Archives

It’s been a little while since we’ve given an update on our program… Well the
4th semester at the Pitchess Detention Center is underway. We started with 25 student/inmates. We’re nearly half-way through. Gary has just finished teaching the overview of Hollywood Careers, Stan Cassio has finished basic Avid editing and now Chandler is teaching creative editing.

We’re very fortunate to get Derek Warfel to come back this semester and teach creative writing. Inmate/students are writing their scripts and we have (3) actors coming in this week to “perform” them.

Chris Fallin has just begun teaching basic camera and lighting. They guys really enjoy the chance to get some real hands-on training on these cameras.

God just keeps delivering top notch instructors who are so willing to give their time to teach these men as they also share their faith in God. Cyndi and I are so thankful.

Thought I would take just a moment to brag on the Co-Founder of HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS, my wife Cyndi. This last weekend she was assistant concert master with The Moorpark Symphony Orchestra as they played with The Riders of the Purple Sage. What a great concert. Lots of fun music and a great turn out, 1,000+ filled the outdoor event!

An exciting development occured recently, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, contracted HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS to produce a video for them called, “Out The Gate”. It is intended to be shown to inmates who are about to be released. The content is designed to help them not return to jail. One of the terrific opportunities was that (5) of our graduates had the opportunity to work on the video… both in front and behind the camera. They helped those who are still behind bars…

It was a great experience for all involved!

It’s hard to believe, but HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS has been teaching classes at the Pitchess Detention Center for one year! Wow, how time flies. We celebrated our one year anniversary at Maria’s Italian Kitchen in Encino. It was a time for Cyndi and I to say thank you to all of our terrific, dedicated instructors and support staff. God has blessed this ministry with some terrific caring folks who are willing to donate so much of their time. Thank you all!

We started our second year this past Wednesday, June 16th.

Pilot season is finally over for Gary. 20th Century Fox Television completed 15 pilots this year. It was a very busy time. One of the real Blessings was that two of our Alumni had the opportunity to work on pilots; to put into practice what they’ve learned through HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS. Great job Mas and Jon Paul!

Cyndi and I recently visited Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. We went to share a little about HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS and what we’re doing at the Pitchess Detention Center. We were also there as part of the “Returning Hearts” team from Grace Baptist Church.

For those of you who may not be aware of “Returning Hearts”, it is part of Awana International – a program to help teach men how to be Godly fathers. Many studies have shown that if there is a good relationship between an incarcerated father and his children, the odds of his kids following in his footsteps drops dramatically.

During this event volunteers set up a carnival and inmate fathers invite their children to spend the entire day with them. It’s a time to reconcile their relationships, share the Gospel and be the spiritual leaders God meant them to be. What an amazing day.

The entire “Returning Hearts” events was a huge success. If you’d like to learn more click on the following link: http://www.awana.org/lifeline/default.aspx?content=3077

A few weeks ago I attended the National Association of Broadcasters or “N.A.B.” convention in Las Vegas. For those of you who are not familiar with this, NAB is held every April and always in Las Vegas. Broadcasting related manufacturers come from all over the world to show their latest and greatest products. Companies likes Sony, Panasonic, Mole Richardson Lighting, JVC, Avid, Apple and many more all come to show what equipment they’re manufacturing that will be available in the near future. The convention lasts for one week. Below are some of photos from this years NAB:

The big thing this year was 3-D technology, Alexa camera from Arriflex and the “5D” from Canon.

Our first 10 week program at Nickerson Gardens has come to an end. We gave out certificates of completion and HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS T-shirts to our grads. We look forward to starting our next course over the summer. It looks like it will be centered more on drama & music, but we’re still in the planning stages. We’d like to thank the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks for helping kick this all off. Congratulations to our graduates. Thanks for all the hard work and dedication.

Our acting teach Josh Holt with some of our young aspiring actresses…

It is so incredable to see how God is working through the ministry. While doing some research on jail/prison recidivism rates. I came across this interesting statistic; according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department the total recidivism rate for inmates who have been released from jail for only 3 months are re-arrested at a 42.2% rate and within 6 months of their release, the total rate jumps to 57.4%.

This has to be “a God thing” because since we started in June of 2009, HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS has had approx. 20-25 graduates released from custody. At the time of this writing we have NOT HAD A SINGLE GRADUATE RE-ARRESTED! Some of are graduates are already gainfully employed, others are taking advantage of additional schooling and scholarships supplied by HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS.

I know this program is still young and we’re going to have some disappointments, but you’ve got to admit a 0% recidivism rate at this time is pretty darn neat! Praise God.

Last weekend, we packed up the cars with equipment and headed down to Nickerson Gardens. Chris Fallin taught a camera and lighting workshop. It was so interesting to see that when we took the camera outside into the common area, kids flocked from throughout the housing project. Everyone got a chance to do some “hands-on” work with the camera.

It was neat to see people who’d never seen a camera clap board or hi-definition camera, step up and give it a try.

Thanks again to everyone who made the trek. Thanks especially to Chris Fallin, he’s such a terrific teacher. God just continues to bless this ministry with terrific, caring volunteers.