GEI Provides Access to Opportunity
Group Effort Initiative (GEI) was launched and financed by Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively in August 2020 and strives to create a pipeline for members of underrepresented communities to get real experience towards lasting careers within the entertainment industry. GEI’s overarching goal is to identify and eliminate barriers to advancement so that ALL communities have the opportunity to succeed in the industry.
Reynolds and Lively kicked off the program by placing eight trainees on Reynolds’ Netflix action-adventure film, The Adam Project, directed by Shawn Levy and filmed in Vancouver, Canada. GEI funded the trainees’ salaries and housing during production, allowing them to work within a variety of departments including Art, Assistant Director, Camera, Construction, Makeup, Production Office, Set Decoration and VFX.
The trainees were able to learn from department heads and industry professionals and gain practical, resume-building experience that many parlayed into another job, hopefully en route to a long lasting career in the entertainment industry.
Following The Adam Project, GEI continued to place trainees in productions across the United States including Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Long Island, Los Angeles, New York City, and Winnipeg with partners like Apple and Netflix.
How We Have Evolved
GEI is committed to maintaining access for all by ensuring that our programs are open to anyone interested in applying. GEI also collaborates with a wide range of pipeline organizations, community colleges, and four-year institutions to attract candidates representing a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
Based on the demand from our industry partners, we recruit candidates who are evaluated based on their job readiness and our current training capacity. By using these approaches, we ensure that GEI remains flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of job seekers and employers alike, while fostering a candidate pool that is welcoming to all.
To date, GEI has directly secured 959 paid internships and 186 corporate full-time jobs, partnered with 164 productions to provide 259 production assistant jobs to participants, and hosted 110+ educational experiences.
GEI By The Numbers
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