Malik Dubose, 17, Israel Ortiz, 17, and Latasha Wilson, 18 edit their Free Spirit Media video about professionalism Friday.

At age 18, Kelsey Phillips is already an award-winning filmmaker with three internships under her belt – thanks to Co-op member Free Spirit Media(FSM).

Created by Emmy Award-winning producer Jeff McCarter, FSM addresses minorities’ underrepresentation in the media by teaching production skills to urban youth. Last week the organization kicked off its Flash Forward Initiative, which places 24 high school students in 6-week internships at the city’s most prestigious organizations, such as WBEZ, the Chicago Recording Company and WTTW.

Phillips, who is marking her third year with FSM, is interning as a camera operator with CIW Co-op member Umoja Student Development Corporation, a nonprofit that supports at-risk youth. Through FSM, she also produced a documentary on Chicago’s LBGT teens that won the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Award at the 2011 Media That Matters Film Festival.

“FSM has helped me a lot as a person,” said Phillips, who recently graduated from Power House High School. “They changed my career path. They helped me learn how to be more professional. They gave me my first work experience.”

By placing youth like Phillips in professional production houses, the Flash Forward Initiative gives students an opportunity to build a career in the media, said Chad Rispalje, the FSM productions producer who coordinates the program. The students work at their production sites 12 hours each week and participate in professional development workshops organized by FSM staff on Fridays.

“We want to give the youth an opportunity to be out in the real world, the production environment,” Rispalje said.

Kelsey Phillips (second from the right), 18, and her peers critique videos Friday.

On Friday morning, a group of 16 interns gathered at FSM’s media production classroom at the North Lawndale College Preparatory Charter High School‘s Collins Campus to produce short films about what it means to be professional The students produced two-minute videos on wide-screen iMacs, laughing and bantering as they edited the clips from last week’s hour-long downtown scavenger hunt for examples of professional conduct,.

“We’ve got to get this in the video,” said Malik Dubose, 17, pointing to a man who wore sandals under a business suit that the team filmed as an example of unprofessional attire.

At the end of the exercises, the students presented their videos and critiqued one another’s work.

Rispalje, who led Friday’s session, said he hopes these workshops will prepare the students for working in professional environments during their internships. And so far, the feedback from employers has only been positive, he said.

At Umoja Student Development Corporation, Phillips said she is filming her peers for a documentary on building safe places in Chicago’s West Side.

Her favorite part of the job? Capturing the kids’ emotions.

“Sometimes they get scared, but they still bring it out in front of the camera,” she said.

And that’s exactly what FSM hopes to achieve, Rispalje said.

“It’s giving the youth a chance to get their voice heard, to tell their stories,” he said.

Want to get involved? Check out Free Spirit Media for information.
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Written by: Jia You
Photography by: Jia You