
Blog: Archives: 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 About/Contact	Planting Seeds: The Merthyr Media Project Darren Weaver on the Merthyr Media Project, January 2007 Imagine. You are a young person growing up in the South Wales Valleys. You come from a poor background. You did poorly in school. Your only aim is to get a job and get some money to spend. What job? In a factory, of course. What will you do when you get a job in a factory? You'll work Monday to Friday, then blow all your wages on the weekend and have a good time with your friends - definitely get drunk, maybe get laid, pop some pills, or have a fight - maybe all in one night! What about when you finish work during the week? You hang out with friends, maybe listen to music, maybe watch some films, maybe just clown around and video each other, with your mobile phones, while doing silly things. Or do you just complain how boring life is? (Boredom is a sin) Then ten or fifteen years pass and it's been the same factory, the same friends, the same faces, and the same places for fifteen years. You look back and what do you see? Have you followed on the tradition that has run through your family for generations? Are there lost opportunities from your youth? Maybe there is a regret that you didn't do anything in terms of a career. > For a lot of young people in the South Wales Valleys, this is the reality of the situation. Some are lucky enough to be able to go to college, followed by university, and then onto a successful career in the field of the chosen studies. However, college does not bother many young people. The reason being that school education did not interest them. Of course, nobody learns anything if they are not interested. Thus the factory or the unemployment office is how most of these young people fulfil their potential. Into this seemingly hopeless drudgery (Merthyr was named as the third worst place to live in Britain recently) a seed has been planted. A group of people, under the banner of the Merthyr Media Project (MMP) , are nurturing the seed and showing the young people of the Valleys that there is, potentially, an alternative way of life. A career, perhaps, that they may never have considered. This latest of ventures (and there have been several previously in the area), is run by the University of Glamorgan Centre for Lifelong Learning and the Screen Academy Wales . Funding for the project comes in the form of the European Union through cultural and structural funds. The fund has so far donated £460, 000. This venture is under the direction of Dr Martin O'Neil, who is very pleased with the success the project is showing. In the first six months 200 people had come through the project. In the summer of 2006, the venture advanced by undertaking to create a summer school and the making of the documentary ASBOland. The hard work put in by all concerned that summer, culminated in a screening of ASBOland at the 2006 Cardiff Film Festival . On 18th November at Chapter Arts Centre, I settled down for a screening of the work. Following the screening of the film there was a Q & A, with key people involved in the project ready to answer questions from an intrigued audience. The young people involved also had a chance to gauge a reaction to their efforts outside of the Valleys - that is a key point about this screening. It is no longer contained in the area in which the work was conceived, and in order to fulfil their potential these young people may have to do the same and reach beyond the Valleys. The film ASBOland documents the lives of these young people (the ages range from 14 to 19). The themes range from domestic violence and alcoholism to rejection and young love/ romance. These themes are universal, yet are rarely expressed by people in the Valleys, especially by such young people. The film is a series of snap shots of key events (recreated) in these peoples lives and is held together by the veteran filmmaker Karl Francis (whose films include Giro City and Above Us The Earth ). Throughout the production Francis seems to have assumed the role of a fatherly figure, this became more apparent during the Q & A session afterwards as he spoke warmly and affectionately about each person involved. Under his wing and the other people involved with the project, they learned how to write, act and direct etc.... These tools they have gained are a means to an end, and the hope is that they will continue their development. During the Q & A session, what came through most was the passion and enthusiasm all concerned have for the project. You could hear the excitement in their voices. As the young people spoke on the stage of their enjoyment of their experiences while doing the project, one thing that shone through was confidence, which is a key purpose of the project. The project had given them a confidence, a confidence that it's possible they might be able achieve more than other people in the area think is possible. Schools were an issue raised during the Q & A. There is a possibility that the Merthyr Media Project will try encouragement through visiting schools. Yet what if media did become a subject in schools? To this end, I believe media being taught in schools would give pupils the opportunity to study something they would be interested in. Let's consider the current situation: the only subject that offers any expression is Art. What subjects use modern technology? Only Information Technology. What interests young people most? Technology. All around us young people are making videos with their mobile phones. What if schools could harness all that interest and divert that energy towards creating something with proper video technology? Art is a traditional subject, Media would be a modern subject. If schools teach something the students are interested in, there maybe something more beneficial to both students and teachers. Also, in terms of jobs and careers, media is the fastest expanding sector in Wales at the moment. With that in mind, and the building of a film studio in Bridgend, would it not be wise to develop media skills in young people throughout Secondary School? Another key point raised was what happens to the people when they have been involved with the project. To this end, nothing was clear - all Dr. Martin O'Neil could say was that the project continues to support people even when they finish. He tried to differentiate this project from others by insisting this, however, no details were forthcoming. Yet this project is very positive for the people of the Valleys and to that end it is hoped that the seeds planted today will continue to grow for many years to come. © 2007 Darren Weaver
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Planting Seeds: The Merthyr Media Project

Darren Weaver on the Merthyr Media Project, January 2007

Imagine. You are a young person growing up in the South Wales Valleys. You come from a poor background. You did poorly in school. Your only aim is to get a job and get some money to spend. What job? In a factory, of course. What will you do when you get a job in a factory? You'll work Monday to Friday, then blow all your wages on the weekend and have a good time with your friends - definitely get drunk, maybe get laid, pop some pills, or have a fight - maybe all in one night! What about when you finish work during the week? You hang out with friends, maybe listen to music, maybe watch some films, maybe just clown around and video each other, with your mobile phones, while doing silly things. Or do you just complain how boring life is? (Boredom is a sin) Then ten or fifteen years pass and it's been the same factory, the same friends, the same faces, and the same places for fifteen years. You look back and what do you see? Have you followed on the tradition that has run through your family for generations? Are there lost opportunities from your youth? Maybe there is a regret that you didn't do anything in terms of a career.

For a lot of young people in the South Wales Valleys, this is the reality of the situation. Some are lucky enough to be able to go to college, followed by university, and then onto a successful career in the field of the chosen studies. However, college does not bother many young people. The reason being that school education did not interest them. Of course, nobody learns anything if they are not interested. Thus the factory or the unemployment office is how most of these young people fulfil their potential.

Into this seemingly hopeless drudgery (Merthyr was named as the third worst place to live in Britain recently) a seed has been planted. A group of people, under the banner of the Merthyr Media Project (MMP) , are nurturing the seed and showing the young people of the Valleys that there is, potentially, an alternative way of life. A career, perhaps, that they may never have considered.

This latest of ventures (and there have been several previously in the area), is run by the University of Glamorgan Centre for Lifelong Learning and the Screen Academy Wales . Funding for the project comes in the form of the European Union through cultural and structural funds. The fund has so far donated £460, 000. This venture is under the direction of Dr Martin O'Neil, who is very pleased with the success the project is showing. In the first six months 200 people had come through the project.

In the summer of 2006, the venture advanced by undertaking to create a summer school and the making of the documentary ASBOland. The hard work put in by all concerned that summer, culminated in a screening of ASBOland at the 2006 Cardiff Film Festival . On 18th November at Chapter Arts Centre, I settled down for a screening of the work. Following the screening of the film there was a Q & A, with key people involved in the project ready to answer questions from an intrigued audience. The young people involved also had a chance to gauge a reaction to their efforts outside of the Valleys - that is a key point about this screening. It is no longer contained in the area in which the work was conceived, and in order to fulfil their potential these young people may have to do the same and reach beyond the Valleys.

The film ASBOland documents the lives of these young people (the ages range from 14 to 19). The themes range from domestic violence and alcoholism to rejection and young love/ romance. These themes are universal, yet are rarely expressed by people in the Valleys, especially by such young people. The film is a series of snap shots of key events (recreated) in these peoples lives and is held together by the veteran filmmaker Karl Francis (whose films include Giro City and Above Us The Earth ). Throughout the production Francis seems to have assumed the role of a fatherly figure, this became more apparent during the Q & A session afterwards as he spoke warmly and affectionately about each person involved. Under his wing and the other people involved with the project, they learned how to write, act and direct etc.... These tools they have gained are a means to an end, and the hope is that they will continue their development.

During the Q & A session, what came through most was the passion and enthusiasm all concerned have for the project. You could hear the excitement in their voices. As the young people spoke on the stage of their enjoyment of their experiences while doing the project, one thing that shone through was confidence, which is a key purpose of the project. The project had given them a confidence, a confidence that it's possible they might be able achieve more than other people in the area think is possible.

Schools were an issue raised during the Q & A. There is a possibility that the Merthyr Media Project will try encouragement through visiting schools. Yet what if media did become a subject in schools? To this end, I believe media being taught in schools would give pupils the opportunity to study something they would be interested in. Let's consider the current situation: the only subject that offers any expression is Art. What subjects use modern technology? Only Information Technology. What interests young people most? Technology. All around us young people are making videos with their mobile phones. What if schools could harness all that interest and divert that energy towards creating something with proper video technology? Art is a traditional subject, Media would be a modern subject. If schools teach something the students are interested in, there maybe something more beneficial to both students and teachers. Also, in terms of jobs and careers, media is the fastest expanding sector in Wales at the moment. With that in mind, and the building of a film studio in Bridgend, would it not be wise to develop media skills in young people throughout Secondary School?

Another key point raised was what happens to the people when they have been involved with the project. To this end, nothing was clear - all Dr. Martin O'Neil could say was that the project continues to support people even when they finish. He tried to differentiate this project from others by insisting this, however, no details were forthcoming.

Yet this project is very positive for the people of the Valleys and to that end it is hoped that the seeds planted today will continue to grow for many years to come.