YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE STUDIO AND ON FILM SET, TELLING THEIR OWN STORIES
The MEMa Foundation · TechKno Academy · The MEMa Studio
November 2026
Who we are
A PROFESSIONAL ARTS EDUCATION, TAUGHT BY WORKING PROFESSIONALS
The MEMa Foundation gives young people who would not otherwise have access to the music and film industries a professional arts education in music production, film production and film sound design, taught by working engineers, producers and filmmakers.
2012
TechKno programs in Chicago since
500+
young people taught
36
student works published
Why now
AT&T IS CONSIDERING MEMa FOR 2027 FUNDING
In late August we met with AT&T about funding our work. Their 2026 budget is spent, and they are considering us for next year.
The model
AT&T HAS FUNDED THIS MODEL BEFORE
AT&T
funded the program
Hello Sunshine
Reese Witherspoon’s production company put its name behind it and opened doors in the industry
Fresh Films
a nonprofit, did the teaching
AT&T Hello Sunshine Filmmaker Lab, 2018 and 2019 seasons. Video: Hello Sunshine (1:01). More at freshfilms.org
What it did for the nonprofit
FRESH FILMS GREW AFTER THE LAB
$295K
total revenue, fiscal year to June 2018, before the first lab
$1.16M
fiscal year to June 2019, the year of the first lab
$3.19M
total revenue in 2025
Source: Fresh Films Form 990 filings (EIN 32-0246706), via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
How it happened
FROM SELF-FUNDED TO FUNDED
$0
contributed in the fiscal year to June 2018. All $295K came from fees for productions.
$1.08M
contributed in the year of the first lab, of $1.16M total.
$2.97M
contributed in 2025, of $3.19M total.
Today MEMa stands where Fresh Films stood in 2018: paid to deliver its programs, with little contributed funding. In 2023 the State of Illinois granted Fresh Films $3.8 million toward a $12 million studio in Rock Island. MEMa is applying to some of the same funders now, and will apply to others in their next cycle.
Sources: Fresh Films Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer; KWQC, 20 February 2026.
Proof the model works
TRAINING FOR REAL SETS ALREADY WORKS
Reel Works, Brooklyn
A teen filmmaking nonprofit whose workforce program includes a Studio Mechanics Boot Camp with the IATSE Local 52 union. Its first version was backed by Netflix and the New York City Mayor’s Office.
"Made in NY," Brooklyn
Production assistant training from Brooklyn Workforce Innovations with the Mayor’s Office. Its graduates have worked on more than 2,000 productions.
CineCares, Chicago
Cinespace Studios’ program with NBCUniversal and IATSE Local 476 places paid trainees on productions filming at Cinespace.
All three train adults. Our Shadow Program starts with teens, reaches live events as well as film, and grows out of a program more than 500 young people have come through.
Sources: Reel Works, Brooklyn Workforce Innovations and Cinespace Studios, read October 2026.
What already exists
ONE STORY, SIXTEEN STORYTELLERS
The fall TechKno Academy cohort started 29 September and filled, with more teens on a waiting list. It ends on 17 December with a showcase of the students’ finished work, streamed on our website.
In the news
TechKno DRAWS THE ATTENTION OF CNN AND WGN
In 2014, CNN’s CHICAGOLAND producers ran a master class with our TechKno Camp teens. WGN-TV followed, and came back for a Cover Story on the film they made.
WGN-TV Cover Story, 2014. Click the video to play, or watch it at youtu.be/iSokVjJ4sP0
Idea one
ON FILM SET
Teenagers on a working set, producing projects they came up with themselves, alongside professionals.
It connects to our Shadow Program, where students shadow working crews, starting with its first summer in Chicago in 2027. A production company can bring producers as mentors, and set access when a production allows it.
Idea two
SOUND DESIGN FROM SILENCE
Students take a scene you provide, strip out the sound and rebuild it: foley, sound effects, music and, occasionally, dialogue.
It ends with the rebuilt scene played beside the original. It uses the film sound curriculum we already teach.
What would you want a program with your name on it to be about? Tell us, and we build the curriculum around it.
For Harry Smith
YOUR NETWORK, OUR CLASSROOM
Where the money is
You know who finances film. Introductions to funders and sponsors who back work like this would move the program and the MEMa Studio forward.
Producers and sets
Producers who would mentor our students, or open a set when a production allows it.
Beyond Chicago
The program is built to travel. We are exploring the Bay Area, and we are open to Los Angeles.
Where it goes
THE MEMa STUDIO
A 53-foot double expandable trailer, a mobile production studio now in development, to take the program to young people who cannot get to it. Its build campaign is live.
Concept renderings: the trailer, and the view from inside the door. Sponsor placement shown for illustration.
What we are asking
THREE WAYS TO JOIN US
01
Lend your name
A program with your name on it, as Hello Sunshine did. We do the teaching.
02
Open doors in the industry
Mentors, set visits and introductions for our students.
03
Help build the MEMa Studio
The mobile studio that takes this program to young people who cannot get to it.
Nothing is announced until you’ve agreed to go public.
