From thousands of entrants who each submitted a :60 video on the subject “the best piece of advice I’ve ever received,” just six young filmmakers (age 18-30) were selected to be on this year’s Team Oscar, delivering statuettes to celebrity presenters on stage at last month’s 87th Academy Awards. The chosen six not only appeared on the Oscars but also got to explore the renowned collections at the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, tour motion picture studios and have meet and greets with filmmakers at Oscar Week events.
Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron noted that the Team Oscar program, which just marked its third year, is a way to give incredibly talented young filmmakers a multi-faceted industry experience that will strengthen their connection to the future of film.
Two of this year’s chosen six—Justin Floyd of Compton, Calif., and Chris Carmona of Bell, Calif.—share a bond: they are both graduates (class of 2013 and ‘14, respectively) of Inner-City Filmmakers (ICF), which since 1993 has provided free-of-charge training and hands-on experience in different aspects of filmmaking to numerous graduates of varied ethnic backgrounds and from financially disadvantaged families. Started by editor Fred Heinrich and his wife, producer Stephania Lipner, the program also helps to secure paid entry-level jobs for many grads.
Improving the lives of and career prospects for deserving high school students, ICF has turned out grads who are now full fledged industry professionals. Upon witnessing the racial unrest, violence and destruction of the Rodney King riots in L.A. in 1992, Heinrich and Lipner decided to try to do something that would make a positive difference in the lives of youngsters who might not otherwise get the chance to be part of the film community. Hence ICF was born. As chronicled in SHOOT, Heinrich related that the purpose of ICF 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.
This year’s announcement of the Team Oscar winners was made on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where two ICF alumni work as costumers: Nestor Arce (ICF class of 2004) and Rocio Estrada (ICF class of 1998). Both are members of the Costume Designers Guild.
