Hollywood veterans Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Peter Murrieta are optimistic that "a lot is possible" in the future as Hollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole expands for stories and diverse perspectives at every level.
Murrieta and Bone Isaacs performed at Thursday's event to announce the recent opening of Arizona State University's Sidney Poitier New American Film School, a program that opened in downtown Los Angeles earlier this year in the former Los Angeles Herald Examiner building at Broadway and 11th Street. He started. Boone Isaacs is the founding principal of Poitiers School and Murita is the school's assistant principal and principal. The two are joined by several other educators to discuss how Hollywood is expanding its business and audience by taking steps toward integration and representation.
Boone Isaacs and Murrieta emphasized the importance of film education being practical enough to allow students to enter production and related entry-level jobs.
“It's no longer enough to pass the baton to a bachelor's+4 to transfer a student from high school to community college. You must answer the question: "How will this help my job search?" How does it help? Murreta said.
Before she became a presenter for such hit shows as Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place and Mr. Iglesias”, Murrieta has worked as a screenwriter on several television shows. In the year In 2002, Hello from Tucson, he got his first chance to create his own show for the now defunct WB network.
Murrieta remembers that Hispanic representation skyrocketed during that time. "Tucson" was inspired by his life in Arizona. He had the Primetime drama series Easter Boulevard and George Lopez had a family comedy on ABC. Finally, change seems inevitable.
"In the 2002/03 season, I felt like it was about to happen," Murita recalls. "We waited, gathered strength and speed.
However, this feeling was short-lived, because the shows were canceled soon the following year – all except "Jorge Lopez", which ran for six seasons until 2007.
“It was like that for a while. Then another wave came, and then it went out. And at some point it dawned on me that there had to be another way, even if we attacked the business from a representative perspective,” he said. Murita
The lack of representation led to what Poitiers school leaders described as a "cultural emergency." Professors Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra cite a recent Latino Donor Cooperative study that found Latinos make up less than 4% of shows in the industry. For managers, this number is less than 3%. For cable television, Hispanic representation is much lower, nearly 0% in all categories.
Murrieta's work also includes writing and producing shows such as ABC's short-lived Christyla and Netflix's pop TV revival One Day at a Time. In his first contract with Universal Television, he developed a project close to his genre, Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murieta, which he co-wrote. Murrieta's desire to provide similar ski jumping features to other filmmakers prompted him to join the ASU staff, in addition to his successful work on the popular show.
"The idea that if we can't control Hollywood in some other way – that's fine. Then I'm going to go somewhere and create an army that will keep coming as hundreds and hundreds come," Murita said.
ASU's plan will begin by expanding the curriculum to include education in all areas of filmmaking, including music and design, and by allowing more people to earn a four-year film diploma. In addition to a close relationship with ASU's Herberger Institute of Design and Art and the School of Music, students are given multiple avenues for success.
"Movies have great composers and great songs, and we remember a lot of them," said Bon Isaacs, a former Paramount Pictures executive and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "Most young people say, "Oh, I like music. "I love the sounds of being immersed in the music business." It's amazing and wonderful. But we want to teach them a lot of pottery.
Boone Isaac said that in addition to expanding its course offerings, the school is partnering with several community colleges to create a program that will allow more community college graduates to earn bachelor's degrees.
"We all know that life has many twists and turns. When you think of turning left, there are many situations where you turn right. We want to introduce industry experts who talk about the hurdles and challenges our students face. "But in the end, determination, passion, love to work and learn is what motivates you. And [students] succeed—that's the definition of success, not someone else's.
(Top photo: Cheryl Boone Isaacs)
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