The artistic revelation by the poscast. This is the objective of the “Creative Studios” initiative, which offered around thirty young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Parisian suburbs the opportunity to express their artistic spirit through the production of audio fiction. Organized with the support of associations, these workshops initiated by the American giant Apple took place over three weeks in its store on the Champs-Élysées. In small groups and accompanied by a professional mentor specializing in the field, the 27 participants aged 18 to 26 were able to learn, with material provided by the apple brand, the different stages of creating a story, from writing to recording, on the theme of origins.
The result: nine stories lasting a few minutes, with a scenario from their imagination, personalized sound effects, music, posted on the Apple Podcasts platform. Fictions with an urban setting, inspired by the story of young creators, which testify to their desire to express their experiences and their feelings. “The theme of origins spoke to us immediately, even if at first we didn’t know how to attack, we were afraid of taking the easy way out, says Honorine, 23 years old. We were three and we wanted to create a fiction that makes us laugh and that we like.”
With Nisrine and Lisa, also members of the 1000 Faces association, the young photographer who grew up in Seine-Saint-Denis appreciated the support of a philosophy teacher, then of the actress Noémie Landreau, mentor of the group. “My best memory was writing. Noémie gave us keys, advised us to take concrete examples, to try to see beyond our first ideas. It was not always easy to put OK all three, we had moments of doubt, but we are proud of the result”.
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The creation of this podcast, titled Basicallyis a first for the young artist, who appreciated the specificities of the exercise: “I discovered the world of sound fiction, which is ultimately quite similar to that of cinema. It’s a new market, very innovative, and it aroused my curiosity. As a young black woman from the suburbs, I know that you have to fight to be heard as an artist, and this kind of format offers new opportunities to do so”.
The “Creative Studios” program – present in several cities around the world through other training such as the creation of short films – relies on a selection of professionals to supervise young people during these free training sessions. Noémie Landreau, who writes and produces radio dramas for French Culture and France Intershared his experience with nine young people from the association 1000 Visages. “I had to give them the tools to succeed on time while leaving them enough freedom to express their ideas. Some did not know each other, they had to come to an agreement, there were inevitably tensions and emotions to deal with. But I feel like in the end, they had a blast.”
The actress, who trained in the exercise of audio fiction at the European Conservatory of Audiovisual Writing, would have liked to have had more time to refine the three projects of the young people she followed. “I am very happy with what they have produced, their energy and their enthusiasm, but as I am a perfectionist, I would have liked to have had a few more weeks, she laughs. It was very intense because the time allotted was very short. For this type of format, the writing process is tedious. You have to gather the ideas, create the characters, the plots… and the simplest stories are often the longest to write. But the main thing is that they have learned things and that they want to go back”concludes Noémie Landreau.
The three series of audio dramas by young people from the 1000 Faces, respect associations (ex-Movement up) and Yard can be heard on Apple Podcasts.