It’s just after 9 am and class is in full session at the Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet, a specialty academy near downtown Los Angeles. Cell phones are out of sight, pens are scribbling, and projectors are buzzing.
But instead of reflecting geography, grammar or science lessons, in a classroom, the first page of a Harry Potter the script is on the screen. In another, nearly two dozen students are hard at work on their “superhero backstories,” a task that requires them to come up with original designs for a superhero costume both on and off the job, taking into account the character. , time period, history and concept.
Perhaps out of respect, or because they are so engrossed in the task, only a few students glance over their shoulders at the slight commotion caused by a tour of Hollywood power-turned-Royals who came over to inspect the scene. . . And no student was bold enough to ask the Oscar-winning superstar and superhero at the back of the class for advice: George Clooney.
To them, he is more than Batman. Clooney co-founded Roybal along with longtime producing partner Grant Heslov and longtime agent and CAA co-chairman Bryan Lourd. Together, they arrived at the school on Wednesday for an opening celebration and pep rally that reinforced the school’s mission of nurturing diverse talent directly from a focused, skills-driven secondary education straight into industry in roles below the line. .
There was more to applaud than just the mission progress and star power in the room from Clooney and fellow co-founders and board members Mindy Kaling and Don Cheadle. The school is confirmed to have secured a total of $4 million in funding for the show from new sources including Amazon Studios, Disney, Fox Corp., NBCUniversal/Telemundo Enterprises, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Those companies, now founding partners, join previously announced founding partner The History Channel/A&E Networks along with Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
In other news, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier, NBCUniversal Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Craig Robinson, and Paramount Global Executive Vice President of Inclusion and Public Affairs at Nickelodeon Marva Smalls have joined the Board. Royal Advisor. They will work alongside board members Clooney, Heslov, Lourd, Kaling, Cheadle, Kerry Washington, Eva Longoria, Nicole Avant, Working Title Films founders Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, veteran studio head Jim Gianopulos, as well as President of A+E Networks Group. and President Paul Buccieri.
Buccieri and Fellner also joined the festivities on Wednesday and the latter’s performance was notable as he and Bevan operate a similar program in the UK. an inaugural class of 150 ninth- and 10th-graders in August after formally launching the program last summer. He wasn’t the only one.
“I can’t imagine it’s been 18 months, 16 months,” Kaling said as he kicked off the pep rally in front of Cheadle. “And the Roybal School went from being an idea to a pioneering institution and you are its pioneers.”
After the students burst into applause, Kaling said that she is a living example of “you have to see it to believe it.” As the daughter of immigrants, the actress and super producer said that she was raised by a television. “That’s where I fell in love with this, but I didn’t have access, and the amazing thing about [this school] is that we are going to try to provide that.”
Cheadle later confirmed the board’s commitment. “We were very fortunate to visit a few classes today and see them in action,” he said. “Hopefully, we can provide a path for him to enter this industry, find lucrative jobs and have more representation in this business that we have been fortunate to be in for many years.”
One way to light the way is by providing access and career information for professionals currently in the job. Roybal’s inaugural Industry Council is comprised of a group of accomplished craftsmen including costume designers Ruth Carter and Emilio Sosa, production designers Wynn Thomas and Korey Washington, hair and makeup artist Howard Berger, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, lighting director Danny Gonzalez, supervising sound editors Bobbi Banks and Glenfield Payne, film editor Michael Tronick, animation artist Vicky Pui, and visual effects producer Brooke Breton.
Overseen by director Blanca Cruz, the Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet, located at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center on Colton Street in the Westlake neighborhood, could eventually expand to more schools in Los Angeles. If all goes well, maybe even California or maybe other major production hubs like New York, Atlanta and Chicago, Clooney said during his podium remarks.
“Our industry, actually, from the beginning has been pretty poor at inclusion and usually the way we try to fix it is at the end of the process,” said Clooney, fresh from London, where he premiered his new film Ticket. to Paradise, one re-teaming with Julia Roberts. “That hasn’t worked very well as we’ve seen.”
Roybal can help reverse that, Clooney continued, thanks in large part to studio and network partners who have donated much-needed funds. “They accepted, in a very different way by saying that in two or three years, when our first group graduates and has finished the course, there will be internships and apprenticeships and real jobs that will lead to better and better jobs so that we can change the complexity of this industry,” said Clooney, who also heartily thanked Lourd, calling him “the driving force” of the show. “Actors don’t really thank their agents, for good reason, but we’re thanking them because it really doesn’t start without all the hard work Bryan put in.”
Clooney then turned to a polite request for the students to focus on education, but not before taking a little detour back to where the day with superheroes began. “We are very excited to be here with you. Now look, you’re going to have to help us because this is new and this is education and in our industry, no one really thinks about education,” he explained. “I think that’s fair. You know, if you think about actors, you don’t really think about education in general. If you look at me, you just think, oh, he’s just the best Batman.”
Cheadle then joked, “The best available.”
“Really though, Ben Affleck?” Clooney continued with the caped crusader who has also been played by Affleck, Christian Bale, Michael Keaton and, more recently, Robert Pattinson. “He has nothing against me.”
Once the laughter died down, Clooney closed the show by talking seriously about Roybal’s commitment to changing the face of Hollywood. “The bottom line is this guys, the path to the industry has to be an education of this industry and that education starts here and it starts today with all of you. We couldn’t be more proud to be here, and we couldn’t be more excited for his future.”
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George Clooney, Don Cheadle and Mindy Kaling celebrate the opening of the Roybal School – The Hollywood Reporter – Doha Roots English