Author: Gary

This has been a busy month at HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS.  This last Tuesday we had a very different Tuesday night Alumni Meeting…  We decided to hold a potluck to discuss and pray about all the blessings we have received during 2014 and prayed for guidance as we begin 2015.

It was a lot of fun and a ton of great food!   Thanks to everyone who attended and helped.

Earlier in the month we held our first HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS staff meeting to discuss our future of the studio “on the outside”.

Then this last Friday (1/2/15) we held interviews inside out new classroom at Pitchess, South Facility and selected (25) brand new students.   We start semester #15 this Monday January 5th!   Very excited to get underway again after our break.

Thank you to all of our supporters, friends & volunteers for a terrific 2014!   Really looking forward to what 2015 has in store.

This last Tuesday night we held our 5^th Annual Angel Tree gift giving event.   We had a great turnout (27 HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS VOLUNTEERS).   As in every year, we met at In & Out Burgers in Stevenson Ranch for food and fellowship.

We then loaded up on the GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH bus, driven by our own Hal Lary and headed to the Sun Valley-Pacoima area. We delivered gifts to 15 children.

For those who may not be aware of Angel Tree, it is a ministry of Prison Fellowship where volunteers go out and buy Christmas gifts for incarcerated parents to give to their children.   Studies have shown that if you can keep the bond and relationship between an incarcerated parent and their child strong, you have an excellent chance of keeping that child from ending up in jail or prison.

It was a night of singing Christmas Carols to those families that we were visiting.   Many a tear was shared and of course the love of Christ as well.   We pray that through this program the bonds between the parents who are incarcerated and their children only grows stronger.

A special shout out to:

Grace Baptist Church for loaning us their bus

• In & Burgers (on the Old Road) for their terrific food
• La Quinta Inn & Resort (also on The Old Road) for helping us with parking
• And of course Angel Tree for making this ministry program possible.

Thank you also to our 27 HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS volunteers for all you do in making this such a success!!   We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

We at HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS want to thank you for your help, support and prayers during 2014.   We wish you and yours a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

I am often teased that after 40 years in the television business I am still amazed by what I call “Hollywood Magic.” Well it happened again. Two weeks ago I watched the craftsmen on BONES turn an ordinary conference room into a  doctor’s fancy waiting room in less than 24 hours.

Here’s how the conference room looked before…

And here’s how it looked 24 hours later…  Movie Magic!

It just looks so real, until you go behind the walls…

Amazing!   One little plug here…  Watch BONES on Fox Thursday nights.

As part of HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS continuing education series, our alumni, along with some of our instructors and  supporters recently visited the 20th Century Fox lot.   We started our visit at the scoring stage which everyone truly enjoyed.  A live orchestra scoring a television show is really something to see.

Afterwards we took off for a tour of the lot, visiting many of the historic sites of early Hollywood.

We went by and visited Bob Anger in Fox Grip, who gave a tour.   What a great guy with a lot of knowledge and history.

We also toured wardrobe and New York Street (the Fox backlot).

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We ended the day with lunch and a discussion on futures, jobs and life.  It was truly a great day that everyone seems to enjoy.

I was talking to a friend about how interesting it is to see how each department in post production has their own idea of what is the most important component to a finished episode of television.   The composer wants their music a little louder, the writer wants their words favored, the director of photography often wants the picture darker and so on…  I explained that it takes a good executive producer to step back and look at the entire episode from start to finish and decide what is important, what is right and what is wrong and weave all of these elements together to make the best episode possible.   My friend simply smiled and said, just like God does with our lives.   He truly knows what is best for us.   He is our Executive Producer.

Congratulations to our semester #16 class who graduated two weeks ago!   Our guys really did a terrific job under some tough conditions.    We will be down for a time, but hope to be holding interviews for semester #17 soon…   Great job guys!

Last weekend, the HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS family celebrated our 5th Anniversary at Sisley Italian Kitchen in Valencia.  I am often late and this was no exception.  Our actual anniversary was June 3rd, so plus or minus (2) months and we were right on time.

We could have invited a lot more since our little family has grown, but we kept it those people who were there from the very start…  It was a real family affair…

Including our HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS kids.

It was a beautiful day on the patio and Sisley could not have done a better job.  Great food and great service.  (No they didn’t pay us to say that, it was true!)

At the end of the evening we gave everyone a small glass plaque, a small token of our gratitude.

To the next five years, God willing!!