Applications are now open for our fully funded documentary program here at Dodge—Community Voices: stories to create change. The mission of COMMUNITY VOICES is to create short, compelling documentaries about stories here in our Southern California backyard, with a focus on films with a relevant social issue at their core. Films will be given $5000 each to make their documentaries during the spring semester, with students working in teams of three or four. Students partner with non-profts to access subjects, and cover issues such as foster youth and homelessness, people with disabilities, environmental issues facing the region, and more. Prior experience with documentary is preferred but not required. Class meets Tues/Thurs 2:30-3:45 p.m.

To apply, please send an email outlining your experience with documentary film and why you’d like to take this course.

Applications due Friday October 31st to Professor Sally Rubin: rubin@chapman.edu.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about documentary filmmaking while making a positive impact in our community. Here is what a few of last semester’s students had to say about the program:

Community Voices  has taught me so much, not only about the process of documentary film-making, but also about the ability of these films to spark social change in a community. I not only gained an entirely new outlook on the social issue we chose to tackle in our project, but I was also able to learn from my fellow classmates projects. – Sydney Guthrie

I think the one thing I can take away from this course is the power of knowledge. Every time I take a documentary class here at Chapman, I come out of it feeling so empowered and enlightened. – Shaneika Lai

Community Voices doesn’t just make students better filmmakers, it makes them better people. Through this class I have seen what dedication is, what sacrifice is, and I’ve seen how hard it is to make a difference in the world. If we want to impact our communities we cannot be passive. Filmmaking isn’t really about the art, it’s about learning how to deal with mistakes. We never really get better at the process, we just get better at solving the problems along the way. Community Voices has given me this gift and I will preserve it for the rest of my life. – Chris Brady Denton

Thank you to the Dhont Family Foundation for its continued support of this program. We couldn’t do it without you!