About us
Echoes of Incarceration is an award-winning documentary initiative produced by youth who are directly impacted by the criminal justice system. The project provides hands-on video production and advocacy training for young adults, and creates documentaries and video journalism pieces told from the life experiences of the filmmakers themselves.
Echoes project has created films for Sesame Street, Upworhty, NowThis News, screened work at the White House in 2014, and was named a Robert Rauschenberg Artist-As-Activist Fellow in 2017.
The Echoes project:
Provides hands-on film training to youth age 16-23
Creates films for criminal justice stakeholders about the needs of young people
Creates general-audience documentaries and video journalism about the intersection of criminal justice system and youth
Our goal is to explore all the ways the criminal justice system interacts with, and misunderstands, young people, while harnessing the intelligence, energy, and creativity of youth to rethink our understandings of crime and punishment.
Level 1: Summer camp and school workshops
Our first level of instruction involves a filmmaking and advocacy training through school workshops, and through our 5-week summer camp. These hands-on trainings create films in our "Resiliency Film" series - which are made by and for young adults impacted by the justice system.
Level 2: Junior crew - year-round documentary production
The next level of training is our Junior Crew - which is a 2-year intensive video production and journalism training. This crew creates short documentaries and training material for criminal justice stakeholders. To date we've created films for police officer, correctional officers, social workers, lawmakers, as well as material for incarcerated parents and families of the incarcerated. We've partnered with agencies such as the US Department of Justice, US Department of Health and Human Services, New York City ACS, NYC Mayors Office of Criminal Justice, and the Brooklyn Public Library.
Level 3: Senior crew, Echoes Journalism Initiative
Our Senior Crew works on ambitious, general audience documentaries and journalism stories, partnering with organizations such as Sesame Street, Upworthy, NowThis News, Democracy Now, and the Columbia University Justice Lab.
Throughout the process, young people are provided job skills, mentoring, and professional experience on freelance productions. As a team we also practice restorative justice and mindfulness exercises, and make personal development and self care central to our work.
We believe that if young people are the most disproportionately impacted by the justice system, they should be given both tools and a platform to raise their voices and advocate for for reform.
Our Crew
Jeremy Robins (Project Director) is a filmmaker and educator with 20 years of youth media and professional documentary experience. He’s taught and created curriculum for programs including Harlem Children’s Zone and Downtown Community Television, and led documentary classes in high schools around New York City. He’s also produced and directed documentaries for PBS, and news stories for Time.com. This project comes out of his 15-year involvement with prison reform organizations.
Senior Crew
Kharon Benson is a former member of the Osborne Association’s Youth Advisory Board, where he successfully lobbied legislators in Albany to change New York State laws affecting children with incarcerated parents. He’s currently working on a short documentary about his relationship with is father who’s serving a 25 year sentence at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
Linda Ricard is 21 years old from Bronx, NY. As a part of the Echoes project she enjoys editing and cinematography. Her favorite films are poetry films. As a part of Osborne Associations Youth Action Council she successfully lobbied legislators in Albany to implement child-sensitive arrest protocols. She is focused on the Raise the Age campaign, and advocates on behalf of her incarcerated brother.
Francis Adjei is a Ghanaian-American filmmaker. In addition to coordinating the crew’s freelance projects with musicians and fashion designers, Francis spearheaded the crew’s collaboration with Sesame Workshop, creating media to raise awareness about children with incarcerated parents.
Steven Montoya hails from Queens NY and is an original member of Echoes, starting with their first film in 2008. He is an aspiring mixed martial arts fighter and activist for criminal justice reform. Being the son of a previously incarcerated mother, he feels passionate about being a voice for the youth that are going through similar situations and feel voiceless.
Junior Crew
Josue Flores is a Salvadorian young adult who loves cameras. He graduated from Lyons Community School where he was trained in restorative practices and created films about restorative justice. He continued his study of photography with the program Picture Justice. He feels passionately about helping others through restorative justice and through the films he makes at Echoes.
Nadlee Adolphe is open-minded, quiet but bold, wild, funny and observant. Her favorite part of the production process is being able to meet new people and interview them. Her parents immigrated from Haiti and are here on Temporary Protective Status. Issues she feels strongly about include immigration, and the role of social media in youth violence.
Orion Bustamante is a 21-year old aspiring actor and filmmaker. He is a former member of Osborne Association’s Youth Action Council, and has been a part of the Echoes family off and on since 2015. His favorite part of the production process is editing – he has a knack for piecing together different video clips, audio, and sound bites. His mission is to inspire other young people to let their voice be heard, through whatever artistic medium speaks to them.
Kevin Flores is our resident restorative justice expert. Kevin graduated from Lyons Community School where he studied restorative practices for over 5 years, and practiced peer mediation, “peer assists,” and led circles. He now brings his calm demeanor, thoughtful presence, and sharp cinematic eye to Echoes film projects.
Amanda Lugo is a Domirriqueña (Puerto Rican and Dominican) from the Lower East Side. As a member of the Osborne Associations Speakers Bureau, she advocates for incarcerated individuals and their families experiencing their incarceration alongside them. Her hobbies include watching youtube videos about cinematography, skateboarding (taught to her by her currently incarcerated father), and fostering open dialogues.