Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Friday a merger between Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s Group Effort Initiative and its Evolve Entertainment Fund, a public-private partnership to connect young Angelenos from underrepresented communities with career opportunities in the entertainment industry.
“Evolve is about more than injecting the voices of young people into our city’s creative output – it makes sure that Hollywood studios better reflect the diversity that makes the city of Los Angeles extraordinary,” said Garcetti.
“This merger between Evolve and the Group Effort Initiative will give more people from underserved communities the opportunity to pursue their dreams, secure a career in our city’s most iconic industry, and help ensure that our backlots and sound stages represent the diversity in our city. own backyard ”.
Garcetti launched Evolve in February 2018 and has since partnered more than 1,000 people with 152 entertainment companies and 28 community and educational organizations in an effort to provide participants with a pathway to the film, television, music and music industries. digital media.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday introduced extensive eligibility reforms for the best picture category.
Sixty-five people got full-time jobs through the program and 559 people got paid internships, the mayor’s office said.
The companies include Netflix, WME and Disney’s ABC Entertainment.
GEI was founded in August 2020 by actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively and seeks to provide paid on-set training opportunities to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) and other underserved communities.
“We started GEI not even a year ago and Blake and I have been very excited and touched by both the interest in the program and the enthusiasm of our industry to help,” said Reynolds.
Fifteen people selected by lottery will receive a prize of $ 50,000
“We are very grateful to Mayor Garcetti for helping design its expansion.”
Garcetti’s office said the merger will help the two initiatives reach more participants in other cities in the United States and internationally. The expansion will seek to double the number of participants over the next three years by providing more than 1,000 internships and 150 full-time job opportunities.
“We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of organizations such as Netflix, Apple, Sony Pictures, and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, as well as early promoters Shawn Levy, Sean Anders, John Morris, David Leitch, Kelly McCormick, Kristen Bell, and Noah Baumbach. Opening access to our industry will really take a group effort and we are just getting started, ”Reynolds said.
You can find more information about the two initiatives at evolveentertainmentfund.org O groupeffortinitiative.com.
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