PLAY IT FORWARD 2023

This spring, we’re shining a spotlight on our apprentices and interns through our Play It Forward campaign to support 14 emerging creatives in our program. In this blog post, we’re highlighting three young professionals on staff to learn how they discovered their creative passions and what lies ahead.

Get to know Lacee Cottman (Social Media Intern), Jeffrey Obike (Arts2Work Multimedia Apprentice) and Aleeia Townes (Design Intern)!

 

I really never thought I had a creative passion. It wasn’t until I got to Wide Angle that I realized that I did. I started to explore writing more, it became kind of my niche, and I was pretty good at it. It didn’t look the same as everyone else on our team. Other people pick up cameras, do design, draw, act…I write.

I initially came to Wide Angle through Urban Alliance because I was interested in graphic design. I loved all the aspects of graphic design, but it wasn’t until later, more into my design internship, that I discovered my passion for making the copy that goes with the design. On the back end, there’s writing the copy that goes with the images, marketing info and videos. That’s how I got into copy editing and content creation. It’s all the things I love, rolled into one.

I’m a Social Media Intern. I’ve been in the program for two years. It’s been a great way to get connected to other people, and connect to my creative side. I make posts that highlight our staff and students and their daily accomplishments, share cool things at Wide Angle and exciting news about the organization. I create reels that are fun, engaging and informative - if you haven’t seen them, check them out!

As a psychology major, it’s very rewarding to be able to see the impact of my words on other people. I really have a passion and motivation to make a positive change in this world and spread kindness. That’s a major aspect of this job that I love and really appreciate.

My future plans are up in the air - I will be graduating from University of Baltimore in winter 2023. I’m still exploring what I want to do in the field of psychology and whether or not I want to go to grad school. I know my future includes helping my community. Destigmatizing mental health and mental health support, particularly within the Black community, making sure there are more resources for underserved communities to access mental health support, and just making the world a better place, wherever I land. 

I don’t think that I could have found a better organization to support me through this journey. I have felt so motivated and encouraged by everyone I worked with during my time at Wide Angle. I’m definitely a different person than I was when I walked through the doors in 2019. I thank Wide Angle for all that’s been done to nurture my creativity, build connections for me, and support my family in our times of need. And I’m so excited for what’s next and to continue to be a part of it. 

Check out some of Lacee’s projects:

When I initially joined Wide Angle, I really just joined as a thing to do. I don’t think I even knew what happened at the Baltimore Speaks Out middle school program. My mom told me that my friend Ben went to it. We both went to a small private school in Baltimore. It wasn’t a diverse school. Going to an after school program in another part of the city really broadened my horizons. When I learned how videos were edited, I realized it was something that I could do. And, I realized that I could use those skills in my personal life and bring them to projects with friends.

After middle school, I was interested in continuing to work on projects, so I joined the high school video program. We were learning a lot, and we received stipends. That turned me on to the idea of doing more video and getting paid for it. I was building my personal portfolio and having a lot of fun doing client work with my friends. I didn’t have good grades, but I had a big portfolio through Wide Angle and through my personal projects. That’s really what got me into college - I went to Columbia College in Chicago, which is one of the best film programs in the country. My portfolio is what got me in.

When I was in college, I would come home in summer or over breaks and I could still come back to Wide Angle and do freelance work. Once I graduated, I was dividing my attention between my freelance work, a part time job and Wide Angle. It was just a lot. I was encouraged to join as a formal Wide Angle apprentice, and I’m glad I did. It’s been a little over a month since I started in that position. 

I’m a MultiMedia Producer. I go on shoots, I work with the cameras and lights, work with clients on set, edit the video files and make edits to specifications of the project. In this role, I hope to build my skills in pre-production. That means being in more conversations where a lot of the decisions are made and where a lot of the logistics and developing the message of what the video will convey. 

In 2015, when Ben and I were juniors in high school, we launched Fortune Visuals, a production company with specialization in music videos. To date, we have produced over 150 videos and landed 3 on live television (airing on MTV and BET Jams). I want to learn as many skills and as wide a set of skills as possible in my apprenticeship, so that I can bring them back to my own company. Not only the technical film skills, but the business side of Wide Angle Productions, so we can scale up Fortune Visuals. 

I want to tell my own story as an independent filmmaker, not just produce client work. If people only see that you can shoot and edit, that’s what they hire you to do. If people see that you can conceptualize, then they will hire you. That's what I want to be hired for. 

Check out music videos produced by Fortune Visuals (warning: explicit language):

I’ve always liked the arts since I was a little girl, I come from a very creative, hands-on family. I’ve always seen some of my family members do something involved with creating/using their hands. My favorite class in elementary and middle school was always arts. Even when I was young, I always told myself that I wanted to have a creative career, but I wasn’t sure what that pathway looked like for me. I went to high school at Baltimore School for the Arts. I was really interested in drawing and painting, but not so much designing (ironically, I always thought I was bad at design). After high school, going to Maryland Institute College of Art, through my professors and the courses I took, I started to connect to graphic design in a different way.  I just discovered that maybe I can be good at graphic design.

I realized that this could be a good step for me. I thought it could be a good career choice. I’m a graphic designer right now and I’m discovering how I can get better at it. My idea as an artist is always how can I get better at my art. Everyone needs a graphic designer, so having experience in graphic design will give me career options. There’s a lot of opportunities, that’s why I majored in.

I heard about Wide Angle’s design internship through a friend who was also doing an internship. I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be part of a community of designers, connect to mentors and get more professional experience. 

I’m growing because I’m able to understand how to design things in a team. I’m able to collaborate with others and build on top of their ideas. At school, I’m only designing for myself, and not with others. It’s very different because when I’m working for actual clients, I have to do a lot of research and understand their brand, in order to build something for them. They have to actually like it, and if they don’t, I need to understand what I have to do for them to like it. It’s fundamental for me to build these skills to get into the profession of being a designer. 

I’m in my last week of school for my junior year. I have the whole summer ahead of me and I’m so excited to be busy with Wide Angle. That’s my hope. I want to explore what I personally want to do as a designer. I’m sure Wide Angle can help me with that, through developing passion projects and the other work we do for clients. I have no idea what my dream job is, but I know I still want to continue to do school.  I’ve started thinking about graduate school and if I want to do that after college. I want to be very educated and have a lot of experience in a lot of things. I want to have some kind of ownership of something, of some kind of business.  In five years, I hope to be happy and hope to have a good job where I’m able to financially help my mom feel comfortable with everything and help my family. 

Check out some of Aleeia’s personal projects:

To be successful in their careers, young professionals like Lacee, Jeffrey and Aleeia need a wide range of 21st Century skills. They are expected to collaborate, step into leadership and think critically. They have to read and write media content fluently. And, they need creative outlets to unpack the world around them.

Your investment will provide wages for apprentices and interns as they build important professional skills, develop their artistic portfolios and prepare to move forward in their careers this summer.

 

MEET THE AUTHOR

Moira discovered her interest for visual art in middle school, and cultivated that passion in high school and college (where she studied painting and photography). She moved to Maryland to pursue her Masters in Community Arts at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008 and spent five years working with BCCC’s Refugee Youth Project to support the social and emotional integration of refugees. She has over fifteen years of experience in creative youth development and has worked with communities in Baltimore, as well as in Honduras, Nicaragua, Vietnam, England and India. In Fall 2013, she joined Wide Angle as the Youth Photography Traveling Exhibition Coordinator. In 2015, Moira took on the Program Director role and in 2018 she transitioned to the Development and Communications Director.

Wide Angle Youth Media