Jobs at Open Doors Project

The Open Book Project was inspired by team members’ noticing a growing crisis of identity and direction among their peers, an issue that they observed leading to aimlessness, isolation, and depression—all of these experiences only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel that addressing this phenomena and seeking out the root of its cause could lead to targeted improvements in the support students are able to find within the education system. From script development, to casting for participants, to the filming of interviews and video editing, every aspect of our production has been run and realized by a passionate group of roughly two dozen young adults including high school seniors, military personnel, and undergraduate students from across the United States. While the project is the result of contributions from individuals all over the country, the on-ground filming of our interviews took place in Boston and New York City, each production with localized casting and camera crew teams. In scouting for participants, we strove for geographic (in addition to other aspects of) diversity among our interviewees, meaning that our participants placed their hometowns in a variety of locations throughout the country. Between our two studio locations in Boston and New York, a total of 15 interviews were collected and featured in our initial video. With the perspective that we, and hopefully other viewers, gain from these interviews, we hope to learn and spread a message of how we might best improve the educational system in our country in its support of students and their sense of purpose.