Expand<\/a><\/p>\nFrom June through September, 21 apprentices interested in topics such as film, TV production, writing, content creation, storytelling, theater, video production, editing, social media and digital marketing are instructed on topics such as set etiquette, finances, leadership, mentorship, artificial intelligence and craft development, and learn about behind the scenes careers from members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union.<\/p>\n
Patterson said the connections the youths are making could lead to a union card. The cohort even had the opportunity to speak with cast members of Showtime\u2019s \u201cThe Chi\u201d about the reality of working in the profession.<\/p>\n
Mariah Brown, 18, spent her summer between high school and college, serving as a production assistant on Richard Gallion Entertainment\u2019s play, \u201cA Fall From Royalty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked it\u2026 working with the actors running through their lines while on the stage rehearsing, just in case someone forgot their line,\u201d Brown said. \u201cHelping them put their microphones on, testing them out before the play and rehearsals\u2026 making sure they had everything, putting stuff on the stage here and there. I was emailing schools for field trips, so people can come to the shows.\u201d<\/p>\n
With her sights set on early education as an entering freshman at Northern Illinois University, the Roseland resident said she\u2019s been recommending Destiny Outreach to other people. While Brown found it challenging, she said the job placement that Destiny Outreach made possible opened her eyes to many different things \u2014 from hands-on work, friendships, learning how to work with teams, adapting to changes.<\/p>\n
Michael Banks, 22, a videographer from Beverly, and Jordan Sweet, 24, a University of Illinois Chicago graduate with a marketing degree, both want to be triple threats in entertainment with their focus on directing, producing and writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that I needed to not seek out more knowledge\u2026 I needed to be in the right room with the right people,\u201d Banks said of his reason for joining the first cohort. He\u2019s now in those rooms, working behind the camera and handling media for Destiny Outreach.<\/p>\n
Sweet has learned how to run a team, walk with integrity and practice patience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not know what I was getting myself into, but it\u2019s been a great opportunity to immerse myself, learn from a Hollywood producer,\u201d he said. \u201cThough I have my degree, just immersing myself in this experience has taught me more than I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apprentices from Thornton Township High School and Hinsdale South High School in Darien said they gained confidence in themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was like a different world for me,\u201d said Kamryn Gibson, 19, a sophomore at Ball State University in Indiana. \u201cI\u2019m majoring in computer information systems, but getting this insight on this side of the business, and seeing that there\u2019s roles for me within my major, has me more interested to look into the technical side of doing things within the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gibson, who is interested in entertainment project management, is working pre-production for the Stellar Awards \u2014 considered the Grammys of gospel \u2014 which will be held in Nashville on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might not know exactly what you want to do with your life, but this will definitely help,\u201d said Darius Donald, 22, of Hyde Park. \u201cYou\u2019ll get answers, whether you don\u2019t want to do something or you do. It\u2019s nice. And you\u2019ll be surrounded by people who know what they\u2019re doing, who have years of experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donald is considering using his art and photography skills for films or journalism.<\/p>\n
The apprenticeships are funded through grants from the Illinois Department of Human Services\u2019 Illinois Youth Investment Program, Phalanx Family Services, Greenwood Archer Capital, CineCity Studios Chicago and Cine Circle.<\/p>\n
The program is gearing up for the next cohort for this winter. Patterson expects more participants as registration starts in October. More information can be found at destinyoutreach.com<\/a>.<\/p>\nGibson said she\u2019ll be telling her friends about the apprenticeship. \u201cI will definitely be letting people know when the application opens to get into this,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re being placed and meeting these amazing people\u2026 being connected in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patterson plans to produce a documentary on the Destiny Outreach program, as well as a podcast where apprentices share stories about their industry experience and their growth. Under her for-profit arm, Destiny Unlimited, she also plans to shoot two projects in Chicago: one is a TV series and the other is a feature film, a women ensemble \u201cdramedy\u201d loosely based on her relationships and coming of age in Hyde Park called \u201cHealing Circle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patterson is building her legacy on her \u201cDestiny Babies.\u201d She wants to see the nonprofit continue and is talking about expanding the program for more cohorts and a wider age range. More sponsorships can subsidize more apprentices. Training, mentorship and job placements can then be paired with programming beyond resume building and mock interviews. Patterson plans to track the apprentices\u2019 trajectories, have check-ins to see what their needs are and make sure they continue to have resources such as master classes and connections with collaborators.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to deposit into the next gen, into communities that otherwise would not have access to something like this, means so much to me,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been in my heart to make sure that people who don\u2019t know this world of entertainment, to open that up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Sider Danita Patterson\u2019s childhood exposure to the arts \u2014 tap, ballet, jazz, piano, music and even poetry…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,171,5386,1818,1370,1072],"class_list":{"0":"post-136793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-things-to-do"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115009876695670186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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