July 5, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  John Pavlik - (310) 247-3000

Beverly Hills, CA - A record $362,500 in financial grants from the Academy Foundation, the educational and cultural arm of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will benefit 32 college and community film programs across the United States, Grants Committee Chair Delbert Mann announced today.

"Our grants are heavily skewed toward internships, visiting artist programs and workshops," Mann said. "The committee is particularly interested in programs that get students together with professional filmmakers. We don't think there is a better way to excite students about making films than to have them learn at the hands of actual filmmakers."

The financial grants allocated by the Academy Foundation's Grants Committee for 2000-2001 are:

• $25,000 - American Film Institute - Directing Workshop for Women
• $20,000 - Film Arts Foundation, San Francisco - digital filmmaking training
• $20,000 - North Carolina School of the Arts - visiting filmmakers
• $15,000 - California Institute of the Arts - internships
• $15,000 - University of California, Santa Cruz - Satyajit Ray workbook preservation
• $15,000 - University of North Carolina - internships
• $15,000 - University of Southern California School of Cinema - internships
• $15,000 - University of Southern California Master of Professional Writing Program - internships
• $15,000 - Cleveland High School, Los Angeles - industry outreach
• $15,000 - UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television - internships
• $13,500 - Columbia University School of the Arts, New York - internships
• $13,500 - Visual Communications, Los Angeles - screenings and workshops
• $13,100 - Inner City Filmmakers. Los Angeles - summer workshop
• $10,000 - Aperture, Los Angeles - organizational support
• $10,000 - Austin (Texas) Film Festival - screenwriting conference
• $10,000 - Brooklyn Academy of Music - film screening series
• $10,000 - Boston Film/Video Foundation - visiting filmmakers
• $10,000 - CineStory, Chicago - screenwriting workshops
• $10,000 - Film and Video Workshop, New York - women filmmakers symposium
• $10,000 - Loyola Marymount University - internships
• $10,000 - San Diego State University - visiting filmmakers/internships
• $10,000 - Workforce LA - summer workshops
• $10,000 - Yale University - internships
• $9,900 - Friedman Occupational Center, Los Angeles - animation training program
• $8,000 - Duke University - archival research
• $8,000 - Squaw Valley Community of Writers - screenwriting conference
• $5,000 - Columbia College Chicago - visiting filmmakers
• $5,000 - Film Forum, New York - documentary series
• $5,000 - Five Rivers Festival of Film, Missoula, Montana - visiting filmmakers
• $4,000 - Donna Reed Foundation, Dennison, Iowa - film acting workshops
• $4,000 - Northwest Screenwriters Guild, Seattle - visiting filmmakers
• $3,500 - Midwest Media Artists Access Center, St. Paul, Minnesota - women filmmakers program

Program Coordinator Greg Beal said that the Academy Foundation has granted over $2.2 million since the program began in 1968.