The New Grant that Keeps on Giving

The new Film, Television and Media (FTVM) program plans to offer yearly scholarships and fellowship support to its majors after receiving a first-ever $30,000 grant from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

This year, three inaugural fellowships of $6,000 each were awarded to FTVM students Carrie McClain, Josh Cooper, and Carnel "CJ" Anderson. McClain will be creating a video graphic series, Anderson will be creating an original television show package, and Cooper will be creating a short film. McClain also says that she was able to buy a laptop and other equipment she needed to produce her graphic video series about Black female filmmakers.

"The scholarship is helping me create a space to where I can be creative and it is assisting in helping me finish my TV series," Anderson said. "It has given me the opportunity to do something creative and go into the learning process and see what I would do if I did this as a profession. It also gave me extra money on the side."

In order to qualify for the HFPA scholarship, students must be currently enrolled in the new FTVM program, have the required grade point average, and submit a proposal for a creative project to the department. The proposal included a personal statement, what their project would be about, and how the funding would help them reach their project goals.

Assistant Professors Dr. John Vanderhoef and Dr. Ryan Bowles-Eagle worked together alongside campus development to make this opportunity available to their students. The partnership with HFPA also offers memberships to organizations like Film Independent, a nonprofit art organization for independent filmmakers that also runs the Spirit Awards.

"They have constant screenings featuring film makers and showrunners that our students get free tickets to and have access to," said Dr. Vanderhoef. "There are so many additional benefits in being a grantee of HFPA, so we are hoping to take advantage of all those opportunities as well."

The grant money helps pay for tuition that isn't covered by financial aid, expenses they incur during their fellowship, and the fellows are given a lot of guidance and "creative latitude" within the process.

"We [FTVM faculty] work closely with all three of the fellows and keep them on a realistic timeline that they are able to follow and provide mentorship and guidance," Vanderhoef said.

While this is the first time the grant has been awarded to CSUDH Communications students, Dr. Vanderhoef has hopes that it will be an annual occurrence.

"The hope is that we continue receiving the grant and that we increase the amount each year," Dr. Vanderhoef said. "We hope that we can essentially support more students who are engaged in creative work and creative practices."

The initial HFPA funding of $25,000 was awarded to the FTVM program this year with an additional $5,000 endowed scholarship that will go into effect after five years. HFPA has granted fellowships to other CSU's in the past, however, this is the first time CSUDH students have been awarded the grant.