Grantees

Filipina American Theresa Navarro, Vice President for External Affairs of American Documentary (AmDoc), a Hollywood Foreign Press Association grantee, grew up in a family which loved cinema. “My fondest childhood memories involve going to the drive-in theater with my family or sneaking Asian snacks into the matinee with my cousins,” Navarro recalled.

The first Forum launched by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the World Bank Narrating Behavior Change Program had the headline “Global Challenges Require Global Solutions,” and centered on innovative partnerships between the entertainment and development sectors. Several crucial questions were asked, and several profound answers were given, challenging Hollywood and global content creators to join forces and expand their focus on edutainment – immersing audiences in engaging stories while providing useful information.

It’s almost 70 years since the term ‘edutainment’ was created by Walt Disney to describe True-Life Adventures, a series of short and full-length documentaries released between 1948 and 1960. Edutainment has been in place for centuries before that though nowadays vital issues are discussed not only through books, but via films, television, museum exhibits, games, social media platforms, and even in Metaverse via various special projects in VR and AR.

Anything's Possible is not only the title of Billy Porter's new film, it might as well be the motto for this year's Outfest Event. This wonderful HFPA-grantee proved once again that they know how to advance the most diverse filmmakers and put on quite a show, too.

The Actors’ Gang is an experimental theatre and nonprofit group based at the Ivy Substation in California. It was founded in 1981 by a group of actors, including Tim Robbins, now a member of the board and Artistic Director of the troupe.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Outfest, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious LGBTQ+ film festivals, turned to Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner (and Golden Globe nominee) Billy Porter to kick off the ruby anniversary of the cinematic showcase. How apropos that that gemstone’s dazzling deep red hue is the perfect symbol of not only burning love, which seemed to fill the air at L.

Exactly 60 years ago, an unusual film opened at the Venice film festival. Smog had been filmed entirely in Los Angeles, a somewhat singular distinction for a time in which production mainly flowed in the opposite direction, with big American studios frequently filming sword-and-sandal epics at the famed Cinecittà studio (productions were so common that they came to be nicknamed “Hollywood on the Tiber).

For more than 30 years, HFPA grantee Women Make Movies has produced and financed films by female directors that tackle the difficult subject of reproductive rights. Watching some of these through the lens of what happened on June 24, when the US Supreme Court overturned the almost 50-year-old Roe vs.

OUTFEST was established in 1982 in Los Angeles as the first and only global LGBTQIA+ arts, media, and entertainment organization to support artists, communities, and filmmakers to change the world through their stories. Since 2005, the HFPA has donated almost $600,000 to this wonderful non-profit organization that last year hosted over 300 screenings and panels, six programs and engaged with over 50,000 attendees.

When the HFPA requested an interview to mark Pride month with Justice For My Sister (JFMS) founder, Kimberly Bautista, the executive director politely declined. Not because she wasn’t eager to promote the arts-based non-profit organization that receives grant support from the HFPA, but because she was taking a hiatus to produce her own short film about a genderqueer family and taking that opportunity to also employ participants from her organization’s PA (Production Assistant) Certification Program which would help set them up with a career in the film and TV industry.