Programs

The F. Gary Gray Filmmaking Workshop - Project Watts

The F. Gary Gray Filmmaking Workshop inspires under-served youth to tell their unique stories through the art of filmmaking by introducing them to highly successful industry professionals and challenging them to produce their own work. The Workshop or “film club” is a ten month filmmaking program, involving 20-30 at-risk high school aged youth from Verbum Dei High School. Students will begin with an introduction to the process of making a film and end with the completion of an original work that is written, directed, and produced by teams of students, based on stories drawn from their real life experiences. Guest speakers from the entertainment industry will introduce students to all facets of filmmaking and will assist them in planning and implementing their work. Completed projects will be submitted to a film festival and screened at a local theater. The students will also receive college credit for their participant in the workshop.

The program’s key participants include:

• F. Gary Gray, a critically acclaimed director with credits including Friday, Set it Off, The Negotiator, A Man Apart, The Italian Job, and Be Cool
• 20-25 students (9-12th graders) from Verbum Dei High School
• Robin Zamora, a faculty member at Verbum Dei, a Film Studies graduate from LMU, and the moderator of the film-making club at Verbum Dei
• Theresa Gartland, Urban Compass Program and Curriculum Director
• Select students from Urban Compass to work on the productions
• Kathy Walton of WLAC (college credit coordinator)
• Guest Speakers and Ongoing Mentors

The workshop will be divided into five sections to guide student progress. Activities will further be broken into a week-by-week schedule to facilitate a comprehensive introduction to the entire process.

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