New Program Launched For HBCU Students Looking To Fix Hollywood’s Diversity Problem

Are you an HBCU student interested in gaining experience in the entertainment industry? If so, this new diversity initiative is the program for you.

The Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program has joined forces with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHI-HBCU), these two organizations are hoping to give Hollywood the best and brightest students of HBCUs.

After the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag that brought light to the lack of diversity in Hollywood, many have been constructing ways to tackle this issue. During an event held at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles, entertainment powerhouse’s came together to address solutions to diversifying Hollywood.

The panel included: David White, Executive Director of SAG-AFTRA, Stacy Milner, founder of the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP), Dr. Kim Hunter Reed, Executive Director WHI-HBCU and others.

The program introduced at the event is called, HBCU’s in LA. It is the first program of its kind to take on the Hollywood diversity pipeline problem. “Students are genuinely excited about getting the skills they need to excel in Hollywood,” Stacy Milner said. Stacy Milner and her husband Ted Milner have traveled to many HBCU’s in 2016 informing students of this opportunity.

The HBCU’s in LA internship program will launch in the summer of 2017.

The program will provide students with hands-on experience preparing them for careers in the entertainment industry. The program even plans to have resume workshops and offer interviewing tips. The interns selected in this program will also receive mentoring and networking opportunities with some of the entertainment industry’s impressive career professionals.

While discussing this program at Morehouse College during the EICOP tour, Stacy stated that one way to tackle diversity is by creating greater access and opportunities for diverse student groups inside Hollywood’s coveted inner circle. We at the Buzz are proud of the team behind this initiative and sincerely encourage our readers to apply.

The program is open to all students attending Historically Black College’s, Predominately Minority Serving Institutions, Predominately Black Institutions and Hispanic Serving Institutions.

You can apply to the program online at here. The application is currently live and will close March 15th, 2017 11:59PST. For more information about the program and to ask questions visit www.eicop.org