Kids In The Spotlight
Empowering Foster & Opportunity Youth Through Filmmaking
When the movie ends, the rest begins.
KIDS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Emerging talent from unexpected places.
Since its establishment in 2009, Kids In The Spotlight (KITS) has been a beacon of hope for youth impacted by foster care, juvenile institutions, and economic instability, offering a transformative journey through storytelling and filmmaking for more than 1030 youth through its Script-to-Screen programming.
Our mission is to support underserved youth as they reclaim their narratives, fostering self-reflection, increased agency in their lives, and support healing. By engaging industry professionals, KITS creates powerful opportunities for mentorship and workforce development, shaping futures for young people who have navigated systemic, institutional, and equity-related challenges, while empowering them to write, cast, and star in their own short films, telling their stories in their way.
Then, each program year culminates in our annual KITS Film Awards, an Oscar-style celebration that recognizes achievements and premieres the films on the silver screen.
Kids In The Spotlight
Help change the trajectory of young lives.
KITS helps foster care-impacted and opportunity youth heal and grow from trauma through the power of storytelling, filmmaking, and workforce development. KITS is erasing the limits of the foster system with every film released. And with Hollywood-level production and opportunities, KITS filmmakers are bringing their talent to our creative community. It’s an impact you can see.
Mission
Empowering foster and opportunity youth to heal, grow, and succeed through storytelling, filmmaking, and career training.
Purpose
KITS addresses the systemic barriers faced by youth impacted by foster care, juvenile institutions, and structural economic inequities by empowering them to rewrite their narratives and gain professional, vocational skills that transform their life trajectories.
Vision
Partnering with Hollywood talent to inspire foster youth to lead the future of film with creativity, resilience, and professional opportunities.
Method
KITS provides space, experiences, and tools that enable youth to write, cast, and star in their own short films.
We Are Shifting The Paradigm In Foster Care
KITS is a Los Angeles County-based organization that helps foster and opportunity youth heal and grow from trauma through the power of storytelling and filmmaking. In the KITS flagship Script-to-Screen program, foster youth ages 12-24 write, cast, and star in their own short films, telling their stories their way. KITS envision a pipeline of the most unusual candidates in positions of decision-making power. By building the pipeline, KITS pursues the restoration of economic stability and generational wealth for least expected youth.
The program prepares youth for entry-level jobs and media arts internships, opens the door to a network of industry peers and mentors, and builds the self-confidence of our youth to pursue higher education. Therapists and representatives from the Department of Children and Family Services say that because we empower foster youth to tell their stories their way, our program is one of L.A.’s most effective tools for teaching local foster youth to take ownership of their lives.
Selected KITS programs and services are generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
This organization is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.
This organization is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
Selected KITS workshops are made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
