WeOwnTV roughly translates in Sierra Leonean Krio as 'Our Own TV.’

WeOwnTV is a collaborative media project that promotes self-expression as a way to explore our shared humanity and build a foundation for the future. Our first program uses community based media workshops to teach filmmaking techniques to a group of young Sierra Leonean ex-combatants and survivors of their country’s civil war. WeOwnTV will provide the technical support, encouragement and training that will allow these young adults to creatively produce their own media and share their experiences and ideas with the world.

The communities we are interested in working with suffer unfortunate logistical realities and gross inequalities in access to computers and telecommunication networks. The Internet and new media technologies have the potential to democratize our global dialogue and bring a revolutionary balance to the existing corporate media system. WeOwnTV will also provide a means of distribution and support to help these important stories be heard. This interactive exchange will create ongoing relationships, connecting project participants to a global community, creating future business opportunities and giving them a voice in the global dialogue that is shaping their future.


BAVC – a bridge to the Bay area:

The Bay Area Video Coalition is the nation's largest noncommercial media arts center dedicated to providing access to media, education and technology. BAVC is a production facility, an affordable training center, a national resource in video and audio Preservation, a pioneer in technology-based workforce development and a trusted guide for independent media makers. BAVC is also currently working to foster community technology innovation by providing nonprofits and independent media makers with access to a managed high-speed fiber network. WeOwnTV is both fiscally sponsored by BAVC and the recipient of a 2008 Media Maker Award. BAVC Media maker Awards is an in-kind grants for access to state-of-the-art post-production, new media services and an invitation to participate in Producers Institute for New Media Technology and Innovation Laboratory.

BAVC will be much more than a typical fiscal sponsor to WeOwnTV development. WeOwnTV is the first Mediamaker Award project supporting new media development and will be used for work in the Innovation Lab to support the interactive web portal, and edit and encode media for multiplatform distribution via the site. This Lab will also house the Nonprofit Institute for New Media Applications, which will foster Technology R & D for the non-profit sector.

BAVC will be an advisor and collaborator in curriculum development, web platform development, and distribution and community engagement strategies. BAVC has built a network of youth digital media training programs serving thousands of young people in the Bay Area and has created formal linkages between high schools, community based organizations, post-secondary schools and industry employers. We are in the process of developing sister city/ sister school relationships with WeOwTV programs and BAVC network.

We are also seeking traditional broadcast partners for distribution in both television and radio. We will monitor our success not only by the positive changes we anticipate to see in the lives of program participants, but also by the success of media distribution.