Category: Blog

Our semester continues to roll along nicely.   Things are going well and although we’ve lost some of our students, those that are still with us are very engaged.  We’ve now moved into the hands-on portion of the class.  Ryan Sheridan is in the middle of his camera class.  We’re so grateful to have him as part of our program.

We are also trying something new this semester, teaching story telling.   At the end of the semester each of our students will tell a 3-5 minute true story in front of a live audience (of other inmate/students).    We’re trying to help our guys get used to speaking in public and learn some good communication skills.  We think it’s going to be fun for all.

Our semester is going very well so far.   Gary has just finished his “The Business of  Television” class.  

Stan, Luke and Branden are heavily into the their editing classes.

Testing the Vimeo feature video!

We’re back in the classroom after a brief break between semesters.   Semester #13 is underway with 30 new student/inmates meeting in our classroom #42.   This seems like a very enthusiastic group who are eager to learn.   We’ll be updating you as we move through the semester.   Welcome back and thank you to all of our volunteer instructors and of course Sherriff Lee Baca and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. 

All of us at HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS want to wish you a very Happy 4th of July.   Happy Birthday America!

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Christine Garcia, mother of our Alumni, Shawn Cavette.  Christine gave countless hours working on the HOLLYWOOD IMPACT STUDIOS Newsletter.   She was also a regular attendee of the Tuesday night Alumni/Continuum, even though she had to do so from a wheelchair as she suffered from MS.  Below is a photo from one of our Angel Tree Christmas Gift giveaways (to the children of those incarcerated).   Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, but Christine is the one in the white van.  She may not have been able to walk, but that never slowed her down or kept her from being their for others.

Her always present, bright smile will be missed by all that knew her.   Please pray for God’s comfort for her grieving family.

Last week we held our Semester #12 graduation with (18) graduates.   Good student speeches that challenged those in the audience to change their lives and make this the last time they come to jail.  I continued that challenge by asking everyone to come to the Alumni/Continuum; a support group to help them to succeed once they’re out. 

We’re down for (4) weeks and then will start Semester #14 and begin our 5th year… Wow!!  Praise God!   Thank you to all of our volunteer instructors and all their support.   We couldn’t do it without them.    See you all soon. 

Amazing things continue to happen at our Tuesday night Alumni/Continuum meeting held at Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita.   A man showed up struggling with Heroin addiction.   He’d been clean and sober for nearly three years but recently had a set back and was back on “Smack”.   He called the Sheriff’s Department looking for a nearby support group and was directed in our meeting.  He was met with support and love, not just from our instructors but by the entire group.  One of our members, a former addict himself, even offering to drive him to a rehab center that night.  Unfortunately, our visitor wasn’t ready that night to take the help.  We don’t know how this story is going to play out yet, but the man continues to come and stay in touch with some of our Alumni members.  At this point we can pray for him that at some point soon he will have the strength to get back into a sober living environment and “get back on the wagon” to success.

Please come by and join us any Tuesday night from 7PM to 9PM in room C215 –  Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita:

22833 Copper Hill Drive
Santa Clarita, CA 91350

We have started Semester #12, with 18 brand new students and 4 returning students.   We will be doing something very different this semester.  We will be concentrating on screenwriting.   Our plan is to spend about a month focusing on the craft of writing.   We will then break the students into 5 or 6 teams with each team writing a 5 to 10 minute “short”.   The best teams script would then we shot mid-semester and edited during the last half of the semester…  that’s the plan anyway.   We’ll keep you posted.  Please continue to pray of these men and their families, that God will change their lives so they may live, happy, productive lives when they are released from jail or prison.   Thank you for your continued support.