a Member for years, or you're just hearing about us for the first time, our Open House provides a fantastic opportunity to see what we're up to and get involved."

DCTV is proud to announce its Fall 2010 Open House and eagerly awaits everything this season has to offer. More information can be found at dctvny.org/openhouse.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

“A Harlem Mother” and BeyondBullets.org shorts kick off LOMAL’s 2010 “Fall Downtown”

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/16/2010 -- On Tuesday, September 21st at 2:00PM, DCTV will be hosting an anti–gun violence film screening, followed by a panel discussion with Richard Aborn, President of Citizens' Crime Commission, Shaina Harrison, Program Coordinator at New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Clarivel Ruiz, Director of PRO-TV at Downtown Community Television Center and other gun-violence activists and media leaders. The screening marks the beginning of Lower Manhattan Arts League's Fall Downtown events series.

Headlining the event is A Harlem Mother by Ivana Todorovic, recently screened at Cannes, about how mother Jean Corbett-Parker turns the tragic and senseless death of her son into a project that heals a community. We will also be screening several short videos from BeyondBullets.org, DCTV's anti–gun violence media campaign, which highlight youth perspectives on gun violence from two deeply-affected cities: Chicago and New York City. Shorts include: Burying Your Friends, about Chicago teens coping with violence close to home, Shaina's reACTION, in which a non-profit leader makes gun violence activism popular amongst students, My Camera's My Gun Now, which shows the transformative power of filmmaking, and Halt, a response to the "Iron Pipeline," the highway by which most illegal guns are brought into New York.

For the past five years, DCTV has been using media to help prevent gun violence. BeyondBullets.org is an online center for youth-driven, solution-oriented media about the effects of gun violence in communities in New York City and across the country. It follows a month-long campaign in New York, taking films and stories to schools in some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods in every borough.

The screening signals the start of Lower Manhattan Arts League's (LoMAL) Fall Downtown event series, presenting events from eleven of Lower Manhattan's premiere arts organizations. Accompanying DCTV are such prestigious downtown organizations as HERE, Dance New Amsterdam, SoHo Rep, The Flea and more. Over the following 14 weeks, Fall Downtown hosts affordable events from eleven powerhouses in Lower Manhattan.

DCTV Presents: A Harlem Mother and BeyondBullets.org Shorts is FREE and open to the public. Young people are encouraged to attend and participate in our discussion.

For more information, please visit: http://www.dctvny.org/events/harlem-mother-and-beyondbulletsorg-shorts. If you would like more information about our anti–gun violence media campaign, visit http://www.beyondbullets.org. For information on LOMAL's Fall Downtown, please visit http://www.falldowntown.org.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

DCTV concludes a successful tour, turning attention to BeyondBullets.org

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/27/2010 -- DCTV's New York City Tour has concluded, visiting seven high schools in five days. The tour was a resounding success, reaching hundreds of students in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Over the past week, students have been actively engaging with DCTV presenters, responding to films and powerful stories and offering insight into the causes of and solutions to gun violence. Beyond Bullets visited Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Hunts Point, Harlem and the Lower East Side, speaking to middle- and high-school students, most of whom have felt a direct impact of gun violence. When asked if they know someone who has been killed by a gun, almost every hand in the room went up. In a classroom in Harlem, a quarter answered that they have lost someone this year.

One aspect of the tour that resonated with students was the host, Ronald Merritt. His story of tragedy and renaissance struck a chord with students everywhere he went.

"I was a drug dealer, I've been in jail, people called me 'Du da Shooter,' because that's what I did, I had a gun strapped to my waist," Ronald began, "I lost 36 friends to gun violence and decided I was done. I put down my gun and picked up a camera. Now, my camera is my gun."

Empowered by his past, Ronald went from a world of violence to one of creation. He now produces documentaries, fiction film and music videos. He used his life experience to encourage students to find alternatives to violence.

"A good friend would talk you out of shooting someone. They would be saving the life of not only the person you'd shoot, but also your own."

After each presentation, students crowded Ronald, asking how they could start media projects of their own. Beyond Bullets has given them the answer. DCTV is taking the fight online with BeyondBullets.org, a new resource for curing America's Gun violence epidemic.

All year long, teenage journalists will be sharing their stories on BeyondBullets.org. Visitors can explore videos, images and news updates from the frontlines of the war on gun violence. Coming from voices ignored by traditional media, these videos expose the shocking truths behind faceless statistics. Visitors are encouraged to upload their own videos about their neighborhoods, with prizes awarded to the best user-submitted material. BeyondBullets.org extends the scope of the project past New York's five boroughs, with stories and news from around the county in cities with a history of violence, such as Detroit, Washington D.C. and Chicago. Since the tour began, the site has seen over twice its normal traffic.

Ending gun violence in America is a seemingly insurmountable enemy, but the progress DCTV has made by giving students a beacon of hope is critical, and over the next year, BeyondBullets.org will continue to provide New York and the world with an arsenal of weapons to with which to wage the war on gun violence.

DCTV's Beyond Bullets Media Campaign is supported by the New York Community Trust and the Community Information Challenge of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About Downtown Community Center
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc. is a non-profit independent media arts center that fosters diverse viewpoints by providing professional media training, and state-of-the-industry resources, and by creating and exhibiting outstanding documentary programs, in the belief that diversity of expression strengthens our democracy and enhances civil society. DCTV's broadcast productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have won fifteen National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org.

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510 | http://www.dctvny.org

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

BeyondBullets.org and Media Tour in NYC Takes Off

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/14/2010 -- DCTV is proud to announce the launch of BeyondBullets.org, a website aimed to use the power of media to quell America's gun violence epidemic.

BEYOND BULLETS ALSO TAKES TO THE STREETS ABOARD THE CYBERCAR, DCTV's mobile video production and exhibition vehicle. The TOUR kicks off Monday, May 17th at Boys and Girls High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where hundreds of students will watch short, youth-produced documentaries about the effects of gun violence and have their own town meeting about how to avoid bloodshed in their streets. During the week the CyberCar will travel all over the city, visiting schools in areas where gun violence is prevalent. Please join us - it will be a very moving experience.

Every three hours, a child is shot and killed on the streets of America. Media is partially responsible, and DCTV believes media can be part of the solution. DCTV's Beyond Bullets campaign is a unique, multi-media approach to promoting gun violence awareness. By leveraging grassroots organizing and documentary storytelling with the power of social media, DCTV will provide New York City youth with a platform from which to prevent gun violence in their communities.

BeyondBullets.org will provide a unique resource to New York City, hosting video, news, and images from the frontlines of the war on gun violence. Young video journalists will post weekly pieces about gun violence in communities throughout the City: stories about shootings and local solutions to gun violence. These segments seek to uncover the human drama behind the statistics. The first of these pieces, "Mother's Day Tragedy" directed by Jessie Auritt, goes live on the site on Monday May 17th and highlights the story of Samantha Guzman, who was shot and killed on Mother's Day in 2006. Her mother, Diana Rodriguez, talks about losing her 18-year-old daughter to gun violence. The segments from these reporters will be supplemented by videos produced by DCTV's Oscar-nominated producers, an army of youth reporters and user-submitted videos.

In addition to the video content, BeyondBullets.org will also exhibit comments and photos posted by local youth, describing their personal contact with gun violence and the local solutions that exist in their communities. DCTV also has begun leveraging social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, to ensure maximum community involvement and impact.

"Our collection of videos is equally devastating and hopeful," said Stephanie Skaff, Project Director, "And by combining online outreach with direct community engagement, we are putting into place tools to support young people who want to end gun violence in their neighborhoods."

The Beyond Bullets campaign began five years ago with the film, Bullets in the Hood. This Emmy and Sundance award-winning documentary about gun violence came out of DCTV's youth media training program, PRO-TV. It was directed by two teens that had eight friends killed by guns in the streets of New York City¬. Since then, DCTV has facilitated a citywide anti-gun violence media tour reaching hundreds of NYC youth. With support from the Ford Foundation, DCTV conducted a 15-city investigation to build alliances with national leaders in gun violence prevention. Now, with the support of Knight Community Information Challenge of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The New York Community Trust, the campaign turns its attention to America's greatest city, our home, New York, New York.

"These films are made in New York, by the very young people who are affected by violence, and who want desperately to find solutions to this carnage." said Jon Alpert, award-winning director and co-founder of DCTV.

Beyond Bullets is an innovative campaign to gain new ground in the war on gun violence.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation;
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed, engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit http://www.knightfoundation.org.

About Downtown Community Center
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc. is a non-profit independent media arts center that fosters diverse viewpoints by providing professional media training, and state-of-the-industry resources, and by creating and exhibiting outstanding documentary programs, in the belief that diversity of expression strengthens our democracy and enhances civil society. DCTV's broadcast productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have won fifteen National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org.

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510
http://www.dctvny.org

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

An Army of Young Video Journalists on the Front of America’s Urban War

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/15/2010 -- DCTV's Beyond Bullets, a new media campaign to quell America's gun violence epidemic, is nearing launch and has stories to tell that are both heartbreaking and empowering. DCTV has hired six early-career video journalists to embed in high-crime communities in all five boroughs. Over the next eight months, they and an army of other young media-makers will produce an ongoing series of reports exploring the tragedy of gun violence and its solutions. Every three hours, a child is shot and killed on the streets of America. Media is partially responsible, and DCTV believes it can be part of the solution. Using video, social media and grassroots organizing, Beyond Bullets will engage communities in dialogue to discover roots and solutions to America's gun violence epidemic.

Through December, the young video journalists will produce weekly pieces about these communities. Several of them come from these neighborhoods and have a personal stake in preventing gun violence on their streets. Hemamset Angaza was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant and raised in Crown Heights. Gilberto Francisco was raised in Harlem and now lives in the Bronx. A graduate of DCTV's PRO-TV Program, his films have screened at the Tribeca and Hamptons Film Festivals. Joining them is Kat Keene Hogue, who has been working on MTV's "16 & Pregnant" and "Brick City" as well as producing content for The New York Times and The Washington Post. Jessie Auritt is a regular contributor to The NY Daily News, Negesti Cantave is an emerging documentary filmmaker from Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Hena Ashraf is a young Muslim filmmaker and activist from London via Detroit. Their work will be supplemented by more than 20 students in DCTV's PRO-TV youth program. These journalists bring an incredible diversity of backgrounds and experience to the project, and this variety will provide a multi-faceted approach to the critical issue of gun violence in New York.

"I'm very excited," said project director Stephanie Skaff, "We have an army of talented young journalists dedicating themselves to covering gun violence in New York City. I think that anyone visiting our website or coming with us on our tour will be shocked by what they learn from these videos."

Beyond Bullets was conceived five years ago with the multi-award-winning film, Bullets in the Hood, an Emmy and Sundance award-winning documentary about gun violence by two teens who have had eight friends killed by guns in the streets of New York City¬. Since then, DCTV has facilitated a citywide anti-gun violence media tour reaching hundreds of NYC youth, and conducted a 15-city investigation of gun violence with support from the Ford Foundation to build alliances with national leaders in gun violence prevention. Now, with the support of Knight Community Information Challenge of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The New York Community Trust, the campaign turns its attention to local communities. Our young video journalists will make pieces that illuminate the issue of gun violence in NYC and highlight local solutions.

In addition to being made available online, the Beyond Bullets videos will be brought to communities throughout New York City aboard the CyberCar, DCTV's mobile video production and exhibition vehicle. Since 2002, the CyberCar has been connecting people across the world by exhibiting content on the Times-Square-style screen on its side and providing immediate access to new video with its on-board broadcast production facilities. It has toured main streets across the country, taken young Russian journalists to New Orleans and began a peace-building effort by connecting young filmmakers who hailed from nations that were once at war with one another through a tour of the EU. This year, it will take Beyond Bullets to NYC neighborhoods, including: Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Crown Heights, Jamaica, Mott Haven and Stapleton.

"We're picking up cameras instead of guns," said Jon Alpert, director and co-founder of DCTV, "That's the weapon that will improve our communities."

This month, our video journalists are covering New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, one of Beyond Bullets' prominent partners, in their struggle to end gun violence in New York. They have organized a series of "Lie-Ins" to honor those lost in the tragedy at Virginia Tech. The month's events will culminate in NYAGV's annual Albany Lobby Day on April 27th, where the subjects of the segments will converge to face off against gun advocates at the capitol.

The first videos will be released on BeyondBullets.org and on the traveling CyberCar in May, and will be compiled into three 30-minute documentaries for broadcast on WNYC-TV later this year. Beyond Bullets is an innovative approach to a problem plaguing New York and the United States at large. Bringing together a group of video journalists as diverse as the stories they'll tell, Beyond Bullets is a unique opportunity to gain new ground in the war on gun violence.

About Downtown Community Center
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc. is a non-profit independent media arts center that fosters diverse viewpoints by providing professional media training, and stateof-the-industry resources, and by creating and exhibiting outstanding documentary programs, in the belief that diversity of expression strengthens our democracy and enhances civil society. DCTV's broadcast productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have won fifteen National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Documentary on gun violence takes prize over MSG, News 12 and WABC

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/01/2009 -- Downtown Community Television Center is honored to announce that Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story has won a New York Emmy Award for Excellence in Teen Programming. Directed by Terence Fischer and Daniel Howard, former students of DCTV's PRO-TV youth program, Bullets is a documentary about the shooting of one of the filmmakers' best friend by a NYPD officer in 2004, and was the only nominee of the five finalists in the "teen programming" category directed by youth filmmakers. This NY Emmy Award is a groundbreaking achievement and DCTV is grateful for this recognition of the dedication and triumph of the young artists behind the film.

After eleven of the filmmakers' friends were killed by gunfire, they began recording incidents of gun violence in their Brooklyn neighborhoods. One night, Terrence was standing behind his best friend Timothy Stansbury, unarmed and bound for a birthday party, when Timothy was fatally shot by a housing policeman on the roof of Brooklyn's Louis Armstrong housing project in January 2004. Fisher, 19 at the time, dealt with his loss by picking up a video camera and documenting the tense hours and days after the controversial incident. In collaboration with fellow filmmaker, Daniel Howard, then 18, he directed the multi-award-winning documentary Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story. Bullets is executive-produced by Mami Kuwano and DCTV Co-Founder and award-winning documentarian Jon Alpert. Youth filmmakers Jasmine Chauca (editor) and Michelle Watson (cinematographer) also played key roles in the production.

The filmmakers ecstatically accepted the awards last Sunday, May 29th, at the gala award ceremony in Midtown Manhattan. DCTV is proud to have the incredible work of its PRO-TV students still recognized for its artistic achievement and powerful message. Bullets has toured festivals around the world and won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance; the triumph at the New York Emmy Award ceremony Sunday only further affirms the importance and relevance of the film.

Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story is an example of DCTV's filmmaking philosophy – social awareness in a personal story-telling style. Jon Alpert says, "This film is the most recent example of DCTV's three decades of public service. DCTV is proud to lead the next generation of independent filmmakers."

Bullets in the Hood is a product of DCTV's youth media program, PRO-TV, which gives inner city youth the opportunity to create original videos, empowering them to explore socially significant issues that affect their families, schools, and communities through media, which is then exhibited in film festivals, community screenings, and on the internet. PRO-TV served over five hundred young filmmakers last year.

Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story inspired a regional anti-gun-violence tour in 2006 aboard DCTV's Cybercar, a 40-foot-long bus converted into a mobile TV production and exhibition studio. Now, DCTV is preparing to take the tour to a national scale, bringing Bullets to cities across the country in the next year in a focused media campaign to showcase compelling stories of how gun violence destroys lives and to illuminate effective local solutions to this new urban arms race.

"Bullets shows the power of television at its best," said Alpert, "young people picking up cameras instead of guns – and using their videos to improve our world. I'm very proud of what these young New Yorkers have created."

ABOUT DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY TELEVISION CENTER:
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc. is a non-profit independent media arts center that fosters diverse viewpoints by providing professional media training, and state-of-the-industry resources, and by creating and exhibiting outstanding documentary programs, in the belief that diversity of expression strengthens our democracy and enhances civil society. DCTV's broadcast productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have won fifteen National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org.

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510
http://www.dctvny.org

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Student documentary on police shooting continues to affect viewers, judges

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/20/2009 -- Downtown Community Television Center is honored to announce the nomination of Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story for a New York Emmy Award. Bullets, a documentary about the shooting of one of the filmmakers' best friend by a NYPD officer in 2004, is contending in the "Teen Programming," category, but is the only nominee produced by teenagers themselves. This is a groundbreaking achievement, and DCTV is grateful for the recognition of the dedication and triumph of the young artists behind the film.

Teen filmmakers, Terrence Fisher and Daniel Howard, were documenting the incidences of gun violence in their Brooklyn neighborhoods, after having lost eleven friends between them, when the project took a tragic turn. During the making of their film another of their own was gunned down, only this time the shooter was a New York City police officer, who was not indicted in Stansbury's death.

Terrence Fisher was standing behind best friend Timothy Stansbury, who was unarmed and bound for a birthday party, when Timothy was fatally shot by a housing policeman on the roof of Brooklyn's Louis Armstrong housing project in January 2004. Fisher, 19 at the time, dealt with his loss by picking up a video camera and documenting the tense hours and days after the controversial incident. In collaboration with fellow filmmaker, Daniel Howard, then 18, he produced the multi-award-winning Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story. Bullets is executive-produced by Mami Kuwano and DCTV Co-Founder and celebrated documentarian Jon Alpert.

DCTV is proud to have the incredible work of its young students still recognized for its artistic achievement and powerful message. Bullets has toured festivals around the world and won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance; the nomination for the New York Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' New York Chapter only further affirms the importance and relevance of the film.

Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story is an example of DCTV's filmmaking philosophy – social awareness in a personal story-telling style. Jon Alpert says, "This film is the most recent example of DCTV's three decades of public service. DCTV is proud to lead the next generation of independent filmmakers."

Bullets in the Hood is a product of DCTV's youth program, PRO-TV, the most successful youth media arts-training programs in the nation. PRO-TV gives inner city youth the opportunity to make their own media, empowering them to explore socially significant issues that affect themselves and/or their communities. Almost 100 percent of its Media Fellowship Program participants (an intensive two year training program) go on to attend college. Many of these participants receive prestigious educational scholarships and/or media industry internships.

Bullets in the Hood: a Bed-Stuy Story was the crux for a regional anti-gun-violence tour in 2006 aboard DCTV's Cybercar, a 40-foot-long bus converted into a mobile TV production and exhibition studio. Now, DCTV is preparing to take the tour to a national scale, bringing Bullets to over twenty cities across the country this Fall. The tour intends to raise awareness of gun violence, promote anti-violence initiatives by reaching out to at-risk communities through various channels: town meetings, schools, youth events, the Internet, meetings with community leaders and policy-makers and more.

"Bullets shows the power of television at its best," said Alpert, "young people picking up cameras instead of guns – and using their videos to improve our world. I'm very proud of what these young New Yorkers have created."

ABOUT DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY TELEVISION CENTER:
DCTV is the most honored independent nonprofit media center in the nation. DCTV's productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have received twelve National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. DCTV consistently produces some of the best and most important documentaries about issues in America and around the world. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510
http://www.dctvny.org

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Artist, actor, activist Stephanie Skaff takes the stage

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/18/2008 -- Continuing its commitment to outreach and education, Downtown Community Television Center is pleased to announce the hiring of Stephanie Skaff, artistic activist and organizer, to begin community outreach and planning of a national anti-gun violence media campaign made possible with generous support from the Ford Foundation. Following the success of its past media tours, DCTV's renowned Cybercar, a 40-foot-long bus converted into a mobile TV studio, is preparing for a Fall 2009 20-city tour to promote community-driven initiatives to end gun violence.

Downtown Community Television Center is New York City's premier Center for Independent Media Arts and a producer of award-winning documentaries. For over 35 years, DCTV has expanded public access to the media to invigorate our democracy; it assists thousands of aspiring filmmakers in all aspects of media production, offering affordable classes and workshops to media artists, free training to underserved youth, screenings of new material, low-cost equipment rentals and post-production facilities and a full-service television studio.

Stephanie Skaff is a Brooklyn-based artist, arts manager and fundraiser. Originally from Ohio, she has spent the past seven years in NYC creating community-based, issue-inspired art projects and serving a number of arts initiatives with social justice concerns. Stephanie developed an interest in arts for social change through the international humanitarian theatre company, Bond Street Theatre. There, she helped research, coordinate and secure funding for their collaboration with Afghan Exile Theatre, a theatre company of Afghan refugees exiled from Afghanistan by the Taliban. Her work with Bond Street Theatre earned her a 2003 Theatre Apprenticeship Award from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA.

With a resume as impressive as it is diverse, featuring such prestigious organizations as Rooftop Films, Smack Mellon, Aperture Foundation, Rhizome Communications, J Mandle Performance, The Equus Projects and endeavors such as acting with Only Make Believe, an organization that brings interactive theatre to hospitalized children throughout NYC, and a performance project documenting and exploring the lives of street vendors, DCTV is proud to welcome her aboard to coordinate preparations to take its ongoing anti-gun violence campaign to the national level.

"I'm honored to be a part of this project; I consider it both an outreach campaign and a public media art project," said Skaff, "it combines so many of my interests: economic justice, arts for social change, and urban planning while engaging me in issues and tactics that are new and challenging. Now is the ideal time for this project; there's both a greater awareness of politics among low-income communities thanks to President-Elect Barack Obama's historic campaign and an impending recession that could easily lead to an increase in violence on our streets. It's imperative to reach communities already plagued by gun violence to provide alternatives before things get worse, and to reach those that might tip toward violence as their economic opportunities disappear."

The Cybercar was created in 2002 by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts that converted the passenger bus, which formerly carried missionaries around the South, into the cutting edge mobile broadcast studio it is today. It features state-of-the-art equipment including a large Times-Square-style video display on the side. The Cybercar made its maiden voyage in 2002 with the Main Street USA tour, where it toured twelve main streets from cities across the country. Through town meetings, Main Street USA showed tapes DCTV recorded at Ground Zero, in Afghanistan and Iraq and recorded the responses. It was followed by the Emmy, Telly and Aurora Award-winning Speak Up NY!, a project encouraging youth involvement in politics that registered over 2,000 new voters, and The Russians are Coming, part of an international journalist exchange to promote cross-cultural exploration. One of its latest expeditions was a 2006 continuation of DCTV's anti-gun violence campaign, where it took filmmaker and activist Terrence Fisher (Bullets in the Hood) across New York and Hartford, CT, to reach out to youth communities effected by gun violence in schools, libraries and other gathering places.

DCTV's new 2009 national tour intends to raise awareness of gun violence, promote anti-violence initiatives by reaching out to at-risk communities through various channels: town meetings, schools, youth events, the Internet, meetings with community leaders and policy-makers and more. By establishing a national support network and forging relationships between the organizations that already exist, the tour can enable a grassroots movement against gun violence and provide every community the essential tools to combat violence, tailored for the specific needs of each.

Over the next few months, Skaff will be researching the individual communities and the issues they are facing, discovering personal stories, pinpointing how each city can utilize the capabilities of the Cybercar, developing specific anti-gun violence action plans, designing a website to connect local initiatives and provide a forum for youth effected by gun violence, making contact with community leaders and organizations and proposing a final schedule and activities for the tour. The Cybercar's mission is to sow the seeds of democracy by providing an interactive medium for education, communication and empowerment, and Skaff knows its importance and its promise.

"More young people are being killed on the streets of Brooklyn than in Baghdad," said Jon Alpert, co-founder and director of DCTV, "With the support of the Ford Foundation, we are going to work to get Americans to pick up cameras instead of guns and to stop the bloodshed. This will be a nationwide effort, featuring teen filmmakers, community organizers, mothers, fathers and DCTV's traveling Cybercar theater, led by Stephanie Skaff. There is no time to waste."

ABOUT DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY TELEVISION CENTER:
DCTV is the most honored independent nonprofit media center in the nation. DCTV's productions reach over 100 million viewers each year and have received fifteen National Emmys, two Student Emmys, two DuPont-Columbia Awards, a Peabody, and every other major prize in the broadcast field. DCTV consistently produces some of the best and most important documentaries about issues in America and around the world. For over thirty years, DCTV offers unique programs for underserved youth, community programs, affordable workshops in digital media, production facilities, and equipment rentals. For more information, visit http://www.dctvny.org.

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013
212-966-4510
http://www.dctvny.org

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