History of YAK Films
YAK Films is an American and France based video production company whose work includes music videos, hip hop dance videos and commercials. The company was co-founded by two youth workers and was incorporated as a privately held company in January 2011.
The company's stated mission from the outset was to produce "multimedia production as a voice of resistance and an alternative to the mainstream." They are best known for the viral video "RIP Rich D," commonly know as the “dancing in the rain” video, which catapulted the Oakland, CA, form of street dancing "turfing" to the international stage. On March 3, 2011 they were ranked the 18th most viewed channel in the world on that day on YouTube. History
YAK Films was co-founded by Yoram Savion and Kash Gaines, who met while Savion was teaching multimedia production at Youth Uprising, a community center in Oakland, CA.
Savion, the son of an Israeli father and French mother, immigrated from France to Berkeley, CA, at age 17 and attended UC Berkeley. During his junior year he began an investigative project on youth violence, which led to his encountering Youth Uprising, a community center in East Oakland, CA.
Savion began working part-time at Youth Uprising, teaching workshops to inner-city youth. Two years later, after completing his B.A. in the self-titled major “New Media, Art & Social Change,” he would lead the community center's multimedia department. There he created public service announcements and content for the center's YouTube Channel he developed with Gaines, YU Media LP, which peaked over a million views in 2010. Those skills became the foundation for YAK Films. One of the student-driven projects Savion led was called "Youth Jail Chronicles," which were short videos in which young people told personal stories about criminalization and incarceration in their neighborhoods. The films were filmed and edited by three of Savion's students, Darmarea Bar, Demani Adkins and Daeshane Moore, who won the
The company's stated mission from the outset was to produce "multimedia production as a voice of resistance and an alternative to the mainstream." They are best known for the viral video "RIP Rich D," commonly know as the “dancing in the rain” video, which catapulted the Oakland, CA, form of street dancing "turfing" to the international stage. On March 3, 2011 they were ranked the 18th most viewed channel in the world on that day on YouTube. History
YAK Films was co-founded by Yoram Savion and Kash Gaines, who met while Savion was teaching multimedia production at Youth Uprising, a community center in Oakland, CA.
Savion, the son of an Israeli father and French mother, immigrated from France to Berkeley, CA, at age 17 and attended UC Berkeley. During his junior year he began an investigative project on youth violence, which led to his encountering Youth Uprising, a community center in East Oakland, CA.
Savion began working part-time at Youth Uprising, teaching workshops to inner-city youth. Two years later, after completing his B.A. in the self-titled major “New Media, Art & Social Change,” he would lead the community center's multimedia department. There he created public service announcements and content for the center's YouTube Channel he developed with Gaines, YU Media LP, which peaked over a million views in 2010. Those skills became the foundation for YAK Films. One of the student-driven projects Savion led was called "Youth Jail Chronicles," which were short videos in which young people told personal stories about criminalization and incarceration in their neighborhoods. The films were filmed and edited by three of Savion's students, Darmarea Bar, Demani Adkins and Daeshane Moore, who won the