Beyondmedia has been hired by the Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA) to produce a feature documentary in HD format that traces the history of struggle of African Americans and Latinos in Illinois higher education and the heroes of those struggles. We spent the spring and summer shooting over 40 hours of footage and gathering interviews across the state. The first short piece is in post-production and will be released in early 2009. The project is funded by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

In the Summer of 2007 About Face Theatre, Beyondmedia Education and Howard Brown's Broadway Youth Center developed an intensive theatre and video project to address the current state of HIV amongst youth. Twenty-five LGBTQ youth and their allies met every day for two weeks at the Center on Halstead to discuss sex education, to tell their personal stories about HIV and AIDS, and learn about how to become allies for those who are HIV+. In the workshop, the participants were trained on cameras, and began to shoot a new youth oriented sex education video titled "HIV: Hey, It's Viral!". The participants were also trained in the practice of theatre, and began creating the script for next year's AFYT mainstage production.

Art, and its power to communicate information in a unique way, has always been central to the movement to support those of us affected by HIV and AIDS. This summer's rigorous arts program served as prevention for its participants, and as a way to reignite the fight to end HIV and AIDS. Much of our work is dedicated to separating myth from fact and undoing the miseducation the participants inherited from our culture. Old and tired myths are still being perpetuated and even safeguarded by the current abstinence-based sex education system in our country. By laying the myths to rest in this summer's workshop, we are now part of the conversation about HIV and AIDS.

The final version of the film "HIV: Hey, It's Viral!" will debut at the Center on Halsted on September 10th!

For the third consecutive year, Beyondmedia will continue our collaboration with Brown Eyed Girl, a Chicago agency serving girls in foster care. During the 2007-2008 school year, 15 girls in foster care created a performance piece and documentary video to address girl-on-girl violence. This journey culminated in a community screening and discussion held at the Austin Public Library, where the girls spoke about the tangible impact of the workshop on their sense of themselves and the world around them. Beyondmedia's third collaboration, taking place during the 2008-09 school year, will focus on autobiography and activism. Our continued relationship with the young women of Brown Eyed Girl fosters a sense of trust and consistency that is missing in many of their lives.

The Chain of Change project will organize approximately 24 groups of youth across the state of Illinois to individually and collectively strategize how to end violence against women and girls, thinking about their own roles in this work and relative to other communities.

As these video segments are created, Beyondmedia will upload them to the Chain of Change interactive website, enabling the participating groups and the general public to track the development of the project. The website will also facilitate discussion among these 24 groups about the work that is being made in an effort to strengthen bonds between these groups and to raise awareness of violence against women and girls, in all its complexity.

Visit the website now - www.chainofchange.com