RE:IMAGINE is commemorating a decade of business with this year’s annual fundraising gala, Dreamfest.
Launched in 2014 by Susanna Spiccia, RE:IMAGINE is a nonprofit that aims to help create workforce opportunities in the film and media industry for Gen Z creatives. Dreamfest will take place on May 22 at New Realm Brewing.
During the gala, RE:IMAGINE plans to honor some of its students and partners throughout the years, including WABE journalist Rose Scott, documentary filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper, H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs President and CEO Jay Bailey, Common Pictures Director Erin Bernhardt, Warner Bros. Discovery Social Impact & CSR Sydney Langdon, RE:IMAGINE alumni and The Coca-Cola Company Associate Cinematographer Austen Taylor, cinematographer Alvin McBean, and Dr. Jose Marquez and Yvette Moise Ricalde with the Georgia Latino Film Alliance.
Ahead of the event, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with RE:IMAGINE Executive Director Julie Foster Straw about the last ten years. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I know that you came to Atlanta for grad school and I believe were working in the public health space. How did you come to be involved in the creative sector?
Julie Foster Straw: Even starting off like, 14 years ago now, I’d always been involved with the arts and community here. I started a program as part of my grad studies that was engaging youth with the arts and social change. I really loved seeing and bringing that together for students and [allowing] people of different generations, different backgrounds, different mediums, to use art in really powerful ways – as a vehicle for storytelling and for change.
You’ve been with RE:IMAGINE since its infancy. What are the biggest ways you’ve seen the organization grow in the past decade?
Straw: I’ve seen it grow from starting off as a way to bring students of different backgrounds together and create and really spark that creativity, to more workforce development, and really pioneering apprenticeship in the creative media arts for the state and even nationally. The model and the partnerships that we’ve built over the years have really shown an amazing example of how to partner with nonprofit, employer partners, and equip young people with skills needed to really start a career.
You’ve talked about going into the workforce development space. When did that shift start and what are those partnerships and programs that have helped foster that?
Straw: I’d say around 2019. The workforce development came from an opportunity with a national organization, The Alliance for Media Arts and Culture … and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Some other key partnerships have been with United Way, with CareerReady, and also with CareerRise. One of the ways that we’ve really grown with workforce development is we have our own employment social enterprise. So we’re producing content and operating as a video production company for different clients, and that provides on the job training that’s paid. We’ve really been able to refine that business model and offer those services to other nonprofits who need to tell their stories, foundations and corporations.
When did you take over the executive director position?
Straw: It’s been about two years.
What has been the most challenging part of that experience?
Straw: It’s been challenging for me because I had been program director for so many years, and closer with the students and more boots on the ground in the day to day. It was hard for me to transition to more high-level visioning, and focusing more on fundraising all the time versus some of the programmatic elements and partnerships that I really love as well.
Speaking of working with the students so closely for so long, what are some of the most fulfilling moments or stories you’ve had with students?
Straw: Even a couple of weeks ago at the Atlanta Film Festival, we kept running into our alumni and students we hadn’t seen for a few years. Now they’re finishing up their studies at GSU, or they’re involved in film, still. They were really excited to re-engage and tell us how they were doing and what they’re up to. I think seeing our students who have gone through the program and now they’re working full time at FuseFX or Amazon Studios. Even with the strikes and some uncertainty, being able to see them continue to grow, and grow their own business, grow their network [has been fulfilling]. A lot of the students are still close with those friends. That community wouldn’t have happened without RE:IMAGINE.