Amelia Dimoldenberg knows firsthand the impact a youth club can have. In fact, if she didn’t attend one 16 years ago, “Chicken Shop Date” — her viral celebrity talk show that has amassed her nearly 3 million followers and become a cultural touchstone — wouldn’t exist.
What started as a column for a youth magazine at a club in North London has now been running for over a decade, with several of the other students Dimoldenberg met there going on the journey with her. “I’ve always wanted to create something similar for young people myself, when I was able to,” Dimoldenberg tells Variety. “The benefits were just immense.”
That dream came to fruition last summer when Dimoldenberg started Dimz Inc. Academy, a free in-person summer academy for 18 to 24-year-olds from underserved communities interested in the creative industries. Developed in conjunction with youth charity Spiral Skills and hosted in Young Creators U.K.’s South London studio space, the five-day program saw 18 young people create their own show concepts while learning how to operate camera equipment, work in a production team, edit videos, market their ideas and even shadow a “Chicken Shop Date” shoot. It was an immense success, with graduates of the first Dimz Inc. going on to land jobs at YCUK, the BBC and Google. However, this year, Dimoldenberg wanted to aim higher and decided to expand the program to four weeks.
