■Introduction

Hello, my name is Kodo Sugawara (17), who is about to start the last year of high school from April!

When I was in 9th grade, I created a short slideshow of our school trip for my class. From this point on, I became more and more interested in film, and started a Film Club at the beginning of 10th grade with my friends. We created a variety of videos there, mainly for film contests. And now, I am here to create a company, to make a place for myself where I can improve the skills I have built up on film!

Anti-Bullying Video from the Film Club: 

■Why I Started This Project

I am collecting donations in order to start a video editing company called "KOPEKO".

This company edits the videos and pictures given from the customers, and return it back as a finished version. Unlike the other video editing companies though, we not only edit the videos, but can also add English translations or Japanese translations as subtitles of the video. Since I have been raised as a bilingual, not only I am able to speak Japanese and English, I am able to read and write like a native speaker of English. This is why I want to reach out to customers abroad, in International schools, and to Foreign-owned enterprises in Japan. We will still be open to the customers in Japan though, since this is the base of where we will start.

In the future, I plan to make it a company where we plan, shoot, and edit the videos for our customers.

In addition to this, the service will all be done by high school students.

Through this project, I am trying to collect donations in order to create and start the company. Also, I want more people to know about what I am about to do, which could come true by creating this project on CAMP FIRE.

■Why High School?

When I started 11th grade, I looked for an internship related to film so that I could build up more experience. It couldn't be a job though, since my school does not allow students to have part-time jobs.

Some teachers helped me out when looking for internships, but most of them were only for university students. In addition to that, there were close to no internships that are film related.

I was able to enjoy and build up my skill on film in my club, but I wasn't and still can't experience the real hardships that are in internships and in companies. Although I couldn't be in an environment with professionals, I instead did my best in the Film Club and made the best effort to build my skills.

During that time, I had an offer from one of my relatives asking me if I could edit a video for them.

They offered me this job because they knew how even at the point of being a high school student, I had the skills to create something good. They trusted me for the fact that I could do video editing, and even at a level that is similar to what the professionals can make. It was easier for them to ask me because I was a high school student.

This is when I thought that there could be a company that can edit videos that only have high school students, and keep the price low and accessible for the customers.

If I could also have high school members come in as internships, they will have the opportunity to build up their experience just in the way that I wanted to.

In addition to that, this service will create and opportunity for the world to know that we as high school students have high skills.

From the fact that we are all high school students, this may bring attention to the people around us, and make it an opportunity to get everyone to know that we can do it too.

This is why I want to start this company now, at the point where I am still a high school student.

■Why Company?

When doing this form of service, it is harder for me to be trusted because I am only a high school student.

Even in other form of jobs, it is harder to gain the trust If I decide to do something on my own at this age.

In order to solve this problem, I thought that it was best to create a company and make this service official and trustable. 

At the same time, Since I am interested in both film and business, this will become a place for me to manage a company on my own. I thought it would become an opportunity for me to improve my skills on film as well. Also, I thought that this should not only be a place for my experience, but also a place for other high school students to challenge what they're interested in through internships. Many of the high school students now have high skills with the use of computers and can use various types of soft wares. In order to create a place for them, I believe that this service should be in a form of a company for their parents to feel safe.

■A Suitable Environment For Creation

If there are other high school students who are interested in film like me, I would like to welcome them in to this service, and work together as a team. I believe that creating this environment will become a valuable experience for me, as well as the others in the team. If this becomes something that will allow the students including me, to have their future clearer than before, I believe that this will not only have value to the customers, but also to us high school students.

■Difference Between Others

Other video editing companies set the price to a high cost. Unlike those companies, I plan to keep the prices low since the videos will be created by high school students instead of adults. In addition to that, we will include English/Japanese translations in the videos for those who wish to have them. We believe that this is our greatest advantage and the greatest difference between the others.

■Future Goals

When extending the scale of this business in the future, we plan to create the same environment in different parts of the country. Since videos and pictures can be sent as data through the Internet anywhere, we think that this will be a possibility as well.

■How The Donation Will Be Used

In order to start this service, I need the money to create a company. Therefore, the donations that have been collected through CAMP FIRE will be used towards registering the company.

Thank you for reading to the end, and please donate if you can!