About Us

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Scribe Video Center was founded in 1982 as a place where emerging and experienced media artists could gain access to the tools and knowledge of video making and work together in a supportive environment. Scribe provides training in all aspects of film, video and audio production. We also offer classes in computer-based interactive media to individuals and community organizations as well. We give emerging and mid-level video makers the skills and opportunity to use video and film as tools for self-expression and for representing and supporting their communities. In the three decades since its inception, Scribe has established eight ongoing programs designed to meet the needs of the general public and media artists:

We annually offer over 50 professional level Workshops for novice, emerging, and established artists, in addition to offering Master Classes with important nationally recognized media makers. Our workshop participants are of all ages. In addition, we offer afterschool and summer youth workshops taught by media makers who have experience working with children and teens;

Community Visions is a free ten-month video production program for members of community groups. In this program, participants learn to produce short documentaries about issues of importance to their constituencies.

The Documentary History Project for Youth is a program in which middle and high school students work with experienced filmmakers and historians after school and during the summer to research, plan, and produce documentaries about issues of local historical significance. Each year the documentaries focus on different topic exploring the social, environmental, cultural, and/or political history of the region.

The Precious Places Community History Project is an on-going community media program that has teamed over 70 neighborhood groups with experienced filmmakers and humanities consultants to make oral history-based documentaries that explore the political and cultural history of public spaces in their neighborhoods.

Muslim Voices of Philadelphia is a collaborative community history project documenting the history of varied Muslim groups in the Delaware Valley. Members of mosques, masjids, schools, cultural centers, and other Muslim groups combine archival research, ethnography, oral history, and digital media to form an expansive picture of the rich history of Islam in Philadelphia.

The Producers' Forum in-person screening series, is a lecture discussion program, that allows Scribe to invite important nationally and internationally recognized media makers to Philadelphia to share their work and talk about their process of creating.

Storyville is Scribe's monthly on-site screening series that focuses on new works produced by local film and video makers.

Street Movies! is an outdoor screening series that brings independent films and videos to vibrant public spaces throughout the Philadelphia and Camden, NJ areas at no cost to audience members or our community group co-hosts.

Artists Resources for local independent artists include fiscal sponsorship, access to high-quality camera, lighting, sound, and editing equipment at low cost as well as producers' support groups for artists in mid-production.

In the Spring of 2006, Scribe Video Center, inspired and guided by Prometheus Radio Project and residents of West Philadelphia, purchased the broadcast license for WPEB 88.1 FM, a low-power, non-commercial, neighborhood-focused radio station.  WPEB 88.1FM serves West Philadelphia which, with a population of 300,000, is a city within itself. The station has a community programming and governance board. WPEB has grown to be an important outlet for new audio production produced by residents in and around the area. http://www.wpeb.org/about/