NEWS

“FAITH’S WORLD” WINS RISING STAR AWARD AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST

September 13, 2021

The Guilbault family (filmmaker Faith Guilbault, her mom and dad) travel to Richmond to receive the Rising Star Award at the Richmond International Film Festival. Big thanks to the Guilbault family, mentor Joyce Chopra (BYkids mentor), BYkids producers Sammy Chadwick, Mindy Menkowitz Scheier, Gary Sheinbaum and Runway of Dreams.

DISCOVERY EDUCATION CREATES BYKIDS CHANNEL FOR DISTRIBUTION OF ALL BYKIDS FILMS AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL

September 1, 2021

Discovery Education, our longstanding distribution partner, launches a new BYkids channel.

In partnership with Discovery Education, the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place, we share our thirteen films and teacher resources promoting empathy and understanding to help make global issues feel personal, relevant and actionable for millions of students.

“We are excited to bring BYkids content to teachers and students worldwide through our award-winning K-12 platform,” said Robin Porter, Discovery Education’s Vice President of Digital Content. Created by students for students, BYkids engaging films provide students a new understanding of different cultures, issues, and experiences from around the world.”

“BYkids is thrilled to have this platform to help ignite important conversations around human dignity and social justice and inspire a new generation of social activists,” says Holly Carter, Founder and Executive Director of BYkids.

Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 140 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Discovery, Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states and trusted organizations like BYkids to empower teachers with leading edtech solutions that support the success of all learners.

ABILITY MAGAZINE PROFILES “FAITH’S WORLD”

August 30, 2021

Thank you Ability Magazine and writer Karina Ulrike Sturm for the wonderful profile of our work and FAITH’S WORLD.

When the world starts listening to children or young adults, great things happen. Over recent years, more and more children began advocating for their cause – whether it is Greta Thunberg and her work around climate change or Malala Yousafzai and her fight for female education – and their voices influenced not only public opinion but also caused political action. However, children still aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Holly Carter wanted to change that. Her organization BYkids allows children and young adults to produce documentary films and show their world from their perspective. ABILITY Magazine’s Karina Sturm talks to journalist, filmmaker and founder Holly Carter about the organization, as well as to Faith Guilbault, one of the young adults producing a film about her life with cerebral palsy.READ ABILITY MAGAZINE ARTICLE

THIRTEEN WNET NEW YORK INCLUDES SEVEN BYKIDS FILMS IN SHOWCASE

August 26, 2021

Thanks to Thirteen WNET New York for including seven BYkids films in their “Gen Z Life in Documentaries and Dramas” showcase.

Gen Z life today is shown in this series, with seven films from BYkids’ Gen Z filmmakers including AGAINST THE CURRENT, L’CHAIM, FAITH’S WORLD, I COULD TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY LIFE, BUDDHISM, BHUTAN AND ME, POET AGAINST PREJUDICE and MY BEAUTIFUL NICARAGUA.

WATCH THE FILMS

BYKIDS PARTNERS WITH MAINE COMMUNITY INTEGRATION AND THE JOHN T. GORMAN FOUNDATION TO LAUNCH THE BYKIDS LEWISTON YOUTH FILM INSTITUTE

July 6, 2021

We partnered with Maine Community Integration and the John T. Gorman Foundation to bring our new film institute to the city of Lewiston. Elizabeth Hummer, an award-winning BYkids film mentor, worked with 16 young women from Lewiston to teach them how to capture and tell their stories on film. They worked to document developments in Lewiston mean for them and their community.

James M. Brasher Joins the BYkids Board

June 14, 2021

BYkids is thrilled that James M. Brasher, Founding Principal, Development Counsel, has joined the board. Jim is a chief strategist, development and communications officer with major clients including The Carter Center, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at Georgetown University and the Global Fund for Children. Jim is the Founding Director of Global Philanthropists Circle with Peggy Dulany and David Rockefeller. In addition to the BYkids Board, he serves as a trustee of Future Generations University, Madoo Conservancy and LongHouse Reserve.  He lives in Sagaponack, NY. 

LOTS OF GREAT PRESS ABOUT FILMS BYKIDS SEASON THREE ON PUBLIC TELEVISION

May 13, 2021

Cultural Survival Quarterly published this profile of BYkids filmmaker, Daunnette Reyome-Moniz, and her film, AGAINST THE CURRENT. READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

The Forward’s PJ Grisar published a feature on the BYkids film L’CHAIM as two generations of Germans look to the past and future of the countries Jews.
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Creative News announced that Final Cut has collaborated on all three seasons of the Films BYkids series for public television alongside Significant Others, Final Cut’s sister company, which completed the finishing for all three seasons. Stephanie Apt, founder of Final Cut and board member of BYkids adds: “I am passionate in my belief that film gives voice to issues that we need to confront. The films in season 3 lend fresh, deeply empathetic perspectives to some of the most pressing issues faced by humanity around the globe. Final Cut is proud to help cultivate the talents of the next generation of storytellers.”
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

BYkids Founder and Executive Director is interviewed for WNET UP NEXT.
LISTEN HERE

The Baltimore Sun features Faith Guilbault and her BYkids film, FAITH’S WORLD about being differently abled and how her film will serve as a global teaching tool. The story was picked up by Yahoo News and the Kaiser Health News.
READ ARTICLE HERE

“Nothing stops 17-year-old filmmaker, model and activist, Faith Guilbault – not cerebral palsy, epilepsy or cortical vision impairment.” Meet Faith on An Apple a Day podcast.
LISTEN HERE

Our partners at HundrED wrote this wonderful piece. “Films BYkids gives voice to young people and uses film as a tool for global understanding,” says Sandra Sheppard, executive producer for THIRTEEN and director of WNET’s Kids’ Media and Education. “We are delighted to provide resources that can help educators foster cross-cultural awareness and empathy in their students.” “Virtual learning provides an opportunity to evolve education — by bringing the world to kids – wherever they are, in classrooms and homes,” said Holly Carter, founder and executive director of BYkids, a nonprofit,  which uses documentaries made by kids to support social-emotional learning. “Film is the perfect medium for 21st century learning. It is intimate, authentic and captivating.”
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

BYKIDS HOSTS TEACHER WORKSHOP USING “MY BEAUTIFUL NICARAGUA” TO LEARN ABOUT COFFEE, GENDER AND CLIMATE ISSUES

May 11, 2021

Matt Nink leads an engaging 75-minute, middle- and high-school workshop using MY BEAUTIFUL NICARAGUA. “This workshop was very helpful for me to add to my tool box. Thanks for such timely resources and ideas,” says a middle school teacher from Wisconsin.

  1. View MY BEAUTIFUL NICARAGUA (27 min) 
  2. High School Lesson Plan: Role of women in coffee production and how climate change affects the growers. Climate Crisis 
  3. Middle School Lesson Plan: Where coffee comes from and how it gets to your kitchen 
  4. Q & A and Discussion

PRESENTING OUR NEW PROMO

April 23, 2021

Thanks to the profound words from Messiah Ramkissoon and everyone at Final Cut and Significant Others (especially Stephanie Apt and Miky Wolf) we are proud to present this powerful new message about listening to our youth. WATCH HERE

THE NATIONSWELL COUNCIL HOSTS SCREENING OF “AGAINST THE CURRENT” AND DISCUSSION WITH FILMMAKERS TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY

April 22, 2021

BYkids partnered with the NationSwell Council to screen and discuss AGAINST THE CURRENT with filmmaker, Daunnette Moniz-Reyome, her mentor, Evan Mascagni, and BYkids Executive Director, Holly Carter. It was a lively Zoom conversation, moderated by A Picture’s Worth Elissa Yancey. The audience was blown away:

“So moving. One of the best short films I’ve ever seen.”

“Bravo! This was amazing and powerful storytelling! Thank you for sharing your journey!”

“Wow! Just wow. Thanks so much for this beautiful, heart-warming film, Daunnette”

“This is extraordinary. From turning negative experiences into love as a form of medicine to embracing two-spiritedness to healing oneself from historical trauma and being a cultural warrior — so many lessons and sources of inspiration!”

“Wonderful, powerful imagery and messaging. Healing trauma by acknowledging it, releasing it, sharing the experience with others. We do not have to he held back by our past, ancestral or in this life! Beautiful film!”

“So inspiring! To sustain tradition and community amidst so many barriers and direct resistance! an incredible model of resilience.”