Actors Don Cheadle, Kerry Washington, George Clooney, Mindy Kaling and Eva Longoria have joined forces and are co-founding a new film school for underserved communities that is scheduled to open in fall 2022. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Roybal School of Film and Television Production will give students robust academic education, practical training and access to renowned storytellers and other industry professionals and experts from Hollywood. The school also will offer a dedicated internship initiative.
“Our aim is to better reflect the diversity of our country. That means starting early,” Clooney told THR. “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. It means internships that lead to well-paying careers. It means understanding that we’re all in this together.”
The industry veterans are backing the magnet program in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) where the curriculum will center around film and television production. The academy will provide education and practical training in the arts and sciences of filmmaking.
The school initially will start with ninth- and 10th-graders and expand to 11th and 12th grades over the next two years. The founders hope to open more schools in the Los Angeles area in the future and expand the program, and they all will serve on the Roybal School of Film and Television Production Advisory Board as well.
“This groundbreaking program will help prepare students for good-paying jobs in the film and television industry by integrating practical industry experience and internships for students into the curriculum,” LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner told the Hollywood trade magazine. “Physics is involved in the choice of a lens by a cinematographer, math is part of the foundation for a musical score in a film, critical thinking skills are needed to design a set, screenwriters need a foundation in literacy, and a makeup artist needs to know the chemistry of the different materials they might use – all of this will be tied into the curriculum at the school.
“We are excited to have the support of these extraordinary industry leaders to create opportunity for children in the Los Angeles area.”
