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Presented by the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum in partnership with UCCS Film Studies, Department of Visual & Performing Arts (VAPA)
Elevating Youth Voices in the Pikes Peak Region presented by YDA Founding Director, Tom Shepard (with Dr Nadine Boljkovac, UCCS, Moderator)
The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum presents the 2023 lecture series, featuring a wide range of speakers offering diverse perspectives and unique insights on Pikes Peak regional history. Please note that due to our HVAC project and the temporary closure of the 1903 El Paso County Courthouse, this lecture will take place at Ent Center for the Arts, Chapman Hall, 5225 N. Nevada Ave.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Elevating Youth Voices in the Pikes Peak Region – The history of documentary film in the U.S. took a dramatic turn in the 1960s, in tandem with the social and political movements unfolding at that time. As technologies increasingly became more accessible, everyday people began to tell their own stories and those of their communities, relying less on national news organizations and omniscient narrators. Since then, documentary storytelling has evolved into a myriad of sub-genres with diverse voices. In 2013, Colorado Springs-born Tom Shepard returned to Southern Colorado and founded the Youth Documentary Academy, (YDA) a non-profit organization committed to training youth in the region how to locate stories from their lived experiences and translate them into high impact documentary films. Since then, YDA has helped produced nearly 150 films, many of which now broadcast nationally on the PBS series ‘Our Time.’ Graduates of the program regularly bring their films into schools, churches, community groups and film festivals locally and nationally. Tom’s lecture will describe the history of the Youth Documentary Academy and this unique model for helping youth in the middle of the country to amplify their voices, engage in national discourse, and create a living archive of documentary stories in the region.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Tom Shepard has been directing and producing documentary films for over 20 years. His film SCOUT’S HONOR won two top awards at the Sundance Film Festival and broadcast nationally on the PBS program P.OV. He also directed and produced KNOCKING, a film about Jehovah’s Witnesses, which broadcast nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens. His most recent film UNSETTLED about LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival and aired nationally on the World Channel’s Doc World. Tom’s film WHIZ KIDS and his collaboration THE GROVE with Andrew Abrahams also both aired nationally on public television. All of Tom’s films have received acclaim in dozens of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Denver Post among others. Previously, Tom worked as an editor at National Public Radio for Linda Wertheimer. He graduated from Stanford University where he majored in biology and film. Tom is also the series producer for ‘Our Time’ on public television.
