I'm Yu Yu -- the webmaster of BYFC's main site and 'Admin' for this blog. I'm based out of India in the City of Joy, otherwise known as Kolkata (the name was changed from Calcutta a couple of years back). I've been organizing/facilitating/helping out/volunteering/working with BYFC since 1999 when I was a 16 yr old high school student in New York City. I got involved when my film FRAGMENTS OF THE SPIRIT - a 16mm student film about Paul Robeson -- was screened at the famous BYFC Film Salon in the Spike Lee Auditorium at Long Island University in Brooklyn -- across from the world famous Junior's restaurant (NY cheesecake!).

From my first contact, I believed in BYFC's mission to do give job training and film education to ordinary folks in the community. What's unique about BYFC is the intergenerational learning approach. Back then we weren't a "501(c)(3)" yet, but we got together as friends, neighbors and filmmakers to organize salons, readings, and scriptwriting workshops.

I came to India when my father -- a Burmese diplomat -- was assigned to Kolkata. But my heart has never really left NYC. Staying in touch with Trayce and becoming web master for BYFC helps me to be closer to New York City. I'll be adding a dash of "masala" every now and then to this blog. I am a writer now by profession. I mainly write for online marketing and for websites. I dabble a little bit in web design and coding. In my free time, with my bro, I help build and maintain websites for other non-profit organizations in addition to BYFC.

We recently built the website for Elaan - a non-profit organization that is run mainly by youth and students. Elaan is a Hindi word that means "announcement " or "declaration". And Elaan's mission is to do exactly that -- raise awareness about child sexual abuse in India. It is the first of it's kind in terms of being both grassroots and an organization that is run by youth. The kinds of sexual abuse we deal with are physical, verbal and online. In addition Elaan runs workshops to educate parents and the community, raise awareness on HIV/AIDS, and for intervention through sexual education. There are a lot of cultural taboos in India where you can't really talk about "sex". Or a notion that, "Oh that sort of stuff can't happen in my circle -- It only happens to poor people." Another unheard of thing is that Elaan is run by a group of young people. The board and its officers are all young -- something unheard of in a culture/country that values more so than anything else "qualifications" -- pieces of paper with degrees and awards written on them. Please visit the Elaan website to know more. Right before celebrating it's 3rd birthday in July, Elaan received the Indian equivalent of a '501(c)(3)'. Like BYFC, there's a lot of work ahead for them, and like BYFC, they could use financial help.

As for BYFC, it's been great fun to be a part of this growing community -- even if I'm on the other side of the world. Getting our own non-profit status two years ago was an achievement. And getting a website up was a great team effort between New York and Kolkata. Now this blog is our venture to help BYFC to become known in the so-called "web 2.0" world. Trayce and I have been "meeting" online on a regular basis to develop and bring you more online resources and news to help guide you into the world of filmmaking and film careers. But BYFC is not just a learning center. It's not just a place to discuss films or writing. It is a place to network not only with people from the filmmaking community, but it is also a place to network with people in your community who also want to learn and might have something to teach. Remember, filmmaking is a collaborative art, unlike other art forms. It is also a science -- A science of suspense, light, photography, emotions all mixed into one big "masala", or mixture, where the final product is seen on the silver screen.

I hope you will enjoy journeying with us, as much as we've enjoyed our journey. You can join us on a regular basis by subscribing to our feed via a feedreader of your choice or email. This is a free service that will send the latest blog post to you from our blog to your email if you've subscribed to your email. A feed reader is a syndiction service that you can have in your computer (you probably have one if you use Firefox.) If you want to learn more about feed reader click here. If you want to go ahead and subscribe to the BYFC blog via email click here.


You can also contribute to building BYFC's online community. When you read our posts, please send us your comments. If you would like to be part of the flesh & blood BYFC community you can take our classes and attend our events -- Link to classes and salons. If you are a fundraiser or a funding source who would like to talk with Brooklyn Young Filmmakers about helping us open a Career Guidance & Networking Center for Careers in Brooklyn, please email or call us: wearebyfc@gmail.com (718)935-0490.

We're also looking for guest posts on our blog. If you're a filmmaker or film professional interested in contributing an article please leave a comment on the blog or email us: wearebyfc@gmail.com. If you are a filmmaker or film professional who would like to be a guest speaker or mentor, or who is looking for PAs for a shoot, you can also email or call us: wearebyfc@gmail.com (718)935-0490.

That's all from me for now. There's still a lot of things to cover and write about so stay tuned and visit us often. If you feel there's something we need to talk/write about or if you have questions regarding filmmaking and/or community building let us know. Treat this blog as an open forum.

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