A 7-day professional development training course equipping 25 youth workers from 6 countries with video production skills – to reach marginalised communities through the power of digital storytelling.
About this project
Videomakers 101 was a Erasmus+ KA153-YOU training course by Association Alter Network, bringing together 25 youth workers from Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands for six intensive days of video production training in Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria. We noticed that youth workers increasingly work with young people through digital media, but most have no formal training in how to create it. So we decided to give them the basis for it.
Axolotl’s founder Toni Lyubenova was brought in as the project writer and reporter, lead trainer and video facilitator, drawing on her background in Film & TV Production from National Academy of Film & Theatre and her experience producing video content for NGOs, campaigns, and educational programmes across Bulgaria and Europe.
What we delivered
One project, several layers
01
Wrote, designed and facilitated the full videomaking programme across 7 training days in Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria
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Led hands-on sessions covering storyboarding, lighting & composition, sound, editing, and digital storytelling
03
Facilitated the creation of individual educational videos by each of the 25 participants – for use with their communities back home
04
Guided group documentary projects on a community issue identified by participants during their time in Sofia
05
Supported the Local Phase design, briefing participants on how to deliver follow-up videomaking workshops in 6 countries
Methods used
The training used experiential learning as its core framework – participants first experienced each method themselves before applying it to their own content. Sessions moved from trust-building and group dynamics through to technical videomaking and finally to community-impact creation. Every technique was dedicated to a real use case: how to use this with the young people you work with. We went out there, filmed for the local community, engaged with them, asked them about their issues as locals, and created movies about it.
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Visual storytelling
Filmmaking & editing
Educational content creation
Visual anthropology
Experiential learning
Reflective practice
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Project partners
Bulgaria: Association ALTER NETWORK (lead applicant)
Netherlands: Stichting De Olde Vechte, Ommen
Czech Republic: YOUnique z.s., Teplice nad Bečvou
Italy: ORIEL APS, Verona
Greece: Active Green Solution, Serres
Poland: Vamos!, Warsaw
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Project Team
The project was managed by Association Alter Network, with Toni P. Lyubenova as project creator and facilitator, and Anthony Toshev with logistics support.
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Deliverables
- 25 educational videos produced by participants across 6 countries
- 6 local follow-up workshops delivered in participants’ home communities after the training
- Shared video platform created for ongoing content distribution across partner networks
- Approx. 350 young people in marginalised communities reached through local follow-up activities
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