Community TV Network’s videos “Dear Mom, Dear Dad,” and “Our Hidden Culture” produced by youth involved in CTVN’s After School Matters program were chosen from among a field of 100 festival entries in a national competition to participate in the 2010 Do it Your D@#! Self (DIYDS) Youth Film Festival, which took place in Boston November 9 – 13, 2010.

CTVN youth participants Brittany Douglas and Leatrice Harris worked on the videos and traveled to Boston accompanied by CTVN’s video instructor Shawnecee Schneider, to represent CTVN’s Humboldt Park program at the festival.

Based in Cambridge, MA and celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, the DIYDS Youth Film Festival is a product of the Community Art Center’s Teen Media Program, whose goal is to encourage youth to use photography, video and filmmaking to share their stories and to incite positive change in their lives and the world around them.

“I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect but I was also excited because I had never been to Boston so this was a first time experience. It was great to hear what others though of our work, and to see how other peoples’ videos relate to me,” Leatrice Harris, CTVN Executive Producer.

Both Videos were written and produced by students in Community TV Network’s Hard Cover after school apprenticeship, which is provided in partnership with After School Matters. In “Dear Mom, Dear Dad,” two teens discuss their challenges and struggles in dealing with parental abandonment. “Our Hidden Culture” confronts attitudes, beliefs and misconceptions about sexual violence.

Dear Mom Dear Dad:

Community TV Network (CTVN), a leader in community access to media, is a Humboldt Park-based non-profit youth media organization. CTVN empowers low-income young adults and children in Chicago to identify, address, and resolve issues through the use and understanding of digital media arts. CTVN instills in youth the awareness, motivation, and tools they need to create a positive future for themselves and their neighborhoods.

Contact: Denise Zaccardi, CTVN Executive Director Email: info@ctvnetwork.org Phone: 773.278.8500 Web: www.ctvnetwork.org