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Stars helping students succeed - 15th March 2023

Many famous Hollywood stars attended the 95th Academy Awards this year. At the same time, some future filmmakers were working at a high school in Los Angeles.

The school, which George Clooney supports, is called the Roybal Learning Centre. It has a specialised programme for film and television. This was created to give more people opportunities in American filmmaking. Students study all areas of filmmaking.

Teacher Brittany Hilgers says it's all about storytelling.

Britanny Hilgers: "We wanna teach them how to tell a story and not just how to write a story. But how to tell a story as a cameraman, how to tell a story as a costume designer. Because that is part of the story, you know, it contributes to it. So, we wanna make sure that the students understand that these, all these jobs are available to them."

Hollywood stars, like Clooney, often visit the school to show support. Student Ja'saray Juarez now has plans to become a film director.

Ja'saray Juarez: "Before coming to this school, I wanted to be an animator and storyboarder. And I think now, I still want to storyboard and animate, but I would mainly wanna be a director and a scriptwriter now since we're learning a lot about that."

The school’s taught David Flores a lot about filmmaking and how to network.

David Flores: "This school has taught me networking skills, that's very important. I've learned that it's very important to make connections with other people. And I've also learned lots of the basic film techniques, like how to work a camera, how to work a boom mic."

Principal Blanca Cruz would like Los Angeles residents to have more opportunities to work in Hollywood.

Blanca Cruz: "Those are the students that many times have been left behind, have not had access to the, the support, these resources, well direct access. And so the partnership is key because they themselves in Hollywood see that there's a need."

The movie 'Everything, Everywhere All At Once' won 7 awards at the Oscars. Michelle Yeoh, who’s from Malaysia, won Best Actress. She said her award was for children who look like her. She wants them to feel proud and dream big. This message may also encourage Roybal students.