Training
Hands-on filmmaking education from concept to final cut.
Networking
Connect with industry professionals and build your career path.
Connections
Document stories that matter and create change in your community.
Nonprofit Organization
— Youth Filmmakers Initiative
Youth Filmmakers Initiative (YFI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering students through the art of filmmaking. In the United States, a person can complete high school, earn a college degree, and even pursue advanced graduate studies without ever being required to take a course in Black history.
Despite its profound influence on the nation’s social, cultural, and political development, Black history remains largely absent or significantly mentioned in many school curricula. YFI seeks to help change that reality by using filmmaking as a powerful educational tool to introduce students to the rich and often overlooked Black history within their own communities.
Students learn every aspect of production — from writing scripts and directing scenes to editing final cuts using professional-grade equipment.
Our curriculum supports school achievement by connecting filmmaking to history, literature, and social studies, making learning deeply relevant.
Youth document overlooked stories from their own neighborhoods, preserving cultural heritage and amplifying voices that rarely get heard.
We open doors to film school, internships, and media careers — helping students turn a passion for storytelling into a professional future.
“Storytelling is one of the most powerful mediums in the world. We need more young people to embrace their early gifts as storytellers, thereby diversifying the landscape and telling beautiful stories or our past, present and future. Kudos to YFI!”
YMI Cultural Center
“Youth Filmmakers Initiative is the kind of program young people truly need—one that inspires creativity, builds confidence and empowers youth to preserve important history.”
Asheville Museum of History
“I know Todd as the maker of well-researched documentary films about Asheville’s Black History, and as a champion of public historians throughout the city. I cannot wait to see what stories his young students decide to tell.”
Foreground Consulting
Students learn every aspect of production — from writing scripts and directing scenes to editing final cuts using professional-grade equipment.
Stay updated on upcoming programs, events, and filmmaking opportunities.
