PATHWAYS TO PRODUCTION INC

Pathways To Production was created in 2018 when our Founder, Orla Manning, visited South Africa and Zambia for the first time. She realized that the same issues of diversity and inclusion impacting U.S. media are prevalent in South Africa and other African countries. Orla had an idea to create a program based on her own volunteering experience where she could combine her love of storytelling and help others.

She wanted to create a program where students could learn the technical aspects of filmmaking and also give them the inspiration and confidence to create their own projects. She realizes how hard it can be to break into the industry and wants to make it obtainable for the new generation.

Pathways to Production offers video production training to young black adults in disadvantaged communities. Our production training provides a pathway to employment in the television and film industry. The production course is a three-week immersive program that combines classroom education and hands-on training. Students also have the opportunity to produce a short film that will premiere at our annual P2P film festival.

We partner with local production professionals because we feel it’s important to have our students work with volunteers that look like them, who are from the local area and can serve as mentors and future business contacts. We've held two successful programs in South Africa with 39 graduates since 2019. Our ultimate goal is to replicate the program in other African countries.