Over the past few years, Red Hot has undergone a reinvention of itself for greater social impact in the digital age. The first step in this direction was launching our mobile technology storytelling tool, DIYdoc (a shortened form for Do-it-Yourself Documentary) with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and a private foundation.

DIYdoc is a simple storytelling tool for capturing user-generated video, tailored to support a variety of academic and non-profit initiatives. The app allows users to create short documentary films with their iPhones in a simple and intuitive way that combines the best of traditional filmmaking and crowd-sourced digital content.

DIYdoc is based upon a template structure, similar to a traditional filmmaking storyboard. The user is led through a series of prompts and instructions with questions, shot lengths and camera angles. The user fills in the storyboard template with video recorded inside the app, and once completed, it is uploaded to the cloud where each scene is automatically edited and processed with transitions, filters, graphics and other professional elements. In less than five minutes the user receives the edited film back to their device, in which they can watch, download, share via email or send automatically to social media channels.

Red Hot initially launched DIYdoc with a workshop in Uganda in association with Keep A Child Alive. This was followed by running a series of peer-led storytelling workshops utilizing DIYdoc in 2017 + 2018 at the Ali Forney Center for homeless LBGTQ youth in Harlem in NYC. Our most recent partnerships include storytelling initiatives with WNET, Artplace America, IDPI at the University of New Mexico, and HITN’s Digital Storytelling Project. DIYdoc’s next step forward is working towards enhancing educational technology in order to produce filmmaking templates to help educators and students alike learn in new ways through the power of storytelling.

Install the app and share your story

©, ™, patent pend†ing DIYdoc, Inc. 2019