The Reel Works 2023 Alumni Holiday Party
December, 7th, 2023
Closing out the 2023 Holidays, ReelWorks hosted a gathering of Alumni from each of their training courses over the years. What’s remarkable was the amount of participants from BIPOC, Queer, Femme communities. While the TV and Film industry only consists of 28.8% of BIPOC professionals, 26% women - more than 80% of the alumni participants were from these communities.
Grips Alumni: Elijah Joseph (@elijah joseph), Anna Yang ( @annayyang), Parnell Jackson Jr.
Hair & Makeup Alumni: Cassidy Herrera (@keymakeupartist)
Set Design Alumni: Serena Kelly ( @renakels @Serena Portfolio), Angel R Sheffey
Post-Production Coordinator Alumni: Moreena H. Hashim (@moreena_hh), Daniella Esperanza, Paul A. Notice II (@paul.notice)
Post Production Supervisor Alumni: Jaye Aryes Brown (@jayeayresbrown)
Alumni were not only equipped with industry-standard training, case studies, and hands-on practicum; but were given one-on-one access to potential employers currently active in their respective fields. This kind of advocacy can lead to significant change in an arguably still homogeneous industry centered around Cis Heterosexual White men.
Moreover, the community-building become self-sustainable through the organic camaraderie stemming from the initial connections made at the “third space” created at events like the holiday party.
“In Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place (1989), he argues that Third Places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.”
In other words, as Pete Myers states in “Going Home: Essays, Articles, and Stories in Honour of the Andersons,” “Third places, then, are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction.[1]” Pete Myers (2012).
A smaller segment of the alumni guests eventually met up after the holiday party ended for drinks for further discussion, further cementing newly made bonds that will in no doubt prove essential in navigating not only their fields, but their lives in general. In fact, a March 2021 McKinsey and Company case study, “Black representation in film and TV: The challenges and impact of increasing diversity,” determined that TV and Film productions with at least one Black producer were 73% more likely to hire a Black writer. In contrast, less than 1% of productions with no Black producers are likely to hire a Black writer. The correlation is likewise in similar situations as well, demonstrated in McKinsey and Company’s graph below:
From “Black representation in film and TV: The challenges and impact of increasing diversity” March 11 2021
With that said, I was privileged to document this progression of friendships and community building in the industry amongst marginalized people through a series of photos that you see here.
Written by Paul A. Notice II
Research by Brianna Nicole
