Zoom-In #24: Only in San Francisco.
The kid-produced and written video, filmed on a summer day in Dolores Park, showcases everything good about our fair city -- despite the obstacles the local youths had to overcome to finally finish and release it.
The children are the product of The Bayview-Hunters Point Centers for Arts and Technology (BAYCAT), which provides a venue for underserved youths to create and showcase their work in digital arts.
Two weeks ago, however, the nonprofit fell victim to a devastating robbery, forcing the students to start from scratch.
Nearly $50,000 worth of equipment was stolen from the BAYCAT office, including a dozen fully equipped student laptops loaded with a summer's worth of work.
"Beyond the cost of equipment, which is substantial for a relatively small nonprofit like us, the most devastating loss was five weeks of students' work, including completed comic books, first cuts of short films, and other projects that cannot be replaced," said Villy Wang, BAYCAT founder and CEO, to SFist.
But the kids refused to let theft stop them from showcasing their hard work.
BAYCAT launched a fundraiser titled "The Show Must Go On" in the hopes of replacing the stolen equipment before the summer premiere date of the students' videos. To date, $20,000 has been donated, nearly half of their goal.
Nearby tech giants Twitter and Pixar also rose to the occasion. Pixar donated supplies, while Twitter invited the youth group to visit their new headquarters on Monday, according to KTVU.
Officer Gordon Shyy of the SFPD told the SF Appeal that the investigation is still ongoing, with no suspect descriptions available.
"We had a rough summer," Brittany Janis, the organization's development manager, told SF Appeal. "But no matter how rough it got, BAYCAT overcame it".
According to schedule, BAYCAT premiered this summer's newest installment of "Zoom-In" on July 26, despite the fact that many of the students had to begin their projects from scratch.
Videos ranged from documentaries profiling local artists, members of the queer community and SF's notorious transportation system.
The featured video, "Only in San Francisco," was written and produced by ten- to 13-year-old San Francisco natives with the help of Bay Area producer Trackademicks.
Watch the awesome music video below, as well as a testimony from students above, and then consider donating:
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