Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garett and Ava DuVernay announced on Monday the start of a new partnership to bring aspiring filmmakers in underprivileged communities a chance at a job in the film industry.
According to reports, Evolve Entertainment Fund was created as an addendum to Garcetti’s Hire L.A. Youth program, which connected 15,000 youths in Black and Latino communities with jobs last year. That said, only 13 of those jobs were in the film industry, so the Evolve Fund has been created to help provide more opportunities for people interested behind the scenes in movies and TV shows filming in California.
The Evolve Entertainment Fund, a $5-million initiative, will assist 150 interns for the coming summer, with the goal to increase the number to 500 by 2020.
The program includes internships, mentorships, workshops, and panels. in addition, the fund will give production gap financing to feature projects made by underrepresented filmmakers and crews who don’t have enough money to get through post-production.Â
The projects will then be distributed with the help of Ava DuVernay’s distribution company ARRAY, as well as the Film Independent and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.
Partners on the program include Sundance, Buzzfeed, Netflix, Ryan Murphy, HBO, UTA, Jim Henson Studios, Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae Productions, Variety and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
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