Recently, NATO CA/NV CEO Todd Vradenburg and Cinema Foundation E.D. Bryan Braunlich attended the one-year celebration of the Los Angeles Unified Roybal Entertainment Industry Magnet School. They were joined by other industry partners from Dolby, Avid Post Production, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.
NATO CA/NV is underwriting a first of its kind five-year scholarship/stipend program for recent graduates.
After graduating from Roybal, students can apply for a NATO CA/NV scholarship that will provide access to equipment resources they need to continue the pursuit of their chosen career pathways. Selected students receive a $1,500 one-time fellowship to support specific post-graduation needs.
Equipment and Tuition Support can include but not limited to:
- Black Magic Cameras
- Lighting Kit
- Boom Mic
- Sound mixing equipment
- Laptop and software
- Make-up kit
- Sewing Machine
- 2-Year Junior College scholarship
- Trade schools that support credentials/degrees related to career pathways
The students at LAUSD’s Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet School are accustomed to meeting celebrities. After all, Hollywood guest speakers are a core component of their curriculum. Nevertheless, the star-studded lineup at the celebration event — including George Clooney, Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, Don Cheadle, Governor Gavin Newsom and U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler — couldn’t help but impress and inspire.
The school was founded in 2022 by George Clooney, his producing partner Grant Heslov, and his agent Bryan Lourd, who is co-chairman of one of America’s largest talent agencies, Creative Artists Agency.
The politicians and performers came together to commemorate the first year of the unique Downtown Los Angeles high school, which is on a mission to diversify the entertainment industry by preparing more young Black and brown students for careers in film and television. The school’s student body is composed of 99% minority students and 97% economically disadvantaged students.
“We haven’t been able to fix that problem. We’ve been trying to fix it at the end as opposed to at the beginning,” Clooney said. “This is the way to fix it. We’re going to change the face of our industry from the ground up.”
During their time at Roybal, students get to specialize in below-the-line career paths such as production design, cinematography, costume design, makeup, animation, post-production, visual effects production, and lighting and sound engineering.
Many of those career paths have staggeringly low levels of diversity. For example, 94% of America’s production designers are white, as are 81% of camera operators.
Roybal seeks to change those ratios by opening students’ eyes to the opportunities in their home city — there are 65,000 below-the-line positions in Los Angeles alone.
By educating students about industry careers, the school is also setting them on the road to financial success. Entertainment industry workers earn 47% more than the average U.S. worker and collected $84 billion in wages in 2022.
