By Ethan Benedicto
Umbrella Support’s Hellow Media is officially underway with an exciting start on Thursday 18 July, after all 12 participants gathered in the Bridegwater Family and Community Centre for an afternoon of filming.
Donned with stage lights, backdrops a camera and a teleprompter, it was easy for nerves to hit everyone early on, but according to Cindy Warren, all it took was for that someone to take the first step, and everything else followed like clockwork.
“I am so proud of these guys, today has been amazing, every single one of them has stood in front of the camera and I honestly didn’t think that was going to happen,” Ms Warren said.
“For us [support workers], it’s about creating that space of feeling calm, feeling safe, and feeling like you’re part of a team”.
With some teamwork exercises to warm up before stepping in front of the camera, the group of 12 braved the shining lights and began their introductions for the first piece, with Ms Warren remarking that it didn’t take long for them to ease into it.
For her, it was to foster that realisation within the members to “get to know each other and to understand that this is a really safe space, but also a space to grow and a space to learn”.
“There’s excitement and buzz in the air, every single one of them is now lining up for a second time, they want to do it again.
“This opportunity is not readily available to a lot of people, so to create this space and to give them this chance is so exciting, and to see them shine and to walk out of here today with smiles is going to be amazing,” Ms Warren said.
Although there was a script to follow, every participant was more than keen to add their own twist to their parts, adding the flair of character that very well embodies the group, from big smiles to flashy poses.
The next step for the team at Hellow Media is to put their people skills to the test, with the aim to contact local businesses, organisations and clubs for a possible feature in the group’s YouTube channel, but also to “find out what they do to help others in the community”.
“I’d really like to look at more not-for-profit organisations that give back and how we can help them spread their message and their outlets as well,” Ms Warren said.
While the afternoon was short, it was the start the team needed to throttle them into the coming release of their first episode which has yet to be announced.
