tell the stories
worth keeping .
A paid 8-week summer program for young Native Hawaiian storytellers. Learn creative AI. Bring two real kūpuna stories to life. Walk away with $1,000 and a portfolio piece.
DUE MAY 15, 2026 · 10 SPOTS · AGES 15–26
WHO THIS IS FOR
THE CREATIVE WORLD IS CHANGING.
AI is rewriting what’s possible with a laptop and an idea. You want in — but not just to make memes. You want to make something that matters. This is for you.
WHAT YOU’LL ACTUALLY LEARN.
SO WHAT IS CREATIVE AI?
It’s a new class of tools that let you generate images, video, voice, and music from a written prompt. You describe what you want. The tool produces it. You keep iterating until it's right.
The human isn't replaced. The human is the director. Taste, story instinct, cultural understanding, and the ability to get the most out of these tools is what separates average AI work from great AI work. That's what this program teaches.
01
GENERATING IMAGES
Turn a description into a photograph, a painting, a portrait, a scene. Learn to craft prompts that get you exactly what you see in your head.
HIGGSFIELD · NANO BANANA
02
BRING SHOTS TO LIFE
Generate cinematic video clips with motion, camera moves, and character consistency. This is where AI b-roll stops looking fake and starts feeling real.
HIGGSFIELD · KLING · VEO · SEEDANCE
03
SOUND & MUSIC
Score your film with AI-generated music and sound design. Match mood to moment. Build the audio world that makes the story land.
SUNO · UDIO
04
STORY & PRODUCTION
Turn a kūpuna interview into a shot list. Work inside a real production pipeline. Learn the craft that keeps a film coherent from first frame to last.
INTERVIEW ANALYSIS · STORYBOARDING · TEAM PRODUCTION
WHAT YOU’LL MAKE
TWO REAL STORIES.
ONE UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER.
This year we’re bringing two kūpuna interviews to life as short films — stories that don’t exist on YouTube or Netflix, told by the people who lived them.
KAIMUKĪ · 1941
the day the sky fell
Featuring Paulette McLain
An 11-year-old girl in Kaimukī watches history unfold on December 7, 1941. A child's-eye view of Pearl Harbor.
KĀNEʻOHE · 1976
The stand at mōkapu
Featuring Cyrus Kalama
A kānaka maoli family refuses to give up their ancestral ceremony when the Marine base takes over their land.
WHAT YOU GET
REAL WORK. REAL PAY. REAL TRAINING.
$1,000
STIPEND ON COMPLETION
Certificate
RISEHI CREATIVE AI
Portfolio
PROFESSIONAL PIECE
Mentorship
NH CREATIVES
KEY DATES
HERE’S WHEN IT HAPPENS.
Eight weeks running from early June through late July. Two in-person gatherings on Oʻahu (kickoff and showcase); everything else is virtual, so neighbor island applicants are welcome.
APPLY BY
MAY 15
2026
YOU’LL HEAR BACK
MAY 22
2026
PROGRAM RUNS
JUN 1 – JULY 24
2026
SHOWCASE
LAST WEEK OF
JULY
JUNE
Kick off week on Oʻahu IN PERSON
Cultural grounding & interviews
Tool training & practice
Team formation & storyboarding
Production sprint begins
july
Heavy production weeks
Virtual mid-program review
Editing literacy & assembly
Final polish & sound design
Showcase event on Oʻahu IN PERSON
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
CURIOUS BEATS QUALIFIED.
Ages 15–26
Based anywhere in Hawaiʻi
Ready for 7–9 hrs/week
Someone who likes stories
YOU SHOULD BE
Experience with AI
Experience with video
To be in school
A fancy computer
YOU DON’T NEED
PREFERENCE GIVEN TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN APPLICANTS PER FUNDER GUIDELINES.
THE PARTNERSHIP
BUILT BY RIsEHI.
FUNDED BY HAWAIʻI PACIFIC FOUNDATION.
THE PROGRAM
RISEHI FOUNDATION
A Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering local youth to envision and build futures for themselves here at home.
“AI is collapsing the barrier between having a story and being able to tell it well. This program is about making sure young Native Hawaiians are on the right side of that shift."
GABE AMEY
FOUNDER, RISEHI
THE FUNDER
HAWAIʻI PACIFIC FOUNDATION
A Native Hawaiian organization supporting workforce development, cultural preservation, and economic opportunity across the pae ʻāina.
“We look for programs that build real skills for our kānaka and keep our moʻolelo alive. RiseHI's Creative AI Accelerator does both, and we're proud to support it.”
JEANINE DEFRIES
CEO, HAWAI'I PACIFIC FOUNDATION
QUICK ANSWERS
THE TOP QUESTIONS, ANSWERED.
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It’s an 8-week paid summer program where a small group of young people learn to use the latest creative AI tools to tell real stories that matter. This summer, we’re bringing two kūpuna stories to life; one about Pearl Harbor, one about a family’s stand for Mōkapu in Kāneʻohe. You’ll learn the tools, work in a team, and come out with a professional portfolio piece.
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Creative AI is a new category of tools that let you generate images, video, voices, and music from written prompts. We’ll primarily use Higgsfield AI, which combines several of the best models (Kling, Veo, Nano Banana, and others) in one platform. Think of it as having a film studio in your laptop.
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A little of both. You’ll be paid a $1,000 stipend when you finish, so we treat it like paid work. You’re expected to show up, hit deadlines, and deliver. But we’re also teaching you a new craft from the ground up, and we’ll treat you like someone who’s learning, not performing.
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Monday, June 1 through Friday, July 24, 2026. The final showcase event is the last week of July.
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About 7–9 hours per week, for a total of roughly 50–70 hours across the 8 weeks. That includes a live 2-hour Zoom session, a short team check-in, and async production work you do on your own schedule.
tell the stories
worth keeping .
APPLICATIONS CLOSE MAY 15, 2026
Questions? Email ryenne@risehi.com