By Angelika Dawson

“ACT as though you are – and you will be.”

This has been Phil Hood’s motto throughout his life, and it has proven true – both in his own life and in the lives of youth he is now working with.

Hood has been involved in media for decades; he discovered his passion for stories early on.

His career began when he answered an ad for a photojournalist with the Nanaimo Free Press, claiming he could do work he had no experience in. But he knew he could do it. His confidence helped him find work in Calgary, as a fashion photographer

He soon determined big-city life wasn’t for him, and moved to Ucluelet on Vancouver Island – where he became owner of a small weekly newspaper called The Westcoaster. The paper became an award–winning one, with a reputation for leadership in the industry.

Ucluelet was also the place where he met his wife, Jean, and where he became a Christian. His conversion prompted him to work in Christian publishing.

He and Jean began Mediaworks, working with Horizon House Publishers, Trinity Western University and Christian Info Society. An invitation to do a promo for Abbotsford Christian School launched them into video.

In 2004, Hood was invited by Mennonite Central Committee’s Employment and Community Development program to join them in a unique youth venture.

Kaleidoscope is a 16-week program which provides participants with video production skills, from design to final edit.  These skills are combined with work experience, and with skills training such as communication, problem solving, computer skills and teamwork.

Designed for youth who are facing barriers to finding and keeping work, it has been a significant experience for Hood.

“A highlight for me has been associating with people I’d never associate with otherwise,” he says. “I love working with these young people – who have so much to offer, but have simply not had the kinds of opportunities or upbringing others may have had.”

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Hood knows what can happen to these kids. He and Jean have been involved in prison ministry for more than 20 years, and have heard hundreds of inmates’ stories.

“You begin to see a pattern,” he says. “Broken homes, poverty, substance abuse, lack of education. These are the things that put people in prison – and if we don’t address that, it’ll  simply get worse. This is where the church needs to be.”

Kaleidoscope has staff people who work with the participants to develop life and job search skills. Hood’s role is to teach them the fundamentals of video production.

“I teach them how, then put the equipment in their hands – and say, ‘Go out and tell your story.’ When we say that, we encourage them to take a positive look at who they are, and what their world looks like.”

This work has taken Hood to interesting places: down dark alleys in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside; into the offices of MLAs; and in an abandoned building which served as a party house for an Asian youth gang.

The groups he’s worked with have created documentaries dealing with environmental and health issues, as well as creative pieces which tell their stories.  

“I intentionally limit my influence over what happens. I teach them to use the equipment, and am naive enough to follow them into their world. The resulting films and documentaries are the genius of the youth involved,” he says.

He smiles when he thinks about how odd this must look: a conservative-looking man and a group of young people whose appearances can draw strange looks walking around with $20,000 worth of camera equipment.

“We are polar opposites,” he laughs. “But it doesn’t matter what we look like. If these kids have confidence in themselves, and we can help them look at their world and interact with those who can make change, they become change-makers,” he says.

It all comes back to his motto: Act as though you are, and you will be.

Kaleidoscope videos can be viewed at: mccecd.bc.ca/kaleidoscope.

June 2008