South Bronx To Get First Film School

Cinema School set to open its doors
By SAM THIELMAN
The South Bronx is getting ready to raise the curtain on a first-of-its-kind public high school dedicated to film studies.
The Cinema School is set to open its doors in a new building on the grounds of Monroe High School in September.
The program, which will follow a conservatory-style curriculum, has drawn funding from JPMorgan Chase Foundation and has the support of industryites including Spike Jonze, Catherine Hardwicke, Spike Lee, David O. Russell and Whit Stillman, who have been involved in shaping the program. Gotham Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not surprisingly a big supporter of the school, whose inaugural class will consist of 80 freshman students.
The school was founded by former social worker Joe Hall and indie producer Rachael Horovitz (HBO's "Grey Gardens," "About Schmidt").
"It's the perfect extension of my day job," Horovitz said. "It can take years to develop a script, and the filmmakers I'm working with can come in and teach at the school."
The Cinema School is in part an outgrowth of the nonprofit Ghetto Film School org, a film training program Hall founded in the Bronx in 2000. Hall's program and students attracted industry attention, including Horovitz, who wanted to see the program expand into an accredited, year-round high school. Evan Shapiro, prexy of the IFC and Sundance Channel cablers, serves as chairman of Ghetto Film School's board and is also involved in the Cinema School.
Horovitz recruited a deep-pocketed benefactor for the school in JPMorgan Chase Foundation veep Gayle Jennings-O'Byrne, who deals with the bank's arts and culture portfolio. Jennings-O'Byrne persuaded the Foundation to donate $110,000 to the Ghetto Film School. Of that donation, $35,000 went to fund the planning of the high school, and $75,000 bankrolled the Ghetto Film School's final project, shot by students on location in Uganda.

Read The Story Here