Academy Launches Inclusive Mentorship Program 'Academy Gold'

The film academy is launching a new mentorship program for students and young professionals from “underrepresented communities,” AMPAS said on Wednesday, called Academy Gold.

The governing body of the Oscars has recruited top entertainment companies — including major studios Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Sony — to sponsor three interns each for the inaugural program.

Academy Gold aims to build a network of diverse talent from which “top film entertainment, technology, production services and digital media companies” can hire. It begins in June with 50 participants, 15 of whom will be working within the Academy itself, and spans eight weeks.

Also Read: Steven Spielberg Praises Cheryl Boone Isaacs: 'None May Have Faced' What Academy President Has

Additional companies FotoKem, FremantleMedia, HBO, IMAX, Lionsgate/Starz, Panavision, Participant Media and Technicolor.

“I am proud that the Academy is taking proactive steps in building partnerships within the entertainment industry to move the needle on talent development and inclusion,” Nancy Utley, Academy governor and president of Fox Searchlight Pictures, said in a statement.

“The Academy is in a unique position to tap into and encourage its nearly 7,000 members to become involved mentors,” said Edgar Aguirre, the Academy’s director of talent development and inclusion.

Oscars 2017: What's Next for This Year's Winners? (Photos)

For every filmmaker, winning an Academy Award is the peak of their careers. But as soon as the after-parties are over, it's right back to work, as Hollywood's biggest winners often already have their next projects in the works. For winners like Damien Chazelle, Viola Davis and the stars of "Moonlight," this year is no different. Here's where you can catch them next.
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Best Actress winner Emma Stone will return to the big screen later this year in "Battle of the Sexes," a comedy biopic based on Billie Jean King's famous 1973 tennis match against Bobby Riggs. Linus Sandgren, who won Best Cinematography for "La La Land," is also on board.
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Viola Davis, of course, will head back to Shondaland to film Season 4 of "How to Get Away With Murder." She will also play the legendary abolitionist Harriet Tubman in a biopic about the Underground Railroad.
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Mahershala Ali had a mammoth 2016 with two very different but equally praised performances: his Oscar-winning supporting role in "Moonlight" and his performance as the devious Harlem kingpin Cottonmouth on Netflix's "Luke Cage." He will have a chance to dive back into the world of graphic novels next year in James Cameron's adaptation of the manga "Alita: Battle Angel."
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After winning Best Actor for playing Lee Chandler in "Manchester by the Sea," Casey Affleck is moving on to write, direct and star in "Light of My Life" about a father and daughter lost in the woods. He will also play famed explorer Meriwether Lewis in next year's HBO miniseries about the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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Though he was on the business end of that envelope flub, Damien Chazelle was still a big winner having received the Best Director Oscar for "La La Land." Next, he'll work again with Ryan Gosling on the biopic "First Man," which tells the story of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong.
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Barry Jenkins was floored when "Moonlight" won Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay. Now he's going to continue to tell stories about African-American characters by directing episode 6 of Netflix's "Dear White People," due out later this year.
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Kenneth Lonergan moved audiences to both laughter and tears with his Oscar-winning screenplay for "Manchester by the Sea." Later this year, he will jump from original writing to adapted, as he turns E.M. Forester's novel "Howards End" into a Starz miniseries. The novel tackles the clash between social classes in early 20th century England, as three families with different levels of wealth cross paths.
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Ezra Edelman made Oscar history with his nearly eight-hour ESPN documentary "O.J.: Made in America." He's next slated to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill on "The Ballad of Richard Jewell," a biopic about an American security guard who saved thousands from being killed by a bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to be falsely accused of terrorism by the press and public.
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Byron Howard and Rich Moore earned Disney yet another Oscar with "Zootopia," and now they are moving on to new projects for the Mouse House. Moore will work on the sequel to his video game comedy "Wreck-It Ralph," while Howard is working on a yet-to-be-named project with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who will likely be making another run at that EGOT.
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Asghar Farhadi made the biggest political statement of the night, boycotting the event in protest of Donald Trump's travel ban. Now, after winning his second Oscar with "The Salesman," he is planning a new, yet-to-be-titled film starring husband-and-wife, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
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For Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone and Viola Davis, it’s right back to the set after their Oscar victories

For every filmmaker, winning an Academy Award is the peak of their careers. But as soon as the after-parties are over, it's right back to work, as Hollywood's biggest winners often already have their next projects in the works. For winners like Damien Chazelle, Viola Davis and the stars of "Moonlight," this year is no different. Here's where you can catch them next.

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