Nuevas Novelas workshops in Boyle Heights

Thanks so much to our generous backers!

With your support, we're midway towards our goal for our Nuevas Novelas Program!

Throughout the next couple weeks, we will be posting testimonials of our students from the summer. Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and repost to get the word out about our fundraising efforts! 

We're in the final push to meet our goal by the first day of our Fall Term, October 3. If you become a monthy donor OR double your pledge amount (with your funds, or by bringing in matching funds through an employer or friend), we will enter you in a raffle to win a bottle of Kate del Castillo's Tequila Honor on the date of our upcoming fundraiser at Un Solo Sol Kitchen, October 23! To enter to win, please make sure your matching donor donates with their name (not Anonymous), and email us at justiceformysister@gmail.com to alert us of your additional donation or match.

 We appreciate your generosity! With your support, we are training young people in filmmaking, so that we can have true representation of our communities in Hollywood. If you know any youth interested in partaking this Fall in our Tuesday classes at Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory in Writing for Web & TV, please have them write us at justiceformysister@gmail.com. 

Cheers! 

Kimberly Bautista, Executive Director of the Justice for My Sister Collective

Thank you to our donors! We're thrilled to see an increase of support in light of our students' premiere last week! In five days, we've raised $1885 from 28 new supporters! Please help us continue to expand our supporter base by sharing your commitment to our work on social media and sharing our link: www.nuevasnovelas.com

We appreciate all your efforts in helping us change the face of Hollywood! Our stories are desperately needed, and they need to be told by folks who are underrepresented in the industry. Your support is allowing us to build the skills of young leaders in our communities who now have the platform of filmmaking to heal and advocate for anti-racism, inclusion, and gender equality.

This week has been a productive planning week for our team. We're prepping for the fall term and looking forward to expanding our services. Please consider becoming a monthly contributor, donations of all sizes go a long way! 

We will be hosting a telethon next week Wednesday August 23, 3pm - 9pm at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory. Feel free to join us and meet our participants! If you'd like to volunteer for the telethon, bring your roladex or business cards and cell phone fully charged! We'll have pizza. 

2706 East Cesar E Chavez Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90033

Hope to see you then! 

Much appreciation, 

Kimberly Bautista

Executive Director, Justice for My Sister Collective

Friday August 11th was a magical evening to remember! Thank you to the 100 supporters who showed up to remind our students that their voices matter and their stories are needed! 

We had a full house, and our Nuevas Novelas students really stepped into their own power to share their experience of growth over the summer. Six of our facilitators and mentors were in attendance and also took part in the program. 

We announced two new courses we hope to offer this summer: music video production and webseries development. We continue to fundraise for our next milestones and welcome our new donors to our community! There's been an outpouring of support in the wake of our summer premiere! Please follow us on social media to help us spread the word of our films once we release them! 

https://www.youtube.com/user/justiceformysister

www.facebook.com/justiceformysister

www.instagram.com/justice4sister

And of course, our donations and information page: www.nuevasnovelas.com

Thank you for your support, you make our work possible! 

Here's what our youth says: 

Thank you for your support of Nuevas Novelas with Justice for My Sister Collective! 

The Nuevas Novelas team is thrilled to welcome an incredibly talented and well-versed group of students this year! All women of color, we have 18 participants who are ages 17 - 24 and demonstrate strengths ranging from media literacy to storytelling and transnational, queer, anti-colonial feminist analysis. It's extremely exciting as a facilitator to learn from our participants! 

Day 1, we looked at various clips from mainstream media to dissect and assess through a feminist lens. Participants used theater to explore how to tailor stories for different audiences and to describe transnational/intersectional feminism to those audiences. 

Day 2, our Programs Manager Hilda Franco used film clips and music videos to explain and contextualize gender-based violence, the cycle of violence, and healthy relationships. Students identified healthy versus unhealthy messaging in the media. 

Day 3, writer of acclaimed film Under the Same Moon offered tailored feedback to several participants on their story concepts during her workshop on screenwriting. We talked about how we can decolonize, and what it means to decolonize the narrative. They watched and engaged deeply with my comedic pilot The SweetSpot. 

Today is Day 4, and we will dig into their short film outlines and practice their pitch as they finetune their stories to liberate. I'll give a Master Workshop on directing and producing in pre-production mode, for casting and forming a crew. 

We've raised about 20% of our goal and are about 20% through the program, so let's get the word out to ensure we stay on task to cover our expenses and bring in all the expert mentorship and guidance that we need. We appreciate your support!

"As a queer woman of color I’ve always felt that much of the work presented in film, tv, and books didn’t represent me. It is hard to find works that approach issues and subjects through an intersectional lens. I want to participate in this training because gaining these new skills will give me new means to share my stories and ideas. With these new skills I hope to one day be able to create works that will show the stories of those who for so long have been left out of the narrative."

"I witnessed my undocumented mother become a victim of domestic violence in the U.S. and the outcome of it has since shaped my life and understanding of various systems including "traditional" gender roles and how they perpetuate misogyny."

"I have considered myself an intersectional feminist for years and have focused on the direct and indirect effects media has on womxn, poc, and society in general. I am a visual artist and I make political art on subjects such as feminism, animal rights, racism, colourism, lgbtq+, etc. I would love to venture into film production and create more eye-opening projects."

"Ever since I could remember, I wanted to help my community but life took a turn somewhere and I thought I had to sacrifice my aspirations in order to help others. I am finally allowing myself to go after my dreams and I want to share in some of the responsibility of telling those stories. Training in public speaking and advocacy would be invaluable. Working with professionals in the industry would be a dream come true as I really want to learn confidence in the editing room and on sets. Feeling like I don't deserve opportunities like this has always held me back but I am hoping for this chance."

"I grew up disliking novelas because of the shallow representation of women. I would love to input my experiences to create media that realistically represents the strong women in this world."

Thank you for helping us get the word out, so we can reignite this fundraising campaign and have all the resources we need to fund this program and make a difference for our participants' career path and increase our collective impact!