By Elizabeth Rodeno –
CAPS crew members, including students in the CAPS/ECTV high school program have been busy recording, broadcasting, and live-streaming graduation ceremonies for all VUSD graduates from Buena, El Camino, Foothill, Pacific, Ventura, and VACE, as well as Ventura College. Everyone at CAPS congratulates all 2025 graduates.
Congratulations are also in order for the remarkable high school students in the award-winning Career and Technical Education (CTE) program known as ECTV. The CAPS Media Center is the “creative classroom” for the innovative ECTV program developed by CAPS in collaboration with the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) that has been training and mentoring students for 10 years.
The ECTV crews consistently win national, regional, and state awards for their original productions including W.A.V.E. (Western Alliance for Video Excellence) awards from the ACM (Alliance for Community Media). This year the ECTV crew received the 2025 W.A.V.E. award for Outstanding Arts, Culture and Events with their in-depth profile on Javier Gomez, the inspirational visionary, cultural icon, and director of the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center. The program can be viewed https://capsmedia.org/on-demand.
Every week ECTV students from Ventura high schools collaborate at CAPS to produce their own nationally recognized programs. Mentored by CAPS’ experienced producers, ECTV provides students with hands-on training in every aspect of media production. In the past 10 years more than 200 Ventura teenagers have been inspired by the ECTV program.
In July CAPS’ popular Future Filmmakers Workshops return with two week-long programs for young creative talent ages 10-14. The first session (July 14-18) is a is a Live Action Video Workshop. The second session (July 28-August 1) is a Stop Motion Animation Workshop. The fast paced, engaging and educational creative programs feature 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. Both fun-filled workshops are guided by experienced and engaging CAPS crew members. The enthusiastic crews collaborate in teams of four or five to create their own video productions.
Each Future Filmmaker Workshop session runs Monday – Friday, from 8:30am to 1:00pm at the CAPS Media Center. The program fee is $250 for the week and includes 5, 4-hour sessions, a one-year family membership at CAPS, a CAPS Crew Member shirt, graduation certificate and a special evening film festival for friends and family. Details and registration for the workshops are online at capsmedia.org.
CAPS Media is Ventura’s creative resource center for media education and training in video and radio production, postproduction, and podcasting. The CAPS Media Center is a place for community meetings and much more.
CAPS Crews have been delivering high-quality production services to the city of Ventura and the entire community for twenty-five years. To meet the team, tour the Media Center and experience for yourself what CAPS has to offer, go to capsmedia.org to join a free CAPS orientation on the first Monday of the month. Tour the CAPS Media studios and learn the benefits and resources available to members. CAPS’ experienced and engaging staff provides a world of unlimited creative possibilities for everyone in Ventura. Discover what CAPS has to offer when you join the CAPS Creative Community.
