Program Prepares Young People For Careers In The Entertainment Industry

Photo provided by Destiny Outreach.
Photo provided by Destiny Outreach.

Program Prepares Young People For Careers In The Entertainment Industry

By Tia Carol Jones

As a child, Danita Patterson dreamed of being on stage and performing. Her parents nurtured her talent and Patterson wanted to do the same for other people through her organization, Destiny Outreach, which she founded in the late 1990s.

Patterson has been working in the entertainment industry for years, starting out as a performer and moving into movie and television production. The Dreams and Destiny program was launched in the early 2000’s as part of Destiny Outreach. Through that program, young people, ages 12 years old to 17 years old and 18 years old to 35+ years old, are exposed to careers in entertainment, technology and business.

 Patterson, who started in the entertainment industry at 14 in musical theatre, said her exposure in the industry at a young age helped her decide that she wanted to be a producer and a writer. She graduated from Northwestern University with a major in radio, television and film, and a minor in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism. The curriculum for the Dreams and Destiny program encompasses things she learned during her time in the entertainment industry.

Patterson believes that when young people start early in their intended careers, with vision and clarity, they can get farther faster, and make sound connections between life, school and work. Through the program, Destiny Outreach has been able to impact more than 20,000 young people across the country in places like Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Washington, DC, Maryland and Atlanta, as well as in South Africa. There is also a day-long intensive program Day of Destiny, where young people learn how to create an action plan, set goals, as well as receive executive training in communications and networking.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Patterson and Destiny Outreach decided to reboot. They recently launched a workforce development program where interns and apprentices receive opportunities to be exposed to the real ins and outs of show business, but also, get placed on entertainment jobs in the Chicagoland area. The program is a partnership between Destiny Outreach and The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Patterson said since it launched in June of this year, the program has been very successful and the 18 or 21 apprentices have been placed on Chicago area entertainment jobs, with the other apprentices to get placed within the next couple of days. Patterson is already planning for the Fall cohort of apprentices in November.

Patterson said that entertainment jobs are tough to get, let alone union jobs. The apprentices are placed with both Tier 1 (union) jobs and Tier 2 (non-union) jobs. She said it is important for young people to be exposed to the union and receive union cards because it can change the trajectory of their lives, enabling them to have careers, which can lead to financial stability and other resources. She said these young people will also have a craft, a career and exposure to more work through the union.

Patterson fondly remembers being part of the Joel Hall junior dance company and appearing as an extra in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, working as a production assistant on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, working as a development executive on Six Degrees of Separation and Bad Boys. She said she always had a heart to help people and wanted to make a difference and have a legacy. She said the seeds that were sown when she was young led her to launch Destiny Outreach. Patterson said she wants to build and transform the lives of the young people in the program.

“Who you are is more important than what you do, because it is out of who you are that your ‘do’ can be meaningful and can be impactful,” she said. She added that she wants the young people to be solid in their character and in the craft and skills they learn.

For more information about Destiny Outreach, visit https://destinyoutreach.com.

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