Producer Rachel Miller may have figured out a solution to Hollywood’s diversity problem that also helps underprivileged, at-risk high school kids find a viable career path. The 35-year old founding partner of management production company Haven Entertainment is the force behind a one-year-old nonprofit called Film2Future that teaches teenagers the basic tenets of filmmaking with the hope of creating a pipeline of talent for the industry.
“We have a huge lack of diversity in Hollywood which I believe is a symptom, not a cause,” says Miller. “The cause is we don’t have a pipeline. We have a socioeconomic drawbridge. I’m determined to change the output by changing the input and at the same time change kids lives.”
The inaugural year of Film2Future saw 19 teenagers ages 14-17 participate in an intensive two-week summer program in which they learned about narrative filmmaking, worked in groups, and made their own short films. That was followed by summer weekend events, résumé-writing workshops, college reviews, and then a gala in October. Each student was also paired with a working professional in his or her field of choice to serve as a mentor. Mentors included The Last Man on Earth editor Annie Court; Footloose director of photography Amy Vincent; Black-ish costume designer Jessica Elliot; and Master of None writer and actor Kelvin Yu, to name a few.
Viola Davis’ JuVee Production Company gave the organization a shout out recently.
Read the rest of A possible solution to #OscarsSoWhite still needs funding via the Entertainment Weekly website.
