Mission & History

Spy Hop Productions is a nonprofit youth media arts and educational enrichment center located in the historic Art Space district of downtown Salt Lake City.  Our purpose is to empower youth to express their voice and with it create a positive change in their lives, their community, and the world.  Our mission is to encourage free expression, self-discovery, critical thinking and skill participation via the big screen, the airwaves, and the web.

Founded in 1999, Spy Hop provides approximately 1,800 youth participants per year with hands-on and mentorship-based learning experiences in the documentary arts, film/video production, audio engineering, music and interactive media.

Due to Spy Hop’s high quality and effective out-of-school programs, the center has become a vital resource for the youth of Salt Lake and to the community at large. The organization is now widely recognized as one of the leading youth media arts education centers in the country, and acknowledged by the Sundance Institute as setting the standard for media arts learning across the nation.

SPY • HOP (v): The act in which a dolphin rises above the water in order to navigate and determine its position in relation to other members of the pod. 2. To look ahead. 3. To tune in.