Yahoo News The Gotham Sets Participants For 2023 Gotham EDU Film And Media Career Development Program
EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Film & Media Institute has today named the student filmmakers selected to participate this summer in the fifth cycle of its Gotham EDU Film and Media Career Development Program, a six-week initiative helping to launch students into the media workforce.
Running virtually as in years past to improve access to the program for students across the country, the program will this year take place in two sessions, from June 5 to July 14, 2023, and July 17 to August 18, 2023. 20 students will participate in each, with those in the overall cohort hailing from a total of 25 colleges and universities across the U.S.
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Student participants will benefit from a curriculum expanded for 2023 to cover development, pitching, marketing, distribution, new technology and entrepreneurship via workshops, peer-to-peer sessions and open conversations. They’ll also receive mentorship and insights from industry professionals spanning fiction, documentary and audio formats, including leaders from A+E Television Networks, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Impact Partners, ITVS, Magnolia Pictures, SFFilm and The 51 Fund, getting notes on concept presentations during one-on-one industry feedback sessions.
A number of participants will benefit from either the Sidney Poitier Initiative Scholarship, the Questlove Scholarship, the MTV Joel Schumacher & Sophia Cranshaw Scholarships, in support of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC undergraduates, or a scholarship from The Burke Family Foundation. Select students are participating tuition-free with the support of partner institutions, including founding Gotham EDU program partner Colgate University, Lincoln University, The University of Florida and the Islamic Scholarship Fund, with others to participate in paid internships at The Gotham and MTV Entertainment Group’s Ambassador’s Program.
“It is essential that we provide talented young people from historically excluded backgrounds with the skills and guidance they need to succeed in this rapidly evolving industry,” said The Gotham’s Executive Director Jeffrey Sharp and Gotham EDU Director, Cait Carvalho, in a joint statement. “By equipping them with the tools and resources to navigate new distribution paradigms, emerging technologies, and more, we can help to level the playing field and ensure that all voices are represented across the media ecosystem.”
Student alumni of the program, launched in 2020, have gone on to work at A24, Apple, Amazon Studios, CBS News, HBO Documentaries, PBS Kids, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Showtime Networks, Nickelodeon, Nike, NBC Universal, Paramount and UTA. Other Gotham EDU initiatives underway for 2023 include the Executive Leadership Program, the Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase, and the Colgate University NYC Study Group.
View this year’s list of Career Development Program participants and scholarship recipients below.
The MTV Joel Schumacher & Sophia Cranshaw Scholarships:
Graviela Hernandez Sosa, American University
Jennesy Herrera, Hunter College
Juliet Reynolds, Arizona State University
Ivan Rome, Columbia University
Melanie Wu, The New School
The Questlove iHeart Scholarship:
Mia De Jesus, Hunter College
Christopher Medina, Miami Dade College
Dara Nicole Díaz Ríos, Emerson College
Tyra Robinson, Bethune Cookman University
Sarah Sy, University of California, Davis
The Sidney Poitier Initiative Scholarship:
Oreoluwa Akinyode, Maryland Institute College of Art
Jeremiah Battle, Stevenson University
Maya Darby, University of North Carolina
Linnea Hopkins-Ekdahl, Columbia University
Betselot Shifferraw, Loyola University Maryland
The Burke Family Foundation Scholars:
Vanessa Alzate, Marymount Manhattan College
Jeremy Kurt, Purchase College
Isabela Molina, Yale University
Jenna Morgan, University of California, Davis
Cloe Rankin, Boston University
Mariatou Saho, New York University
Hailey Paige Sullivan, Emory University
Laila Wilson, Stony Brook University
Students selected for the Gotham EDU 2023 Career Development Program include:
Elizabeth Armstrong, Colgate University
Ayla Babanikos, University of Florida
Eli Berliner, Yale University
Grace Chen, American University
Phillip Divon, Lincoln University
Laine Girolamo, Colgate University
Hannah Goff, Colgate University
Tina Huang, Yale University
Ishikaa Kothari, Yale University
Katrina Lee, University of Florida
Cynthia Lin, Yale University
Maryam Mir, New York University
Ayesha Nawal Mubin, Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema
Bridget Perdomo, University of Florida
Jasmine Pérez, University of Florida
Ava Wigdor, Colgate University
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