The Hollywood Foreign Press Association Invests in CSUDH Students

California State University Dominguez Hills Film, Television and Media and Journalism students were offered a grant by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on entertainment and host The Golden Globe Awards. The HFPA grants provide ongoing support for CSUDH FTVM and Journalism students with funding towards tuition and projects.

The grant is annually distributed to students by the faculty and campus, after distinguishing themselves for their academic achievements, creative and technical abilities. CSUDH was able to receive $21,500 for the Journalism program, and $60,000 for the Film, TV, Media Program (FVTM).

An additional $5,000 standalone HFPA scholarship will be offered for communication students to apply for in AY 2022-2023.

The 2018-2019 Academic Year was the first year CSUDH was able to get a partnership with the HFPA. “We worked with campus development and applied for the grant and have had a partnership with the HFPA ever since,” said Dr. John Vanderhoef. “This is the fifth year, and this academic year is the first year the Journalism program is being supported by the HFPA.” The money for the programs is directed to the fellowships.

Journalism fellowship members include Lloyd Bravo, Nova Blanco-Rico, Brenda Verano, and Mary Mcfadden. The Journalism fellows created stories for World Press Freedom Day, which was held on April 14. World Press Freedom Day is a day to raise awareness for the importance of freedom of the press and to remind governments to uphold the responsibility of the right to freedom of speech and expression.

Each student presented their independent projects on “Newsroom Equity,” including articles, podcasts, and videos, showcasing their abilities to create content across platforms.

May 3 is the official date for World Press Freedom Day, marked by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The CSUDH World Press Freedom Day event was planned and organized by the Society of Independent Student Journalists (SISJ). “It’s open to the public, the campus community, and the surrounding community. The goal is to connect students with professional journalists who are working in the field,” said Dr. Nancy Cheever, former Communications Department Chair and Professor at CSUDH.

The process for receiving the fellowship grant for the Journalism Program involved the HFPA committee reviewing student project proposals.

“Student applicants write an essay and applications and, once applications are received, the journalism faculty reviews them,” Dr. Cheever said.

Lloyd Bravo, a graduating senior and Journalism major, was one of this year’s inaugural HFPA fellowships in Journalism. He completed a project involving inequities in film and art critique.

“I had dreams of becoming a film critic like Roger Ebert,” said Bravo. “Ebert didn’t start right out as a film critic, he was assigned to review films. But the HFPA made me interested in doing it. Entertainment writing is a big thing for me.”

Bravo was hesitant in applying for the grant initially but was eventually convinced to apply after encouragement from Associate Professor Dr. Brant Burkey.

“Dr. Burkey would send emails and push me into applying,” Bravo said. “I’m always busy with my son and getting into my head and with so much on my plate, I applied on the last day of the extension. I didn’t think I would get anything, I was very proud of myself.”

Bravo decided on making his project oriented on art critique for those wanting to become journalists to be critics as well. “There aren’t any classes on critiquing art or media, I want to ask critics how they got to where they are, studying journalism and how they became critics,” explained Bravo.

Bravo wishes to make an impact on aspiring film critics and hopes to open doors for them and their future work. He adds: “The experience and displaying my work at a World Press Freedom Day, networking, and being able to write this on my resume and to be recognized is what I hope to achieve.”

Mary McFadden is another graduating senior who took a chance at the HFPA fellowship grant.

“It was brought to my attention by Dr. de la Serna,” said McFadden. “She told my class and advised us all to go and apply. I immediately jumped at the chance.

“The grant was extremely helpful. This is my last semester and the scholarship paid for my classes. I’m a cash-paying student and the grant has really made a huge difference in my life,” McFadden said.

During World Press Freedom Day, Mcfadden presented her project on the inequalities of representation of female Asian-American journalists in the news industry.

She was excited to share her work with the Journalism faculty, her colleagues, and her family, but still had to conquer her nerves.

“The presentation is a really big project, and speaking in front of my peers and future potential colleagues is a bit nerve wracking,” McFadden said.

On the other hand, she considers the results rewarding. “This process has shown me how capable I am in producing a big project on my own, not just in an academic setting, but also professionally,” McFadden said.

“I encourage all COM students to go out and apply for the HFPA grant, it’s a transformative experience that all college students should have.”

The FTVM program also had three HFPA fellows this year, a group that Dr. Vanderhoef called “very promising creative writers and filmmakers.” The grant also afforded them the opportunity to work on a creative project they normally wouldn’t be able to do. “They’re given a fellowship and all we ask is they work on a project they might’ve not been able to work on, needed a new computer, equipment, or resources that the grant allowed them to get,” Dr. Vanderhoef said.

FTVM fellows Ariela Valenzia Perez, Diane Carrilo, and Brandon Shores received a grant from the HFPA and CSUDH for creating screenplays. Perez worked on a screenplay of a daughter of immigrants with dreams of going to college. Carillo, a screenplay about a parent dying from the perspective of a Mexican American. Shores is writing a TV pilot on a bi-racial Filipino kid living in Los Angeles.

The FTVM fellows will hopefully be able to showcase their work at future events and panels through the Hollywood by the Horns program, which connects the diverse and talented students at CSUDH and professionals in the media industries.

“HFPA contributed the past two years to the Hollywood by the Horns initiative, to create a pipeline of our students and the industry,” said Dr. Vanderhoef. “We did a panel in the fall about above-the-line workers in the industry and, in the spring we had a panel about entry-level work in the industry, featuring CSUDH alum.”

For more information on Hollywood by the Horns events, visit the COM Department’s website. For information on The Society of Independent Student Journalists and World Press Freedom Day, visit their Instagram page @csudh_sisj.