While growing up in downtown L.A., Xavier Calderon and his mother made a tradition of heading to Regal Cinemas at the L.A. Live complex every Tuesday — drawn in by the discounted prices — and losing themselves in whatever new story played on the big screen. "I remember thinking: 'How can I be a part of this?' " Calderon says.
Being among the list of names scrolling up during the closing credits — representing the hundreds of creative contributions that go into crafting the make-believe he'd watch onscreen — felt like a dream others got to chase. He was raised by a single mom who worked as property manager; neither had any industry connections nor a concept of where to even start.
He'd find an entry point just off West Colton Street, on the border of downtown and Echo Park, at the Roybal Film and Television Magnet.
Founded by a trio of entertainment heavyweights — George Clooney, producer-actor-writer-director Grant Heslov and Creative Artists Agency Co-Chairman Bryan Lourd — the specialized high school program opened in August 2022 with a formidable mission: to empower underserved aspiring storytellers while fortifying a more inclusive Hollywood pipeline to diversify the industry's future workforce.
The push follows long-standing criticism that Hollywood remains heavily dominated by white men, including among film crews. While reports are published regularly about diversity among actors and creators, there’s much less data about crews. But union members and experts say crews lag in diversity and inclusion.
And this systemic issue faces compounding challenges with production declines, budget cuts, diminished studio inclusion programs, a shift toward international production and the rapid rise of AI.
The program is backed by the major studios and streamers (Walt Disney Co., Fox Entertainment and Netflix among them), notable industry figures like Don Cheadle, Mindy Kaling, Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria who are part of its advisory board, and key partners such as IATSE, the union that represents below-the-line craftspeople, and Avid, the industry standard for nonlinear video editing and audio postproduction.
And it aims to address the problem by training young people, like Calderon, who are interested in entertainment but lack the opportunity to break into its ranks and puts them on a path for production and set careers.
In between — and during — history and math assignments, Calderon cultivated his skill set, becoming part of the program's inaugural class that matriculated in June, marking the first full four-year cohort to finish. He's now a freshman at New York University's Tisch program, studying film and television.
And since the end of September, on his course-free days, he's been working his first job in film as a paid production assistant on the movie "In Love," starring Clooney and produced by Heslov, that's currently filming in New Jersey. "Roybal is actually giving kids who don't have the resources or the opportunities, finally, the chance to succeed ...
I'm out doing food runs and helping all these different departments with whatever they need — carrying equipment, logging things, just doing anything I can to help," says Calderon, 18. After putting in office hours as a PA, he's now getting a taste of on-set duties, contributing to the making of a film that may someday play in the theater he used to visit.
"Honestly, I'm liking this more than college — at least so far," he says. "I want to see George Clooney get in his zone…
