Category: Blog

We are a little more than halfway through this semester.  We have a great group of guys, who are very involved and willing to learn whatever the subject.   Gary has completed his class and is now bringing in guest speakers.   This last week is was “Loop Group” leader Laurie P.  The guys really loved the information she gave them about her job in television.   Next week John A.  who will be coming in to talk about cameras and what it means to be a director of photography.   Thank you to both Laurie and John.

 Over the last few weeks, we have been doing a lot of cleanup and prep work up at “Miracle Mountain.”

It is so beautiful and peaceful up here.

Our volunteers all love coming up for a work day.  They all comment on how peaceful it is and how much fun they have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is great to hear the laughter coming from each work project.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has taken a lot of time and hard work to restore power to the mountain after thieves stole much of the copper wire.  God sent us two angels who just happen to know about re-wiring this old camp.  Brent and his side-kick, our very own Charles Roseland.  Thank you both so much!!!

We’ve had to do a lot of “El Niño” prep and sandbagging.   The good news is it’s working.

Tony, our head of security, is always on duty, and, praise God, we’ve not had any further break-ins.  We’ve also had a lot of prayer.   And God is answering those prayers.    Thank you to all of our HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS volunteers, you all are incredible!!

Much like our guys, the once old abandoned camp is being redeemed as it is being rehabilitated.

A lot has happened since our last post… the biggest, is an amazing new venture…. We are currently working with the County of Los Angeles to possibly take over an abandoned rehab camp called Warm Springs up in the Angeles Forest.

We are in the process of evaluating the property to see what it would take to turn it into HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS RECOVERY AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTER. Yes, it’s a mouthful, but if it’s God’s will then it will happen.

 

It has a full commerical kitchen, lots of classrooms, a mechanics shop, wood shop, dorms… and more.

The County of Los Angeles gave us “the keys” right before Christmas to begin the (3) month evaluation period.  So far everything looks good.    Watch for more news in future posts.  Hope you all had a terrific Christmas.

 

 

Classes continue to go well.   They guys are really enjoying Luke’s Photoshop class which is new this semester and of course Stan’s Editing Class, Branden’s Creative Directing Class, Charlie’s Jobs for Life and of course Cyndi’s World Views class.

We’ve also started our”Guest Speakers Class.  Last week John Ames taught camera and this week Derrick Warfel will teach screenwriting.

We are just about 75% through this semester.   The classes couldn’t be going better.   Thank you again to the Sheriff’s Department!

We just held our semester #18 graduation.     12 men completed the semester.  All very enthusiastic.  All did a terrific job and worked hard.

We want to continue to thank all of our volunteer instructors who donate their time to make a difference in these mens lives.   May God bless you all.

As semester #18 came to an end, we did our “End of Semester” shoot.    We interviewed  very special guest, Mr Henry Lozano who has serviced the citizens of this country as a non-profit executive for such organizations as Peace Corps and Teen Challenge.  In 2007 President George Bush asked Mr. Lozano to become Deputy Assistant to The President and Director of USA Freedom Corps.

Then under President Obama he oversaw the creation of the volunteer.gov website (which recent became www.serve.gov).

Mr. Lozano started out his young adult life going to down the wrong road of drugs and prison.   He credits Teen Challenge to turning his life around.   Look for his amazing story on our YouTube Channel hopefully within the next month.    It’s entitled “From Prison to The Whitehouse”.

Thank you to everyone for their hard work on this video.

 

In July we had the privilege of being part of SHEPHERD CHURCH PORTER VALLEY “Baptism At the Beach”as one of our guys asked to take this next step in his journey to follow God, as he wanted to be Baptized.

Hundreds of people showed up at Buena Ventura Beach in Ventura, California for some great food, great fellowship and wanting to take part in the festivities.   Many entire families came down to be part of the amazing event.

It was a great day of Baptisms at the Beach!

Thank you to all that attended and thank you to Shepherd Church Porter Valley for holding this event!   For more information about this church, visit their website:  https://www.theshepherd.org

 

A couple of weeks ago, we broad a small crew up to Grace Baptist Church amphitheater  to shoot our next installment of CHOOSING A NEW PATH.   This one with Matthew Feldmeth.

It was a beautiful day up on the hill, perfect to hear Matthew’s amazing story.   From prodigal son to the full restoration that only God can give.   He had all of us on the edge of our seat as he spoke.

  

The whole day was a story of restoration and changed lives; as everyone worked together.

 

It was fun to see Liz Curtis from Pitchess Detention Center and we met a new friend Zach who will be editing the episodes.    The project is currently in post production, but watch for it to come to HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS TV soon.  Thanks to everyone who showed up to help.

I see that it has been over a month since our last “News & Update”. A lot has happened. After completing semester #17 we took the month of May off to re-charge our batteries and prepare of the next semester. Cyndi and I took a trip to Scotland. What a beautiful country it is.

We also interviewed 40 guys for Semester #18 and narrowed it down to 33 students. On June 10th, we started Semester #18. The HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS/LASD Alumni also continue to do well. As a reminder we meet every Tuesday nite at Grace Baptist Church from 7PM to 9PM.  Everyone is welcome.

We also hope you all had a happy 4th of July celebration yesterday.

Now normally I don’t use this blog to show vacation photos, but during our trip to Scotland, I had time to contemplate and reflect on  how God has blessed HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS.   It also reminded me of the God-given beauty that surrounds us, whether it’s your own neighborhood or in a foreign country.  I wanted to share  some of that beauty instead of the usual pictures of our classroom.

 

Jeremiah 32:17 – “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the haven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.”