Colorado Office of Film, Television & Media (COFTM) and CU Denver’s College of Arts & Media (CAM) announce the launch of the CAM Creative Corps, a student and recent-graduate run team dedicated to helping nonprofit arts and cultural organizations pivot to online programming and remote learning opportunities. As safer-at-home restrictions continue to disrupt the traditional vision of events, performances, and summer camps, CAM Creative Corps will work with these organizations to utilize various technologies and virtual, stream-able strategies to reach audiences in new ways.

This joint effort was born organically as COFTM began running a series of webinars in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This sparked a conversation between Deputy Film Commissioner Mariel Rodriguez-McGill and Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) Executive Director Deborah Jordy about the amount of inquiries from creative organizations regarding how to move programming online. Rodriguez-McGill had recently read an article in The New York Times about a Cornell Tech initiative that mobilized student volunteers to help elderly populations connect with loved ones via technology. From there her thoughts were localized: “Why not activate media savvy students to help the Colorado arts community in a similar way?”

Rodriguez-McGill reached out to CAM Dean, Laurence Kaptain. COFTM and CAM have a long standing history of partnership. CAM students and faculty are currently working on two COFTM grant-funded projects–– Film & Television faculty Jim Phalen’s documentary about homelessness and food-insecurity and Film & Television faculty Tom Kolicko’s documentary about Grey Wolves. The Dean of CAM, Laurence Kaptain, understood the need for virtual assistance in the arts community, how CAM students were well suited to offer the skill-set, and, additionally, the value of paid work for students and recent grads, as well as the opportunity to network with local arts organizations.

“CAM students, hailing from the areas of film and television, music and entertainment, and visual arts, will be able to help our community partners navigate new digital landscapes for communications, meetings, exhibits, concerts, and other creative endeavors,” says Kaptain. “The students who will support a better digital presence are immersed in digital imaging, sound, communication, imagining and most importantly—story telling.”

Creative Corps Students are able work with organizations to strategize and demonstrate the capabilities of many different platforms, including:

●Zoom

●Facebook Live

●Instagram Live

●Skype

●YouTube

●Vimeo

●Twitch

Creative Corps Students also provide guidance on subjects such as reaching audiences through Instagram, utilizing multiple live streams, whether to present live or pre-recorded presentations, and best practices for participating in a video presentation. How-to documents and FAQs are also provided for most platforms.

To work with the CAM Creative Corp or learn more, please fill out the inquire form found on the CAM Creative Corps website.