HFPA Grantee

The Department of Cinema and Television Arts of California State University, Northridge – better known as CSUN – is one of the “oldest” grantees of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 22 years to be exact. It is one of HFPA’s inaugural university programs, providing institutional grants and film production fellowships for students, a mostly working-class constituency in need of help. CSUN’s Department of Cinema and Television Arts provides students with knowledge and expertise to help them achieve their goals in the fields of film, TV or multimedia and to promote the critical thinking that will enrich their academic and professional careers. The curriculum of the university mandates that students be able to understand and articulate history, theories and critical models of cinema. They must be able to research, structure and write dramatic and non-dramatic scripts; employ pre-production, production and post-production techniques; and conceptualize, produce, direct, edit and distribute projects for entertainment and informational purposes. 

In 2016 the HFPA chose CSUN to become one of its largest beneficiaries, with a major funding of $2 million which, over the last two years, has provided funds for the acquisition, maintenance and upgrades of state-of-the-art HD equipment and software to the television studio and television control, upgrades to the HFPA Film Surround Sound Studio, the ADR/Foley Stage, and the HFPA Senior Film Edit Suite. Half of the donation funds the Scholars Program Endowment which will provide significant scholarships for up to three years for several students from groups that are under-represented in the film and television industry, who are in financial need, and who have demonstrated potential for success. CSUN will provide the HFPA Scholars with prominent industry mentors who will guide them through their participation in the Program.

Also, as part of the $2 million gift, selected production undergrads and MFA students are participating in the new HFPA Diversity Scholars Program.

In September 2017 the south wing of CSUN’s Manzanita Hall was named the “Hollywood Foreign Press Association Wing” to mark the strong relationship between the HFPA and the prestigious film school. The two-story wing, complete with a Poster Art Gallery displaying historic posters of Golden Globe-winning films, houses all of the department’s facilities.

To learn more about the CSUN, visit: https://www.csun.edu/