As we wait and hope for the country to come together after a divisive, acrimonious presidential campaign, I’d like to sound an optimistic note for progressive social change. It takes the form of two words: Gil Kenan.
Kenan is currently in postproduction on Monster House, a feature executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. Monster House marks Kenan’s movie directorial debut; he also co-wrote the film.
Back in 1994, Kenan was a student at Inner-City Filmmakers. At the time, Inner-City Filmmakers was just in its second year. The program was launched by two veterans of the commercialmaking industry, editor Fred Heinrich and his wife, freelance producer Stephanie Lipner. The May ’92 riots in Los Angeles served as the catalyst for Heinrich and Lipner, prompting them to form the group as a way to make a positive difference in the lives of youngsters who might not otherwise get the chance to become part of the film community.
Over the years, Inner-City Filmmakers has provided free-of-charge training and hands-on experience in different aspects of filmmaking to numerous graduates of different ethnic backgrounds and from financially disadvantaged families. The program has also helped secure paid entry-level jobs for many grads.
Indeed, the grass-roots brainchild of Heinrich and Lipner has made—and continues to make—its mark, improving the lives of—and career prospects for—deserving high school students. In a sense, Kenan’s ascent to mainstream feature filmmaking represents the nobility and success of proactively trying to do good, of taking an idea designed to help others and then working to make it a reality. It’s also a stellar example of how good, in this case the Inner-City program, can come out of bad, namely the rioting that broke out in the wake of the initial acquittal of police officers in the high-profile Rodney King beating case.
After completing his instruction at Inner-City Filmmakers, Kenan went on to become a graduate of the master’s class at UCLA’s film school. Now a Creative Artists Agency client, Kenan hasn’t forgotten his roots. He hired Nestor Arce, an 18-year-old student from the ’04 Inner-City Filmmakers class, to serve as a production assistant on Monster House. It’s a hiring that Lipner finds most gratifying.
"For me, it’s a tearjerker," she related. "We are grooming young people for the industry—and at the same time hopefully they’re being groomed to give back to others, kids like they once were who just want a chance to learn."
A story Heinrich told me years ago sticks in my mind. He recalled that the purpose of Inner-City Filmmakers hit home for him during its first year, when students from Bell High School in Bell, Calif., brought in their school video yearbook, which included five obituaries.
"That underscored the fact that we need to help create some opportunities for underprivileged young people in the inner city," affirmed Heinrich.
