THE INITIATIVE
The Academy Gold Program is a multi-tiered educational and experiential initiative designed to enhance and extend an industry-wide diversity internship enhancement program under the Academy brand. The initiative affords top film entertainment, technology, production services and digital media companies an all-inclusive pass to recruit and educate a nationwide pool of diverse talent. The program offers interns exclusive access to Academy members, industry professionals, screenings, and educational workshops offering an inclusive industry networking experience.
ABOUT GOLD
Gold Students 2017
The Academy offers unprecedented and exclusive access to industry professionals through its more than 8,000 members. Known for its “best in class” industry screenings, tours, educational workshops, roundtables and events, the Academy affords aspiring film and entertainment students the ability to interact and learn from the best. This initiative will ultimately cement, strengthen and clarify long-standing, but independent efforts to address concerns of accessibility and opportunity for underrepresented communities throughout our country.
The Academy partnered with 26 participating studios and content providers to directly impact the careers of more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students, including 22 interns placed in Academy departments.
An Academy Gold Production Track program, offering summer-long technical workshops, will be available for students with a career interests in cinematography, production design, costume design and film editing. Participants include students from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEF), Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, West Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Film School, among others. These students also will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience shooting scenes on a soundstage, as well as spend one week on the set of an active production shadowing various departments.
SUMMER 2020
Academy Gold works in conjunction with various studios, industry suppliers, key organizations, etc., to create a differentiated eight (8) week summer educational and networking experience as the first part of a multi-tiered program.
The program is available to juniors, seniors and graduate-level college students with an emphasis on high-quality, underrepresented talent in order to help them acquire the knowledge, skills and connections to achieve success as they navigate above-the-line and below-the-line full time careers in entertainment.
- Master Classes: Access to programs in Academy facilities that provides a robust curriculum of industry topics targeted to all levels, leveraging the expertise of Academy members and partners.
- Networking with Industry Professionals: Hosted Academy screenings and panels include industry professionals with Q&A and networking opportunities.
- Careers in Film Summit (CiFS): Students will have access in person and online to the Academy’s CiFS, a one-day crash course on filmmaking professions (including production, distribution, marketing, development, above- and below-the-line), with diverse filmmaker panelists offering explanations of their jobs and how to successfully prepare for and enter the film business.
- Graduation: Opportunities for participating interns to “graduate” from the internship program and participate in the Talent Development and Inclusion Program via “Phase Two Mentorship” and “Phase Three Fellowship” programs currently offered through the Academy.
- Alumni Network: Keeping the summer experience going, we will create an online tracking network (via LinkedIn) to nurture and build a networking portal for eventual job placement post-graduation
- Student Academy Awards and Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting: Qualifying students will be encouraged to participate in the Academy’s other talent development initiatives.
GOLD PROGRAM OVERVIEW
• Interns who work directly for the Academy work a minimum of 20 hours per week. Hours vary for Interns through participating companies.
• In addition to employment, Academy Gold interns have access to project driven, hands-on experiences to gain more knowledge about and access to the motion picture industry.
• The Academy Gold summer internship program also includes educational panels featuring diverse entertainment professionals, studio tours and other growth oriented and fun activities related to student development and film.
HOW TO APPLY
• The application deadline: TBD (late Winter/early Spring 2021)
PARTICIPATING COMPANIES
Thank you for your participation in this valuable program and your commitment towards creating a path of career advancement and opportunity for aspiring young talent within our industry. As part of your commitment to this program, we have provided some information that will prove helpful as we embark on this partnership together. For full list of 2019-2020 Gold Partners click here
For employers interested in participating in the Academy Gold Program, contact us here
For students interested in applying for an internship, and for a full listing of participating companies, click here
For out-of-state students interested in the Academy Gold Program, click here
Academy Gold is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation. The Academy Gold Production Track is made possible in part by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund.
Additional support is provided by The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Ruderman Family Foundation, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Leon Silverman, and Charles de Limur.