Programs

1. MovieMaking
In MovieMaking, our core program, children learn the basic elements of moviemaking. With guidance from our staff and volunteers, children get to make their own movies, from start to finish. They may work behind the scenes as story boarders, artists, scriptwriters, prop and set designers, camera operators and directors. They can also step in front of the camera as actors or as the subjects of their own documentaries. After filming is complete, one of our talented BayKids volunteer editors edits the movie, adding music, sound effects and other finishing touches to create a final, polished movie.

Often collaborating with other kids to make their movies, children develop new social and cognitive skills and, most importantly, experience the joy of personal expression using their newly acquired skills.

Within the MovieMaker program, BayKids provides a few specialized programs:

School Re-entry Movies
To help with their return to school, children make movies that tell the story of their hospital experience. These movies offer a very personal story of a child's time in the hospital, helping classmates understand what the child has been through.

Bedside Editing
Bedside Editing gives children the opportunity to edit their movies, using state-of-the-art digital editing tools. Working bedside, BayKids staff and volunteers teach kids the skills they need to edit their movies, giving them complete ownership of their projects, from conception through post-production.

2. Medical Education Movies
BayKids children create movies to help new patients learn about a specific disease. These collaborative, kid-focused movies cover topics such as what's involved in a specific treatment, tips for making hospital life easier and the hospital staff who work with patients. After watching these movies and seeing what other kids are going through, new patients feel a little less afraid.

3. Kid Tours
In Kid Tour movies, children give tours of specific hospital units (e.g. Pediatric Dialysis Unit). The tours help new patients and their families learn about all the different aspects of a hospital unit, from the perspective of kids. Kid Tours are an invaluable resource for helping children and their families feel more comfortable when they first arrive at the hospital.

4. BayKids Movie Library
Our BayKids Movie Library provides a valuable resource to children and families. Located in the hospital schools, the BayKids Movie Library houses all of the movies made in the MovieMaking program. Movies may be accessed by age of the moviemaker, language, illness or medical procedure. When a child (and his or her family) is new to an illness, it is extremely helpful and comforting to learn about the illness and treatments from a child who has been through it.

5. Celebrity Interview Programs
BayKids is currently launching this exciting new program that gives children the opportunity to interview real celebrities and to design and produce their own celebrity interview shows.

6. In-Hospital Movie Screenings
Twice a year, Baykids hosts in-hospital movie screenings for the children, their families, the hospital community and the public. These mini-film festivals give the moviemakers a chance to show off their work and be recognized for their inspired creations.

7. Film Festivals
Every year we submit select BayKids movies to film festivals around the country. We are extremely proud that a number of our children's movies have been selected to be included in festivals. This is a wonderful opportunity for our moviemakers to expand their audience and to be part of the larger film making community.

8. Memorial Movie Screenings
BayKids is honored to host memorial movie screenings. The screenings are a time and place to celebrate each child and recognize his or her uniqueness and creativity.

9. Family Connect
Family Connect is our program designed to connect families with the BayKids community. A newsletter keeps families and children up-to-date on movies airing in the hospital, upcoming film festivals and movie screenings, and other news about BayKids activities and children.


Testimonials

From Children

"When you're in a BayKids movie, it requires teamwork. And a part of being a teammate is being good friends with everybody on the set and helping everybody. Sometimes the movies can be funny, sometimes they can be serious, sometimes kids just want to say what's on their mind, and share it with the world."

- Katy Potts, sibling of Jenna Leavor, Director of "10 Years at CHO."


"What's fun about making movies is that you're creating them in your own way. Anything you want to have in your movie can be up in your movie!"

- Asanti Scott, Director of "Into the Wilderness" (2008) at UCSF Children's Hospital


"It's fun being in movies and making up your own movies. The movie I did was for teenagers. It was interviewing teenagers and being the host of my show. It was fun. I would recommend moviemaking to other kids."

- Charmaine Washington, Director of "Bugs No More" (2008) at Children's Hospital Oakland


"I was glad to make the movie. I'd never made a movie, and the kids at school and my family and maybe some of the kids in the hospital could see it and it could make them feel better, not so scared."

- Dominic Petuya, MovieMaker at UCSF


"Sometimes when you're in the hospital, it's really boring. But when you're laying in your hospital bed and can think, "I could make a movie," you get very excited! BayKids movies are better than a thousand channels of cable!"

- Katy Potts, sibling of Jenna Leavor, Director of "10 Years at CHO" (2009) at Children's Hospital Oakland


From Parents

"Al-Walid and I are wildly delighted and yet humbled by this wonderful opportunity which has enabled him to learn how to make a movie in the BayKids MovieMakers Program. Thank you so very, very much. He is more joyful about this singular accomplishment than he has ever been about any other project that he has completed during his life until now. The Bay Kids program has enabled Al-Walid to feel self-confident, creative, intelligent, and very, very capable once more. Al-Walid and I are grateful to BayKids Moviemakers 2009."

- Khadijah Farahbahksh, parent of Al-Walid Olaibah, 11-year-old director of of "My Life in San Francisco" (2009) at UCSF Children's Hospital


"It was fun, and very touching that BayKids offers this to families and to kids who are in the hospital, and having a challenging time. It was fun to be a part of something that gave Dominic a reason to smile while in the hospital"

- Jennifer Petuya, parent of Dominic


From Hospital Staff

Maggie Greenblatt, Children's Hospital Oakland School Program"BayKids has such a huge and important role in a hospital setting. The program is very therapeutic and empowering... we recently had two teenagers who interviewed each other about their experience in the hospital. It was very touching and revealing.""
Maggie Greenblatt,
Children's Hospital Oakland School Program Teacher


"I've had many families express to me (after working with BayKids) how wonderful it was to see their child get out of bed and smile again. You have to see the power of the program to believe it. I've seen it, which is why I know how wonderful it is."

- Julie Pollman, UCSF Children's Hospital School Program Teacher


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