|
The school, due to launch in 2022, is aimed at
diversifying the entertainment industry by providing a path to
well-paid jobs that have few formal entry ways.
“Our aim is to better reflect the diversity of our country,"
Clooney said in a statement on Monday. "It means creating high
school programs that teach young people about cameras, and
editing and visual effects and sound and all the career
opportunities that this industry has to offer."
The Roybal School of Film and Television Production will be
housed within the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center in the city's
predominantly Latino Westlake district. Teachers will have
access to movie industry professionals, while students will get
practical training along with academic programs and internships.
Clooney, Washington, Cheadle, Mindy Kaling, Eva Longoria, and a
trio of producers will sit on the board and will cover about 20%
of the initial expected budget of about $7 million, Los Angeles
Unified School District Superintendent Austin Buetner told the
New York Times.
Hollywood has sought to increase the number of people of color
in front of and behind the camera since the #OscarsSoWhite
scandal in 2016. Those efforts got a further boost last year
when the Black Lives Matter protests fueled a wider debate about
racism in American institutions.
Grant Heslov, Clooney's producing partner, said efforts to hire
more women and people of color on film sets was being hampered
by lack of qualified candidates.
“You want a more diverse crew,” Heslov told the New York Times
on Monday, “but there’s just not enough trained people out
there.”
The initiative spearheaded by Clooney follows plans announced
last week by record producers Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine to start
a specialized high school in South Los Angeles. The school will
not be a music school but will be aimed at encouraging inner
city kids to be innovators, start their own businesses, or enter
high-tech industries.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content
|
|
