Keep On Drumming, Steven Hoyos
Donation protected
Half of the proceeds from the "Keep On Drumming, Steven Hoyos" documentary will go directly to the Steven Hoyos Memorial Fund. This is a fund set up at Coral Springs High School in Coral Springs to help students with financial need pay for the fees required to participate in the band program.
I did not know Steven Hoyos, yet after I was finished producing this documentary... I felt I knew Steven my entire life.
My girlfriend started working for a non-profit organization (that will remain nameless. ) This "non-profit" was attempting to spread awareness about teen safety while driving. My girlfriend was instructed to start doing research online about recent teen related car accidents in the area and that's when she came across the Steven Hoyos story (which had only happened one month prior.) She looked up Steven Hoyos on Facebook and started contacting his friends.
She set up an open invitation gathering in the "Paul Barre Memorial Rotary Park" down the street from Coral Springs High, which was the school Steven attended. All of Steven's friends were invited to come share stories about who Steven Hoyos was to them and she was going to put together a mini dedication video for Steven.
Excited, my girlfriend then went and told her employer about her plans but to her surprise, they absolutely didn't care. The founder of the organization scolded her and said "Who cares about a bunch of kids in Coral Springs? I want raw emotion and recent stories, I'm not interested in something that happened a month ago...you must be on the scene and bring me stories within DAYS of their occurrence."
They then told her to cancel the gathering in the park with Stevens friends! She was insulted and embarrassed ...not knowing how to break the news to the group of students who were mourning their friend.
Here's where I got involved... I was once a student at Coral Springs High School and I also grew up in the Margate/Coral Springs area, like Steven. After hearing the story, I thought to myself, that could have been me or any of my friends in that accident. Outraged at this cold response from a 'non-profit' employer, I told my girlfriend not to cancel this gathering under any circumstance and we would just do this video ourselves. (Needless to say, she no longer works for them.)
A lot of Stevens friends showed up to the gathering in the park and shared heart-warming stories about their loved friend. When I got home and started going through all of the footage, I was touched by the personal stories they shared about Steven and thought to myself
"This dude sounded really cool."
I looked online to see if Steven had any videos that I could add. That's when I came across his YouTube channel he created as a kid. I sat there, fascinated, and watched for hours as Steven grew up literally before my eyes in each video. He was such a character! I found myself laughing at all of Steven's crazy impersonations/antics and was blown away by his musical talent. Some of these videos had less than 20 views, so I knew a lot of his friends and family had never seen them before.
I then became obsessed with finding any available videos of Steven on Facebook, Instagram etc. This mini dedication video now turned into a 35 minute long documentary! Even with all the outside noises of lawnmowers, passing cars, police sirens, excessive winds etc.. Steven Hoyos's story needed to be told.
When a person like Steven Hoyos comes into your life you will forever be changed. Although I never met Steven Hoyos, after making this documentary, I will never forget him. - DeFame of the WRONG CROWD
..Keep On Drumming, Steven Hoyos
#KeepOnDrummingStevenHoyos
#StevenHoyosDocumentary
Directed & Edited - DeFame of the WRONG CROWD
Executive Producer - Veronica C.
I did not know Steven Hoyos, yet after I was finished producing this documentary... I felt I knew Steven my entire life.
My girlfriend started working for a non-profit organization (that will remain nameless. ) This "non-profit" was attempting to spread awareness about teen safety while driving. My girlfriend was instructed to start doing research online about recent teen related car accidents in the area and that's when she came across the Steven Hoyos story (which had only happened one month prior.) She looked up Steven Hoyos on Facebook and started contacting his friends.
She set up an open invitation gathering in the "Paul Barre Memorial Rotary Park" down the street from Coral Springs High, which was the school Steven attended. All of Steven's friends were invited to come share stories about who Steven Hoyos was to them and she was going to put together a mini dedication video for Steven.
Excited, my girlfriend then went and told her employer about her plans but to her surprise, they absolutely didn't care. The founder of the organization scolded her and said "Who cares about a bunch of kids in Coral Springs? I want raw emotion and recent stories, I'm not interested in something that happened a month ago...you must be on the scene and bring me stories within DAYS of their occurrence."
They then told her to cancel the gathering in the park with Stevens friends! She was insulted and embarrassed ...not knowing how to break the news to the group of students who were mourning their friend.
Here's where I got involved... I was once a student at Coral Springs High School and I also grew up in the Margate/Coral Springs area, like Steven. After hearing the story, I thought to myself, that could have been me or any of my friends in that accident. Outraged at this cold response from a 'non-profit' employer, I told my girlfriend not to cancel this gathering under any circumstance and we would just do this video ourselves. (Needless to say, she no longer works for them.)
A lot of Stevens friends showed up to the gathering in the park and shared heart-warming stories about their loved friend. When I got home and started going through all of the footage, I was touched by the personal stories they shared about Steven and thought to myself
"This dude sounded really cool."
I looked online to see if Steven had any videos that I could add. That's when I came across his YouTube channel he created as a kid. I sat there, fascinated, and watched for hours as Steven grew up literally before my eyes in each video. He was such a character! I found myself laughing at all of Steven's crazy impersonations/antics and was blown away by his musical talent. Some of these videos had less than 20 views, so I knew a lot of his friends and family had never seen them before.
I then became obsessed with finding any available videos of Steven on Facebook, Instagram etc. This mini dedication video now turned into a 35 minute long documentary! Even with all the outside noises of lawnmowers, passing cars, police sirens, excessive winds etc.. Steven Hoyos's story needed to be told.
When a person like Steven Hoyos comes into your life you will forever be changed. Although I never met Steven Hoyos, after making this documentary, I will never forget him. - DeFame of the WRONG CROWD
..Keep On Drumming, Steven Hoyos
#KeepOnDrummingStevenHoyos
#StevenHoyosDocumentary
Directed & Edited - DeFame of the WRONG CROWD
Executive Producer - Veronica C.
Organizer
Steven Hoyos
Organizer
Pompano Beach, FL
