The Hollywood Reporter is committed to creating a pipeline of future leaders in film and TV, from underrepresented high school students in Los Angeles.
The inaugural Young Executives Fellowship Program is a joint venture between The Hollywood Reporter; WME, Amazon Studios, the Compton, Los Angeles and Inglewood Unified School Districts, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, and Loyola Marymount University.
Each year, 25 high school juniors will be chosen on a highly competitive basis for a two-year program that will include curriculum and mentoring. The participating students will be selected from underserved schools in Los Angeles, Compton and Inglewood. The program will include a 10-day visit to China for the graduating Fellows, who will spend time with film students at Shandong University in a co-venture hosted by Shandong Radio and TV.
In the first year of the program, the students will be taught about production, marketing and finance, with studio and network visits. The educational component will be based at Loyola Marymount University, overseen by Harvard Ph.D. Trevor Hall and LMU film school dean Peggy Rajski.
In year two, the students will be placed in pods of three or four at major entertainment companies, specializing in one aspect of the industry. The Hollywood Reporter will also offer students the opportunity to intern at the publication. Students in the pods will be assigned mentors and a paid internship at the company.
The Young Executives Fellowship Program was developed under the leadership of Stephen Galloway, The Hollywood Reporter Executive Editor of Features. In the words of Advisory Board member and Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti: “this effort by The Hollywood Reporter will help give people in underserved communities new opportunities to chase their dreams in Hollywood — whether they want to be the next studio head, or award-winning producer, or are looking to secure a future in entertainment.”
Young Executives Fellowship Program will commence in April 2019 and we will share updates on the initiative over the course of next year.
Post by Octavia Goredema
Octavia Goredema is an award-winning career coach, writer and the founder of Twenty Ten Talent. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or over on Twitter.
