ANNUAL REPORT 2020
“The film was a lot of fun to make, and it helped me understand how filmmaking is an art. Especially, preparation and perseverance were key when making the film.” —Spanish ESOL Student “Absolutely fantastic experience for your child — they learn and gain an incredible amount of experience in just five days. The workshops are all great — teachers are enthusiastic and keep participants engaged — even as we have had to move to virtual workshops.” —LH Parent “It has a wonderful creative and spontaneous atmosphere and you can make a friend in about fifteen minutes flat.” —LH Student
“I was impressed with how quickly they adapted to a virtual format. It was our second summer with Light House and we have always been pleased with the responsiveness, skill, and kindness of the staff. I couldn’t believe the movie my son made in just one week all alone in the virtual camp! So great.” —LH Parent
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Dear Light House Community, Light House Studio is wrapping up its 20th year and we hope to celebrate this milestone with you in person in 2021. Some of you know about our beginning, about a group of local filmmakers, artists and educators who saw the need for an after school program to encourage youth story telling through film. Shannon Worrell, Paul Wagner, Fenton Williams, Will Kerner and others spearheaded early efforts and challenged teens to be more than just “consumers” of media, but “to become critical evaluators of the information they receive, and mindful creators.” From the start, Light House teaching artists met students in their neighborhoods and encouraged them to tell their unique, personal stories. 2020 has challenged us all, but with your help, Light House shifted gears by investing in equipment to give every student a filmmaking kit to use at home during virtual workshops. You gave youth of all backgrounds a chance to bring stories to life, even while at home. Students told us Light House is “great thing to do during quarantine” and “a place where young filmmakers can bloom.” Our resilient storytellers are the reason we do what we do at Light House Studio. Since 1999, Light House has helped students create thousands of films. Refugee filmmaker, Sahar Adish, created a 2008 Peabody award-winning film, Sahar: Before the Sun. That same year Quintin Franklyn traveled to Los Angeles to see his film, Sew What?, at the LA Film Festival. Our
student film archive provides a document reflecting our times. Some titles speak for themselves, like The Hajib, Better Than Baghdad, Black Girlhood: Assets & Access, and Changing the Narrative. Our young filmmakers explored controversial subjects such as The Petition (the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Market Street Park), Food Deliveries in Westhaven (asking why restaurants won’t deliver to Westhaven housing after dark), Say Their Names (inspired by the nationwide protests this past summer). Students made fictional horror films such as Teddy, comedies such as Unhappyland, and science fiction such as Loop. Our community’s young people compete on a national and international level, with many winning awards. We would not be here without you. Your support allows our unique Film Education Center—the only dedicated one in Virginia—to continue on. We hope you’ll visit our Vimeo page (vimeo.com/cvillelighthouse) to view some of our students’ films and hear their stories. We hope you smile when you watch our 20-year film and see our positive impact. And we hope you will know what we know—your support is invaluable.
With gratitude,
Deanna Gould Executive Director
Sources of Income
Allocation of Funds
Programs & Tuition: 23% Fundraising: 10% Administration: 6%
Donations & Events: 14%
Operations: 9% Grants & Foundation Gifts: 63%
Programs: 75%
86% of students attend for free or reduced tuition Local Artists & Filmmakers*
Films Produced
163
333
Students Taught (youth)
Students Taught (adults)
Community Parters
859
166*
54
Percentages of students who said they improved in the soft skills listed below:
Creativity 99% Collaboration 56% Planning & Organization 96% Storytelling 99% Critical Thinking 94% Empathy 92% *LH doesn’t usually list adult students, but we taught more in 2020 than we typically do. *employed teaching artists in # of teaching slots
In 2020, Vinegar Hill Theatre took a break from in-person screenings and re-focused on connecting our community of film lovers through discussion, education, and art. We hosted an Outdoor Film Series highlighting filmmakers of color in collaboration with McGuffey Art Center. We offered online master classes with industry professionals,
Photo Courtesy of Tanesha Hudson
film theory workshops allowing attendees to watch a film and discuss with others, and an online blog series collecting streaming recommendations from artists and curators in our local area. We thank you for your support and hope to see you online and outdoors for more films in 2021!
2020 Light House Studio Collaborations*
Abundant Life Adrenaline Film Project Albemarle High School ESOL Beloved Community C-ville Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Center CANDYD Center for Learning & Growth Charlottesville Home School Enrichment Center Charlottesville City Biking & Walking Charlottesville High School Advanced Spanish Charlottesville High School AVID Charlottesville Police Department Charlottesville Visual Storytellers City of Promise Clark Elementary Computers4Kids Creative Mornings CUEDIn Darden Business School Field School Habitat for Humanity Henrico County Public Schools Jack Jouett Lifeview Marketing Live Arts McGuffey Art Center Mountaintop Montessori
Music Resource Center National Coalition of 100 Black Women Charlottesville Peabody School Piedmont Virginia Community College Renaissance School Rivanna Conservation Alliance Sigora Solar Tanesha Hudson, ‘A Legacy Unbroken:The Story of Black Charlottesville’ Teens with a Purpose Tuckahoe Middle School Umby UnionDocs Collaborative Studio University of Virginia UVA Film Club UVA Women’s Center UVA Religion, Race & Democracy Lab Virginia Commission for the Arts / Poetry Out Loud Virginia Film Festival Virginia Film Office Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind VPM Science Matters Welcoming Greater Charlottesville Wilder Middle School Youth & Blue
*(in alphabetical order)
Vinegar Hill Theatre Completion of Two Studios
In 2020 we completed the addition of two purpose-built teaching studios and a rooftop terrace. Thank you for helping us make the addition a reality. We look forward to welcoming you to the new space in 2021.
lighthousestudio.org Annual Report Thank You: Catchafire, Christine Moog (Designer), Charlottesville Area Community Foundation