Don Cheadle, Kerry Washington, George Clooney, Mindy Kaling, and Eva Longoria have teamed up to co-found a new film school for marginalized communities, which will open in the fall of 2022. The Roybal School of Film and Television Production, according to The Hollywood Reporter, will provide students with a strong academic foundation, hands-on training, and access to renowned storytellers and other Hollywood industry leaders and experts. The school will also include a dedicated internship program.
“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.”
Industry veterans are supporting the magnet program, which will be run in collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and will focus on film and television production. The academy will give education and hands-on training in filmmaking’s arts and sciences.
The school will begin with ninth and tenth pupils, then expand to eleventh and twelveth grades over the next two years. The founders plan to expand the curriculum by opening new schools in the Los Angeles area, and they will all serve on the Roybal School of Film and Television Production Advisory Board.
“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.”
