Do you see yourself as an Entertainment Reporter?
Join us for one of our Online Boot Camps
Audition for our Fall KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Boot Camp
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Online Audition form: https://forms.gle/95ddNXG6r39FKwk29
Deadline for online audition registration: May 4, 2024
Online Audition: On or around May 6, 2024
Next audition deadline: June 4, 2024
Next online audition: On or around June 5, 2024.
Note: You must be between the ages of 9 to 16 to audition!
Spring Camp 2: April 13 to May 18 (12 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. CT, 10 a.m. MT, 9 a.m. PT)
Summer Camp 1: June 10 - 15 (12 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. CT, 10 a.m. MT, 9 a.m. PT)
Summer Camp 2: July 15 - 20 (12 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. CT, 10 a.m. MT, 9 a.m. PT)
Our camps that meet during the school year all take place via Zoom for six consecutive Saturdays. Our summer boot camps meet daily, Monday through Saturday, with Saturday being "Parent's Day." For both camps, each session meets for approximately 50 minutes at the times listed below. There is an assignment given at the end of each class which should take you less than an hour to complete. For the camps that meet weekly, the assignment is due within 48 hours. For the summer camps that meet daily, the assignment is due within 4 hours. Please plan your time accordingly. (If additional time is needed, please ask your instructor). The purpose of the deadline is that the following week's class is based on completing each assignment.
What happens in class? You will watch and review films, discuss how to evaluate and review them in both written and video format. You will also learn how to prepare for an interview with talent and creators of a film. You will develop your ...
- Critical thinking skills
- Writing skills
- Self-esteem and confidence
- Team building skills
- Vocabulary and grammatical skills
- Researching skills
- Preparation skills
- On-camera skills
Take a look at some of our current reviews and interviews:
Instructors
RANNY LEVY
The invasive impact of media on children became the impetus, in 1991, for Levy
to create KIDS FIRST! / Coalition for Quality Children's Media, dedicated to
promoting and nurturing quality children's media as a vehicle for
social change. A former educator, Levy designed an award-winning
television series, Kidnetics, for PBS Affiliate, WNIT-TV, produced
an ACE-nominated television show (Cable Magazine), and managed an
independent film production and distribution company, OneWest Media,
selling to national and international markets including PBS, the
Discovery Channel and Showtime. Ranny has written two books, "The New York Times / KIDS FIRST
Guide to The Best Children's Videos" and "A Parent's Guide to the
Best Children's Videos, DVDs and CD-ROMs" and is a frequent speaker
at conferences about children's media.
TERRY SOLOWEY 
Terry Solowey has a wide range of expertise in early childhood / elementary education and children’s media. She is a writer and developer of print and multimedia programs with a focus on outreach, curriculum and content development. Ms. Solowey served as Assistant Director of the Sesame Street Preschool Educational Program, as Manager of Outreach for Thirteen/WNET and Program Director for KIDS FIRST! where she continues to serve on the Advisory Board and works with the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Program. Terry is a certified instructor for the KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Boot Camp and a member of the KIDS FIRST! National Advisory Board.
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CHRIS THOMAS
Chris Thomas is an award-winning screenwriter and a seasoned creative writing instructor who specializes in helping young writers get their stories out of their heads and down on paper. A Senior Visual Strategist, she has written and produced animated educational tools for the national anti-tobacco trials, as well as presentations for the DOJ, the Oklahoma Bombing trial, the FAA, NATO, and NASA. As a Senior Film and Video Producer she is the recipient of three Alfie Awards including the Judges Choice Award, The National Retail Council’s Heineman Trophy and an ITVA award for outstanding Achievement. She served on the Board of Directors for the Boulder Writing studio and most recently, her screenplay, Desert Run, took first place in the Writemovies National Screenplay Competition and finished in the top 10% of the prestigious Nichols Competition. Her work has also been recognized by the New Mexico Film Foundation. Chris holds an MA in Elearning.
ED GREENE, PhD
Dr. Ed Greene serves as VP for Partnerships and Community Development at the Hispanic Information Television Network (HITN), Brooklyn, NY. Prior to his work at HITN, Ed worked as director of educational outreach for a U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn Transmedia project. He has been an instructional leadership coach for principals and PreK-2 teachers in Detroit Public Schools for Teachscape. Ed was a senior adviser and consultant to Cito USA and its Piramide Approach to Early Learning and director of global outreach for Sesame Workshop. Over his forty-year career, Ed has worked directly with infants, toddlers, preschool children, adolescents and families, as well as in a variety of roles and capacities in the philanthropic, private, public sectors and higher education. He is a former board member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation and currently serves on the Boards of the Council for Professional Recognition and KIDS FIRST! / Coalition for Quality Children’s Media.
“Write What You Know, Shoot What You See” is Andrew Bever’s mantra. A lover of all art, with a focus on cinema and short films, Andrew has been making his own short films since high school, starting when he was tasked by his drama class teacher to write a two act play for his final, and instead wrote, shot, and edited the same script using a combination of a Sony Hi8 camcorder and tape recorder. After handing it in, showing it to the class, and seeing their reactions, it was a high speed, downhill race chasing the dream of being a filmmaker.
Andrew attended several colleges in New Mexico and West Texas, before he found his alma mater in Santa Fe University of Art and Design, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree, with a focus on Film Producing and Cinematography. He currently owns and operates Bad Raven Films in Southeast New Mexico, specializing in local commercial production, social media content, and product videography and videography. Bever currently serves as lead video editor and video coach for the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics team and we love him!
PHILOMENA SALEM
Philomena is an artist, educator and advocate of child well-being. Philomena studied Media Technology at Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas and earned a BA in Moving Image Arts from the Santa Fe University of Art & Design. Philomena has worked directly for the betterment of children since 2007 when she worked as a production assistant and juror for KIDS FIRST! She has worked with children of all ages in preschools, summer camps, museums and juvenile correctional facilities where she teaches video production, photography, theatre, painting and graffiti art, poetry and graphic novels. Philomena is the founder of the non-profit organization, Unlocked Minds, Inc., a programming resource that provides creative outlets, goal-oriented mentorship and professional networks to incarcerated and at-risk youth. Currently, Ms. Salem teaches at the Santa Fe Art Institute, Golden Acorns Camp of Living Arts & Culture, the Garcia Street Club Preschool and a certified instructor for the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Boot Camp.
** This event is subject to cancellation if adequate registration is not received or other unexpected circumstances make it impossible to take place.
All camps have limited enrollment and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
