ST. CHARLES, Mo. -
Feb. 9, 2016 -
PRLog -- On February 28
th The 88th Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will honor the best films of 2015. Another year of nominees lacking in both gender and ethnic diversity has led the industry to question why this keeps happening. Case in point, the conversation in social media focusing on the trending topic #OscarsSoWhite.
Continuity (http://www.continuitystl.com)
, a St. Louis non-profit, is doing their part to make a change in this trend by pursuing their mission to expand diversity in media production through skills-based training, mentoring and providing opportunities for untapped talent. While researching their local industry, the inequality in racial makeup of the majority of companies’ media production teams became clear. While African-Americans represent 49% of St. Louis City, less than 2% are employed by metro area media-related businesses. (Statistics are based on 181 employees at the 19 companies researched; population percentages based on U.S. Census reports.) Comparatively on a national scale, AMPAS’ predominately white (94%) male (77%) membership has been reflected in the Best Director and Cinematography categories with an all-white male list of nominees over the past two years (2014-2015.)
Continuity seeks to address the underlying issues as clarified by Joe Hall, founder and president of The Ghetto Film Schools in New York and Los Angeles. “The nominations are actually a distraction from the question of why we are not building a pipeline to generate diverse candidates.”
Continuity relies on their partnership with local organizations to help advance their mission through their three main projects (
http://www.continuitystl.com/projects). Their first program –
Mission Video – began in January at Mission St. Louis with graduates of their Job and Leadership Training program. These inner-city students receive not only film basics, but learn how to get internships, jobs and how to start their own business in a field that was formerly unknown to them. In partnership with STL Artworks, high school students are working together to create the short documentary
The Delmar Connection. And their
Show Me Democracy program will partner with Speak Up Productions on a feature length documentary. Students will learn a variety of skills including writing, storyboarding and story structure, editing, and sound mixing. Financial assistance for these projects is funded in part by Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission, and Missouri Humanities Council.
Individuals or businesses interested in partnering with this organization are encouraged to visit their website continuitystl.com to learn more.
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