CAPS digital storytelling summer program 2024

ECTV Students in Control room.

The CAPS Digital Storytelling summer program returns this year with week-long sessions July 15-19 and July 29-August 2 for students ages 10-14. Guided by experienced videographers and storytellers, the summer camp crews collaborate in teams of four or five to create their own video productions. The fast paced and engaging creative program features hands-on, experiential learning in all aspects of media storytelling including story development, scripting, casting, staging, directing, camera training with HD camcorders and smartphones, video composition, lighting, remote and in-studio production, graphic design, editing and more.

Each weeklong session runs Monday – Friday, from 8:30am to 1:00pm with class sizes limited to 10-12 students. The Digital Storytelling program is held at the CAPS Media Center at 65 Day Road in Ventura, between Loma Vista and Telegraph, on the eastside of Ventura College. The weekly fee is $250 for the week and includes five 4-hour sessions, a one-year family membership at CAPS, a CAPS Crew Member shirt, graduation certificate and a special Friday night film festival for friends and family. The registration deadline is June 1. Go to capsmedia.org/digitalstorytelling to sign up.

Prior to the summer program CAPS crews will be busy with multiple productions including recording and live streaming ceremonies for Ventura College graduates and all of the VUSD High Schools graduates. The Ventura College graduation is on May 17 at 10am. The VUSD graduations are June 11 – 13. On Tuesday, June 11 ceremonies begin at 10am with El Camino High School, Pacific High School at 12:30pm, Foothill High School at 2:30pm and VACE at 5:30pm at Ventura College. Wednesday, June 12 is Buena High School’s ceremony beginning at 4pm at Buena. The Ventura High School graduation is to be held on Thursday, June 13 at 3pm at Ventura High. All graduations will be live streamed by CAPS on the day of the ceremonies and recorded for broadcast on CAPS channel 15 in the days and weeks that follow.

Recently CAPS launched ReCAPS, the special weekly series featuring storytellers throughout Ventura County. Every Monday night at 7pm a new edition of ReCAPS premieres on CAPS Channel 6 and streams online, with stories and histories by local storytellers sharing their personal journeys. Recent ReCAPS storytellers include Moses Mora, Adam Hart, Jake and Jenny Dilbeck, and Carlos Ortega. In the coming weeks ReCAPS will feature Luis Sanchez, Lucas Zucker, Regina Hatcher-Crawford, Jim and John Proctor, David Endaya, Dustin Gardner and many more.

Congratulations to Phil Taggart, one of CAPS Media’s many artists in residence, who, along with his Arts In Exile crew won a 2024 WAVE Award for excellence in community programming from the Alliance for Community Media’s Western region.

Everyone in the community is invited to visit the CAPS Media Center on the first Monday of each month at 6pm for informal introductions. The evening includes a tour of the CAPS studio, information on CAPS membership benefits, and a creative overview of media production from concept development through production. Everyone is encouraged to drop by and discover what CAPS has to offer.

CAPS Media manages and programs cable channels 6 (Public) and 15 (Education and Government), and CAPS Radio KPPQ in Ventura, and manages the CAPS Media Center, at 65 Day Road, which is open Tuesday – Thursday, 12p– 8pm. CAPS provides unlimited creative resources and expertise to everyone in Ventura.