George Clooney is one of many stars co-founding a public high school in the Los Angeles United School District to provide underserved communities an opportunity to break into the film industry.
What We Know:
- Clooney, Kerry Washington, Don Cheadle, Mindy Kaling, and Eva Longoria are just a few listed as the founding members of the Roybal School of Film and Television Production. Housed in the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center in the Westlake District area of LA, the magnet program will provide curriculum, practical training, and internships.
- In a statement, Clooney said, “Our aim is to better reflect the diversity in our country. That means starting early. It means creating high school programs that teach young people about cameras, and editing and visual effects and sound and all the career opportunities this industry has to offer.” LAUSD teachers will be given access to industry professionals in order to achieve these goals.
- Under the direction of principal Blanca Crus, the school’s curriculum will be developed to meet the standards of the State of California. Austin Beutner, LAUSD Superintendent, expressed his approval, “Physics is involved in the choice of lens by a cinematographer, math is part of the foundation for a musical score…critical thinking skills are needed to design a set, screenwriters need a foundation in literacy, and a make-up artist needs to know chemistry of the different materials they might use — all of this will be tied into the curriculum at the school.”
- The Roybal School of Film and Television is expected to launch in the fall of 2022. The plan is to enroll underclassmen to begin and expand to upperclassmen in the following two years. There will then be an opportunity to expand the pilot program to more schools in LA.
Initiatives like these spearheaded by actors in the industry show the desire for the film world to better capture the American experience in all capacities.
