Tags: filmmaking

Reel Grrls is a non-profit program that empowers girls to critique media images and to create their own films!Piloted in 2001, Reel Grrls is a unique non-profit after-school media & technology training program that empowers girls to critique media images and to gain media technology skills in a safe, open environment, mentored by a network of multi-cultural women media professionals. Each year, 80 girls go through our program and graduate with valuable skills in video and audio production. We believe that it is important to give young women the skills to critically evaluate the media they are exposed to and then to empower them to produce their own media. As media plays such an influential role in our global society, we believe that if women and girls are to achieve equality and advancement in today's world they must be taught to be media literate.

William Davenport is a filmmaker, musician and teacher. He has worked on award winning productions and has shown his work at film festivals around the world. William owned a successful commercial production company for many years, before becoming a full time teacher. He has taught advanced filmmaking courses at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking, Art Academy and the Art Institute. For three years he managed a television station and taught broadcasting courses at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale. He became interested in special education and autism while teaching at the high school. William holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Art from San Francisco State University; Master of Arts in Education in Instructional Technologies also from San Francisco State University; he is currently completing a Masters Degree at San Francisco State University in Special Education, with an emphasis on Autism.