These include access and training but the driving concern is to provide the equipment and training necessary for young people to be the authors of their own productions.

The company slogan is 'documentaries by young people for young people'. Although other forms may sometimes be used - drama-documentaries, docu-dramas and experiemental/avant-garde style videos - the common thread between MTR productions is the expression of a youth voice.

This practice stems from the recognition that although youth television acknowledges a pre-adult audience, young people's perspectives continue not to be represented in television programme making yet digital technologies make the technical processes of authoring a video quick and easy to acquire. 'MTR enables young people who are quite often misrepresented within society, a space to be heard and a medium in which they can voice their thoughts and feelings.' (Company document)

This orientation is reflected in MTR's aims that young people on their projects will not only gain skills, self-esteem and confidence - a personal development that is often cited as a benefit of active participation - but also an 'understanding of the power of the media' and a space to be heard'.

Within agencies working with socially disadvantaged groups of children and young people, Denise has rapidly earned a reputation for engaging young people in an experience that places great importance on their point-of-view, supporting them to make an audio-visual statement about themselves and their lives.

These networks give rise to many joint projects - partnerships - that exemplify

MTR's philosophy of giving young people a voice. When asked which was MTR's best project to date and why on the questionnaire survey the answer was:

'The half-term documentary with children in care called Seven days in a Children's' Home because quite often these young people are seen and not heard, misrepresented and don't have access because of the negativity associated with being in care. Its so important for these young people to have access.'

Young people not only devise the content, they also take control of the lead roles in all aspects of the production process. This has sometimes even included making the applications for funding. 95%, a magazine aimed at the 'arts with young people' sector had this to say about MTR's practice:

'The whole process was controlled by young people and has resulted in an unpretentious debunking of television fantasy.'

Giving young people this level of control over the process, including the edit, is key to MTR's approach. The pedagogy for supporting the group's identification of the stories it wants to tell and the ways, in which they could possibly tell them, is drawn from participatory drama rather than social group work theory/discourse. Sometimes a group will approach MTR wanting to make a video (e.g. Colour Blind: see below - MTR took the position of an advisor in relation to this production).

Giving young people the control of the process

Alternatively an organisation with a youth client group might approach MTR wanting a promotional video of the service, but made by the young people they have contact with, and by so doing, engage them in a process of consultation (e.g. Another Angle).