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Young Storytellers Foundation

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Young Storytellers Foundation httpswwwyoungstorytellerscomwpcontentuploa

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Young storytellers foundation glee big show 2015 never say rhino


Young Storytellers, formerly the Young Storytellers Foundation or YSF, is an arts education non-profit operating primarily in Los Angeles.

Contents

Young Storytellers currently serves elementary, middle school, and high school school students in Southern California, including the cities of Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica, and Burbank. YSF targets Title 1 schools; these are schools and school districts with the highest concentrations of poverty in which academic performance tends to be low and the obstacles to raising performance are the greatest. The program improves writing, literacy, and self-confidence.

The young storytellers foundation interview with bill thompson brain food daily takepart tv


History

Young Storytellers began as an in-school mentoring program in 1997 - by three screenwriters Mikkel Bondesen, Brad Falchuk, and Andrew Barrett upon learning about cutbacks in funding for creative arts programs in the Los Angeles public schools. The first school adopted into the program was an elementary school in Culver City. The program was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2003.

Programs

The organization benefits elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. In 2016, 20th Century Fox invited Young Storytellers students to participate in the Fox Writers Intensive.

Script to Stage

The Script to Stage program is its main program whereby students in fifth grade write short plays in the course of ten weeks later to be performed by actors on stage. Students in the programs are selected on multiple criteria by teachers and can include students who are not proficient in the English language, have difficulty with reading and writing, or have social assimilation issues. The Script to Stage program produces 900 scripts per year.

Volunteers

The program is run in each school by a volunteer Head Mentor and volunteer Mentors. Each mentor works one-on-one with a student for the duration of the nine-week program to create a screenplay and the resulting screenplay is then performed by a volunteer performer. There are currently over 2,500 volunteers in Los Angeles serving 1,200 students in 60 schools.

Funding

The organization received grants from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association multiple times. In 2013 the organization was represented by Olivia Wilde and received a portion of the $1.6 million in grants given by the HFPA that year. 2016 in the amount of $10,000.

In 2015, the organization received a grant from the $4.5 million given to the Los Angeles arts scene from Michael Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Young Storytellers has received grants and contributions from many philanthropic organizations including: The National Endowment for the Arts, The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation, The Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, The Herb Alpert Foundation, The Eisner Foundation, The Endeavor Foundation, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Sony Entertainment, The Skoll Foundation, Participant Foundation (a donor advised fund at the California Community Foundation), Paul Newman Foundation, The Nimoy Foundation, The Louis Borick Family Foundation, HBO, Warner Bros., WME Entertainment, CAA, NBC, Fox Gives, FOX Broadcasting, FX, City National Bank, and Target, as well as from thousands of individual contributors. Jane Fonda's, Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential, has also provided funding.

Notable Performers

In 2014, student screenplays were performed by Rob Corddry, Max Greenfield, John Cho, Alison Brie, Jillian Bell and Stephanie Beatriz about which Corddry stated, "[the program] is kind of mythical in this world that I run in. You can't have a bad time. There's no pressure. You can't fail. It's pretty much everything you want as an actor. It's pretty much everything I've been looking for my whole life".

2015 Biggest Show

  • Keegan-Michael Key
  • Jack Black
  • Judy Greer
  • Max Greenfield
  • Tom Lennon
  • Jason Mantzoukas
  • Stephanie Beatriz
  • 2016 Biggest Show

  • Jordan Peele
  • Seth Rogen
  • Tony Hale
  • Thomas Middleditch
  • Nasim Pedrad
  • Charlie Day
  • John Cho
  • Max Greenfield
  • Busy Phillips
  • References

    Young Storytellers Foundation Wikipedia