Opening Creative Doors, Reigniting LA’s Economy

Access to tech and creative industry employment

San Fernando Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

What we are seeing now is a decline in Los Angeles’ entertainment sector. Strikes, runaway productions, and gutted DEI budgets have stalled a once‑booming creative economy. Historically, the creative economy has been an economic backbone, employing 10.5% of LA County’s workforce and generating $37B in wages (Otis Creative Economy Report). Yet too many local youth, especially low‑income and BIPOC, still see no on‑ramp. Talent is abundant; exposure, access, and networks are not. Early exclusion creates inequity: BIPOC creatives hold only 20.2% of directing jobs and 12.5% of writing roles (UCLA Diversity Report 2025). Reel Start breaks this cycle by delivering no‑cost, work‑based filmmaking: students team with industry pros to earn skills, credits, and contacts that translate into paid careers. This is significant because films with 41–50% BIPOC casts achieved the highest global ROI in 2024. Revitalizing LA’s signature industry depends on unlocking these voices today.

Reel Start’s LA-based program equips 12 socio-economically disadvantaged youth (ages 16–24) with industry exposure, mentorship, and work-based learning, at no cost. Over 10 months, students take a short film from concept to screen: writing, directing, and producing a live-action or animated project centered on a social issue of their choosing. Working alongside a professional screenwriter, students craft their scripts and refine them through executive-level feedback. Then, they shadow and collaborate with industry professionals, including directors, cinematographers, animators, and editors and together bring their vision to life.
What makes Reel Start unique is its deep integration with Hollywood: students train on-set and at post-production houses like Formosa Group and Picture Shop, and work with major studios including Paramount and Point Grey Pictures. Under professional direction, they collaborate with actors like Ayo Edebiri and Rose Byrne, earning IMDb credits and gaining the confidence, technical skills, and networks to launch a career. Reel Start doesn’t just inspire, it delivers workforce access for the next generation.

By Oct 2026 Reel Start will guide a 12-student low-income/BIPOC LA cohort from script to a finished animated short film and IMDb credit. The film will premiere for 200+ industry guests; 60 % of students secure one-on-one studio mentors, four alumni land paid internships, three alumni return as assistant instructors, and three new pipeline MOUs are signed. Outcomes are logged in our Keela Impact Dashboard and reviewed quarterly by a staff-alumni-board Evaluation & Equity Committee. In 2027-28 we’ll run two 15-student cohorts (animation + live-action) and formalize Reel Steps as a permanent bridge. Studio sponsorships and ticketed premieres will cover 60 % of future costs, keeping per-fellow cost at $12K and scaling to a 300-alumni network by 2030—supplying about 2 % of LA entry-level crew and staff-writer hires. Graduates loop back as mentors, and if productions stall we pivot to our proven virtual animation/post modules, ensuring diverse talent and jobs remain rooted in Los Angeles.