The 401
ARTS & CULTURE
BY PAUL KANDARIAN
Ian Barnard , right , and his team teach students about camera operation and editing to tell a story in film .
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LEGACY COLLECTIVE RI .
Forging a New Path
A new nonprofit shows young people the ins-and-outs of digital storytelling .
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EGACY COLLECTIVE RI IS A NONPROFIT started in early 2024 by Ian Barnard , a commercial photographer and videographer who wanted to give back by helping young people interested in learning an often-confusing business without incurring any costs . The nonprofit is now teaching its fourth cohort of students . Rhode Island Monthly recently sat down with Barnard to discuss the initiative .
How did this come about ? It was the result of a lot of the work I was doing in the community surrounding impact-focused filmmaking . We say often that the landscape of storytellers is limited so we wanted to expand the opportunities for people in all communities across Rhode Island to participate in the freelance / creator economy .
Me and my core team spent the better part of two years developing a program that would allow young creatives to learn the pathways to starting a career in that space . We developed a twelve-week program teaching the fundamentals of freelance content creation and how to navigate the gig economy while also allowing them to learn on a variety of sets and scenarios .
There ’ s no charge for this ; how did that happen ? It was made possible mostly through the incredible generosity of the Papitto Opportunity Connection . In fact , much of this work was inspired by storytelling we were already doing .
What sort of things do you teach ? We start with the fundamentals of camera operation and basic editing , and then spend the latter portion of the program on best practices of freelancing by covering topics like pitching , invoicing and getting clients . Alumni can also continue renting from the equipment library at no cost while they save enough to acquire their own .
What are some important traits you look for in applicants ? Passion and interest in the industry . And it ’ s nice if they have a glancing knowledge of the industry , even if it ’ s just filming with their phone . Honestly , I ’ d rather they have no knowledge and a lot of passion than a ton of knowledge and think they know everything .
Your young artists find a lot of work ? We ’ ve had students land retainer content work for clients like United Way of RI and be on set for national ads like Toyota . We had a team create content for PVDFest and many work in businesses across the state . One young woman said she discovered herself here and found the ability to forge her own path . We ’ re not giving them a roadmap , we ’ re giving them the tools to find it themselves . 🆁
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