美国国家公共电台 NPR To Answer Hollywood's Diversity Problem, California Program Hands Kids The Camera

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Let's stay on the topic of getting America's next generation ready to make their mark. But this time, we're talking about a very special workplace - Hollywood.

ANALI CABRERA: I'm feeling so good. Like, I've been really excited for this. I've been looking forward to it. I'm definitely proud of the work I've done.

MARTIN: That's 17-year-old Anali Cabrera at Hollywood's famed TCL Chinese Theatre yesterday. She's one of hundreds of California student filmmakers whose work is being screened this weekend at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. The students are part of the youth cinema project which, as NPR's Anjuli Sastry reports, aims to create a pipeline¹ for young filmmakers of color.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Crosstalk).

ANJULI SASTRY, BYLINE²: It's the last week of school for the fifth graders at Union Avenue Elementary when I meet them. I get a few curious stares from some of these kids. Their teacher, Erika Sabel Flores, intervenes³.

ERIKA SABEL FLORES: Yeah, you know what this is, right?

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: Yeah, I know.

FLORES: And what is this?

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: The mixer.

FLORES: Yes, the sound mixer.

SASTRY: So they're talking about my radio equipment. These aren't just any kids - they're filmmakers. They use Blackmagic 4K video cameras, boom⁴ mics, professional software like DaVinci Resolve for editing⁵. This is the most important part of the Youth Cinema Project, says executive⁶ director Rafael Agustin. It's hands-on. He's a writer for The CW TV show "Jane The Virgin⁷." He thinks the kids are the answer.

RAFAEL AGUSTIN: The answer to #oscarssowhite is not changing voting regulations or requirements. And I say that with the utmost respect since our founder⁸, Edward James Olmos, is a voting member of the academy. The answer to #oscarssowhite truly is developing communities of color at an earlier age.

SASTRY: Actor Olmos founded the Youth Cinema Project five years ago. The program school was to help kids graduate from high school and get into college. They partnered with 16 California school districts to gather and analyze⁹ data to see whether the program worked. Agustin says what they found surprised them.

AGUSTIN: We started doubling reading and writing proficiency¹⁰, tripling¹¹ school engagement¹², creating social and emotional empowerment in the classroom by students writing and telling their own personal stories.

CABRERA: I've wanted to be in film since I was about 11, so it's always been a passion of mine.

SASTRY: One of those students telling her story through her films is 17-year-old high school graduate Anali Cabrera. Her movie is a romantic comedy set in the heart of Los Angeles.

CABRERA: I made a film called "Luna At Moonlight." So it takes place in Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LUNA AT MOONLIGHT")

CABRERA: And it's about this girl who falls deeply in love with a guide at Rollerway.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LUNA AT MOONLIGHT")

FREDDY TIJERINO: (As character) So what's your name, anyways?

LEONISSA DUARTE: (As Luna) Luna. What's yours?

TIJERINO: (As character) My name is Dion (ph). You look familiar. Do you go to Rosewood Park?

DUARTE: (As Luna) Yeah. How'd you know?

TIJERINO: (As character) I play basketball there.

CABRERA: She spends the next couple months rollerskating around her neighborhood trying to reunite with him.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LUNA AT MOONLIGHT")

DUARTE: (As Luna) I've been thinking about his hair, his eyes, his smile. I just have to find him.

SASTRY: Cabrera is headed to UCLA in the fall to study filmmaking. She says she wouldn't be doing so without the help of the Youth Cinema Project. And colleges are taking note. Chapman University gave ten full scholarships to Youth Cinema Project students to study filmmaking. Ana-Christina Ramon is the co-author of the annual Hollywood Diversity Report put out by UCLA. It's widely read in the industry and measures diversity in front of and behind the camera.

ANA-CHRISTINA RAMON: You have to start somewhere. And thinking about Hollywood and increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in the industry, you have to really attack the problem from all different angles.

SASTRY: Still, Ramon says, there remain challenges to a program like this succeeding - for example, skepticism in working-class communities to the profession of filmmaking. She says the program can put pressure on other parts of Hollywood in addition to the academy, urging studios and networks to look at this talent pool.

RAMON: It's never really been a pool problem. You know, the excuse is always, like, oh, well, do they have enough, like, experience? You know, do they have credits? But when you give kids the training like - that they receive in this program, they have no excuse.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: (Crosstalk).

SASTRY: Back at Union Avenue Elementary School, the fifth graders are wrapping up their day.

FLORES: You guys are going to middle school. So who can tell me - think about it, discuss it with a friend or whatever - but who can tell me one thing you learned at YCP that you think you can use when you go to middle school?

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENTS: Networking.

FLORES: Networking. Yes, newtorking.

BEN: What about staying organized? Did anyone learn to stay organized?

SASTRY: The school year is officially over, but the Youth Cinema Project will resume¹³ in the fall to teach filmmaking to the next crop of kids. Anjuli Sastry, NPR News, Hollywood.

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 intervenes   

阻碍( intervene的第三人称单数 )； 出面； 插嘴； 介于…之间

参考例句：

• A week intervenes between Xmas and New Year's Day. 圣诞节与元旦之间相距一周。
• A week intervenes between Christmas and New Year's Day. 圣诞节和元旦相隔一周。

4 boom   

n.隆隆声；vt.发隆隆声

参考例句：

• The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
• Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰！轰！轰！一连串爆破声震撼山谷。

5 editing   

adj.编辑的

参考例句：

• The processing of data in random order,not subject to preliminary editing or sorting.未经预先编辑或分类，以任意次序对数据进行的处理的做法。

6 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

7 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

10 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

11 tripling   

n.三重v.（使）增至三倍( triple的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Aduh: Linger, did you hear? The school's tripling internet prices! 阿德：玲儿，你听到消息了吗？学校要把网络费增至三倍！ 来自互联网
• A rise in altitude of 2,000 meters equals a tripling in the increase of average temperatures. 海拔每升高2000米，平均气温的增幅就要大两倍。 来自互联网

12 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

13 resume   

v.（中断后）继续，恢复；n.摘要，简历

参考例句：

• We'll stop now and resume at two o 'clock.我们现在停下来，到两点再干。
• My resume shows that I have the right qualifications for the job.我的简历表明我正符合这项工作的条件。