Media Career Pathways for Opportunity Youth

Youth economic advancement

Antelope Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

In Los Angeles County, 12.9% of young people ages 16-24 – over 140,000 youth – are “disconnected,” meaning they are not in school nor are they working (2021 data). The Covid-19 pandemic led to significant increases in both the number and rate of disconnected youth, also known as opportunity youth. Opportunity youth often come from communities with higher levels of poverty; disproportionately represented are youth of color, youth with disabilities and youth who have experienced homelessness, child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Education and employment in young adulthood offer key skills, experiences and knowledge necessary to lead satisfying and productive lives. Without these, opportunity youth are more likely to have continuing challenges in adulthood, including low incomes and poor physical and mental health. This population can greatly benefit from the academic enrichment, occupational skills and vital social-emotional outlet of creative expression of a media arts curriculum.

Film Independent (Fi) will build on 20+ years of deep expertise in youth media arts education to pilot a comprehensive Media Career Pathways program for five opportunity youth recruited from our partner, Advancing Communities Together (ACT), which hosts a YouthBuild site in Antelope Valley. The immersive program will be designed to overcome barriers to entering creative careers for youth historically denied access.

Fi has an extensive network of professional filmmakers (“Fellows”) from underrepresented backgrounds who have gone through our artist development programs. We invite those with a passion for teaching to give back to the next generation by mentoring in our youth programs. We will train a Fellow as a Creative Career Advisor, who will mentor and lead a comprehensive curriculum of media arts hard skills and general career and soft skills training. Guest speakers will be invited to speak on specific topics. CCA and guest speakers will come from similar communities as the youth served, ensuring culturally responsive programming that will show participants that a career in the film industry is a viable path for them.

Fi will leverage its industry contacts to provide a culminating apprenticeship that will provide each participant with hands-on experience. ACT will provide additional support and wrap-around services throughout, and we will offer stipends/supplies to reduce additional barriers to participation (e.g. technology, transportation, childcare access).

According to the ’24 Otis College Report on the Creative Economy, LA County accounts for 27% of employment in the U.S. film & television industry. 200k jobs are in Angelenos’ backyards, but for those from historically excluded backgrounds like Mexican American Fi Fellow Gerry M., “filmmaking felt like it might as well have been happening on another planet.” We envision a different LA and a different industry where stories from all backgrounds are represented and valued. Our intensive mentorship and skills-building program will empower LA opportunity youth to develop their creative voices, share their perspectives, realize their potential, acquire translatable skills and take the first step towards a film industry career.

Our plan is to refine this model to ultimately expand the program and serve many more opportunity youth across LA County. Our ultimate goal is nothing less than transformative impact–both on individual youth and by addressing the equity gap in the film industry.