[BALTIMORE] A newly formed non-profit in the Charm City is investing in future media professionals with a cost-efficient media program.
The Asiffo Project — named after one of the brands former writers — focuses on teaching multimedia services to teenagers in the Baltimore/Washington D.C area. Students in the project learn photography, videography, journalism, and broadcasting to cover events and possibly began a career in media as a freelancer.
The project uses sports as the tool to teach the participants simple and cost-effective ways to tell the story.
Founder and Program Director, Kendall Hilton, believe this project can help eliminate the false narratives around the black communities.
“I’ve been an independent journalist for eight years, and the majority of events I’ve covered, I was the only young black man in the press box,” he said about his experience in sports media. “With all of the leagues becoming aware of the black person’s plight in America, I believe it’s important to have more black media professionals to cover the stories and athletes. Most of the disconnect happening in America is because of the lack of understanding from both sides and I think this project can help change those narratives.”
The Asiffo Project will include a maximum of 50 participants from middle and high school in the Baltimore/DC metropolitan area. Schools in poverty areas are the main target zones. The project also aims to establish media at schools for the athletic programs and eventually other areas of the school.
The innovation comes from the Amazon Web Services used to deliver content. After completing the courses in the project, participants have the option of being apart of a media team to broadcast a live sporting event organized by Fan-I Corp.
The events include the Preemie Classic, which will invite the top high school players for an exhibition game to bring awareness to premature birth. Participants will take the lessons learned in the project to conduct a live stream using cost-effective and simple AWS Media Services.
Other innovations come from the equipment as participants will use lenses for their phones, manufactured by Seattle-based photography company, Moment. Hilton has used the moment lenses for two years and has no intention of stopping.
“They’ve allowed me to do things I couldn’t with a normal camera,” he said about the lenses. “I saved money thanks to those lenses.
The Project will begin after students return from Christmas, January 2021, and last until May. Long-term, Hilton hopes this project can be injected into all 50 states, and eventually internationally, offering internships with international teams and leagues.
About Fan-I Corp: Fan-I Corp is a non-profit organization based in Baltimore, MD with the mission of to educate individuals starting at the age of 13 in media vocational training, financial literacy, Life Training, and Sports media in order to deliver innovation, integrity, inspiration, and innocence back into sports. By doing this, it will allow us to create a network of media professionals and other sports professionals such as agents, front office personnel, and players. The target market for our purpose will be inner-city youth, incarcerated youth, and adults.
