Fremont, California, USA – Rob Giampapa created Next Up NoVa, a nonprofit arts and sports facility for the youth of Northern Virginia, combining his passion for creativity and film and his partner Travis Simoes' passion for athletics.
“We wouldn't be where we are without those things in our lives and we want to help more kids discover themselves,” Giampapa said. “We needed all the help we could get growing up and want to provide local youth with a safe, creative, high-level instructional experience.”
Next Up NoVa and the Next Up NoVa Youth Center in Gainesville, VA, do just that with 10,000 square feet dedicated to production and athletics, including a bike wall, two soundproof podcast studios, a state-of-the-art control room and a gym. In addition to athletics, the program offers free classes in videography, photography, podcasting, and audio/video production using ATEM Mini Pro ISO live production switchers, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K digital cinema camera, and Blackmagic Video Assist 5” monitors/recorders. 3G. and DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post-production software.
Closing the gap
According to Giampapa, “access to the arts has been shown to have positive benefits in the classroom, academic performance, and life skills, but funding is often cut. That's why we're here.”
For Next Up Nova, the goal is to close the gap between the visual arts programs offered at the school and the number of students in the area. “We don't do it with written homework or assignments; “We do it through hands-on learning, from pre-production to publication,” he said. “Fortunately, there are powerful and affordable tools, like our Blackmagic Design kit, that students can learn with.”
Powered by Blackmagic Design products, students study the arts of filmmaking, production and post-production, as well as create their own content, all with the same tools used by industry professionals.
“The quality of Blackmagic products is second to none. The ease of operation for the quality is difficult to replicate or explain to people who don't use cameras on a daily basis,” Giampapa said. “The image quality of the cameras and touch screen are incredible, and DaVinci Resolve is really taking the industry by storm. “Resolve benefits new-school creators and editors, while providing tools that are also key for old-school filmmakers.”
“Resolve's functionality and node-based workflow provide a very smooth editing experience for newer creators, along with the speed needed when editing video game, YouTube, Twitch, sports, and TikTok content, especially with action, effects or graphics. Its magic mask tool has also been a revelation for the green screen app. It's a totally different style of editing than traditional film and commercial editing, but Resolve is becoming the industry standard in traditional editing as well. The ease of the workflow and the powerful color correction tools make it unmatched in this regard.”
Transforming West Potomac Academy
Giampapa has a history of advocating for arts programs in the area, beginning with West Potomac Academy in Alexandria, VA.
“My production company 2Up 2Down Media had partnered with local school districts and I was teaching classes and working on projects with students and interns. When the West Potomac teacher retired, I took advantage of the opportunity and stepped away from my business to put my all into the classroom,” Giampapa explained.
As for Blackmagic Design, Giampapa equipped the program with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, 6Ks and 6K Pros, Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 3G and DaVinci Resolve Studio. “In 2020, I bought the first Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and a Video Assist, and it completely changed the quality of what students could do. The program was 20 years behind in technology when I arrived and the students had barely used DSLR cameras,” he noted.
“We then purchased additional Pocket 6K and 6K Pro and by 2023, four students had their own Pocket 4K and 6K and many switched to DaVinci Resolve,” Giampapa added. “This is a huge transformation in a short period of time and, once again, it all comes down to the accessibility and feature set of Blackmagic equipment.”
Giampapa is most proud of seeing students flourish. “West Potomac has gotten students accepted into film programs across the country at an impressive rate for a classroom. I currently have 16 graduates from film programs that have acceptance rates between 3 and 18 percent,” he said. “We have had multiple national video contest winners, several hundred thousand dollars in scholarships, and most importantly, students who would not have graduated from high school did so thanks to a camera and the class.”
A new world of production
“The way I've explained it to education departments is that, with the historic broadcast format, I can prepare about four people a year for a career. Opening it up to all disciplines, such as film, music videos, commercials, social media ads, sports, etc., means I can prepare over 200 people a year for a career. Almost every company has a social media department, a video production department, etc., so it's a new world and schools need to catch up,” Giampapa said.
With the goal of opening two additional Next Up NoVa youth centers to better serve all of Northern Virginia, Giampapa said he is relentless in his goal of helping the next generation of creators.
“Today is very different than it used to be, as we have much more information and technology at our fingertips. But sometimes children are still left behind and funding for the arts is cut,” Giampapa concluded. “That's a problem for me. “I know how important all of this is and, if necessary, I will do something about it one center and one program at a time.”
press photo
Product photos of ATEM Mini Pro ISO, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 3G, DaVinci Resolve Studio and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates video editing products, digital cinema cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real-time film scanners for feature films, post-production and television broadcasts of the highest quality in the world. industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards revolutionized quality and affordability in post-production, while the company's Emmy Award-winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues to innovate pioneers, including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world-leading post-production engineers and editors, Blackmagic Design has offices in the US, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com
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