Success Story #203: Sydney

The Factory has been very influential in my life. As I said, I have been
working with the art of film-making for a few years, but not until this
year have I seen myself grow so much in such a short time. I have
learned to work a little more professionally and network with people,
especially my peers. I have gained not only knowledge but also
resources and friends.

- Sydney

Sydney Matterson is a 17-year-old student in BAVC's Factory
program. She joined the program as a junior at the San Francisco School of the Arts when one of her teachers told her about BAVC. She is an Oakland native and currently lives in Richmond, California.

Sydney's interest in film-making first came as an actress when she was in middle school, but she soon decided she wanted to try her hand on the other side of the camera. She wanted to experiment with the different ways she could tell a story. It doesn't come as a surprise, then, that she counts among her artistic influences Paul Haggis, the director of "Crash."

On election day last year, Sydney organized a "youth voting booth" in the middle of
downtown Oakland and shot footage for her current project - a documentary
on youth voice and voting. That project, now titled, "Youth Voices" premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in early May 2009 in the Youth Bring the Truth program. "Youth Voices" is also included in the Youth Film for Change Award competition at the Festival. After the film screening, Sydney participated in a panel titled "Youth Make Media, Incite Change," sponsored by Adobe Youth Voices.

In her own words, "The idea for 'Youth Voices' came
mostly from my frustration of not being able to vote last year. Like
the rest of the country, I was glued to the television whenever
election coverage was on, and I wanted to be a part of the election of
our new president. The election of 2008 was a huge deal, it was a
turning point in many ways, and I needed to be involved some way. That
is where "Youth Voices '08" came from. I know my peers have just as
much to say, if not more, as I do. So I wanted to create a place where
people with opinions whose vote would not be counted could make their
voices heard. Although we did not elect the president, now the rest of
the country, mainly adults, are able to see the youth as the
intelligent and opinionated leaders of tomorrow."

We asked Sydney if she would ever send her video to President Obama. She replied, "I have been encouraged to send
my video to President Obama, and I would love for him to see it,
especially since many of his supporters are featured in my movie. My
hope is that I can get a lot of plays in festivals and online, and
maybe my video can become something he hears about and eventually
views. It might be a stretch to ask him to seek me out. But I would
love to get it to him somehow."

Sydney is currently thinking about producing a music video, and getting ready to attend film school at New York University where she was accepted for Fall 2009.