THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280072
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHELE SNIPE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 164 lines
WHILE A MAKE-UP artist powders one actor's face and checks the rouge of another, Harry Young saunters on to the set wearing a little make-up of his own.
The word ``YES'' is painted in green across his forehead.
The teenagers around him crack up. Yes, as they've come to learn, is Young's favorite word.
That's ``Yes'' as in ``Yes, you can do just about anything you set your mind to.''
That's ``Yes'' as in ``Just say Yes'' to building life skills.
That's ``YES'' as in Youth Entertainment Studios, Young's organization that gives inner city kids an opportunity to learn about acting, screen writing and directing.
The 36-year-old former vice-president at The Family Channel and four others founded YES a little more than a year ago.
The most recent YES project is a three-week summer camp. Based at Hampton University, it's for high school students from urban areas around the country. Twenty-two teens from 11 cities are participating in the program that ends Saturday.
Last week, nine of them were on location in Chesapeake's Foundation Park to film a scene for a music video.
In 94-degree heat, they scan the area for an ideal shot. With hardly a lick of shade, cameras are set up, actors rehearse and everyone's sweating.
As part of their final project, the teens divide into four groups to produce a music video, a public service announcement (PSA), a commercial and a documentary.
Before starting the projects, YES teens spent more than a week learning screen writing, directing, lighting and editing.
``I didn't like writing much, but they've taught me a lot,'' says Tyrone Williams, 18, of Chesapeake, who now wants to pursue a career in screen writing.
``It's about knocking down stereotypes, which we have a lot of in Chesapeake,''he says.
The slogan for the PSA is ``People are like peanuts. It's what's on the inside that counts.''
It's these sort of lessons that YES staffers hope kids leave the program with.
``Kids learn social skills, a sense of community and team work,'' says actress Dawnn Lewis, who appears in ``Dream On'' and is chairwoman of the YES board of directors.
Young approached Lewis to get involved with YES after watching her interact with students last year at a screening.
``They can take any of these (lessons) as far as they want to go in any field,'' she says.
Young adds, ``We want to build. . . . ''
``Character, action and vision,'' chimes in 17-year-old Aaron Daniels of Philadelphia, finishing the sentence.
YES developed from another project with a similar mission, Young says.
With his help, a Chesapeake teen group successfully taped a rap video in 1991 that aired on Black Entertainment Television (BET).
With that success behind him, Young was ready for something bigger and better. Together, with Valerie McLean, Sandrie Serrano and Mark Reeves, he developed YES.
``Planning this has been the hardest thing I've done in my life,'' says Young, who lives in Chesapeake. ``But it's also the most fulfilling.''
The group spent a year researching inner-city high schools in areas with strong media bases.
They found four.
The program focuses on urban locations because ``these are over-looked areas with so much rich talent and energy,'' says McLean, who is also YES' production coordinator.
The high schools are located in Chesapeake, Chicago, Pittsburgh and East Palo Alto, Calif.
Each school has a year-long program teaching students to use production equipment and to work on their own pilots, Young says.
The students were chosen for the summer camp based on participation in the YES program in their high schools. Students were granted scholarships to attend based on financial need.
Students from New York, , Philadelphia, Boston and Compton, Calif., were also selected through contacts the YES staff had.
Companies such as IBM, International Family Entertainment and Lynch Entertainment are funding YES programming, along with private donations.
Young says plans are under way to expand the program.
``In one year, YES has been recognized as a project that works, and can grow and fulfill a lot of dreams for young people,'' he said.
The three weeks at Hampton have done just that. The teens have traveled to Washington D.C. to tour BET and to Richmond to visit the set of Sinbad's latest movie.
When they weren't on the road, they attended classes on the Hampton campus, where they are staying in dorms.
Tyrone Williams says he's having fun at Hampton. ``I've always wanted to stay on a college campus.''
Now, in their final days, many teens take time out from their group projects to work with Monty Ross, producer of ``Crooklyn'' and ``Malcolm X'' on ``New School,'' YES' biggest summer project.
``New School'' is a half-hour drama that Young hopes to sell to a network.
The pilot, being filmed at Norfolk's Maury High School, is about ``a group of friends who are forced to confront life,'' he says.
The main characters in the pilot are local professionals. But many of the YES teens are assisting with the production and acting as extras. Jose Antonio Figueroa, 18, of Chicago, is among them.
Wearing a view finder and toting a scene board, he shouts, ``Scene 13 A. Take two.''
``I was talking to the big man,'' he says, speaking of Young. ``I told him I wanted to be Monty Ross, and he made me Monty's assistant.''
These are the memorable moments the YES staff seeks for the teens.
``I wish they had a program like this when I was in high school, in Harlem,'' says Eric Harrell, who works on the production staff at WVEC-Channel 13 and plays one of the main characters in ``New School.''
He says working on the project has been a great experience. ``I'm happy that inner-city youth have something to do for the summer.
But not everything is riddled with excitement.
``It's tough. A lot of young people have second thoughts,'' says Ross, having just completed a scene in the gymnasium bathroom.
With his jean legs rolled up and his shirt soaked with sweat he says, ``It's not all glamorous.''
Maybe not.
But the YES group doesn't seem to mind.
Back in Foundation Park, the set is finally ready for shooting. Figueroa uses the producing/directing skills he learned working with Ross.
``Quiet on the set,'' he says breaking the silence and creating laughter among his peers.
After more than an hour of preparation, the teens run through the scene. In 25 seconds, it's over.
As excitement mounts with the prospect of returning to the air-conditioning at Maury, someone realizes the tape wasn't rolling.
Figueroa calls for quiet on the set and says ``Action!'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
FAR LEFT, TV actress Dawnn Lewis teaches at the YES summer program.
TOP LEFT, Kerwin Devonish, left, lines up a shot, as Candy Walton,
19, of Newport News prepares for a bathroom scene at Maury High.
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
BELOW LEFT, Kenny Geidel, left, and Tyrone Williams, right, edit a
video with the help of Mark Reeves.
Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
Susan Spano, 19, right, of Norfolk applies makeup while waiting to
film a scene at Maury High as Kristen O'Donnell, 15, looks on.
by CNB