I didn’t know I was a director until I got the chance to see it on a student film set. There are so many who have the pieces of a dream in their heads but don’t know what to do with it.

GEI believed in my creativity before I even had anything to showcase. I’ve been able to work in departments like Editorial, Motion Graphics/VFX, Camera Operation and I am forever grateful.

The 23 campuses of the Calstate system are honored and grateful to be partnering with GEI to provide entertainment employment and training opportunities for our diverse talent and future storytellers. Our students are hardworking, humble, and eager for a chance to prove themselves. These programs are a vital part of the critical effort to actually do the work, which goes way beyond paying lip service to the need for a diverse and inclusive entertainment workforce.

GEI has provided me with tools such as networking opportunities, professional development workshops, career coaching, and access to media panels, where I have gained powerful advice and insights. GEI has been nothing but a supportive space from the start of my undergraduate journey to my communications career today.

The Group Effort Initiative has helped launch my career in entertainment by allowing me to intern at DreamWorks, Academy Gold, and the Television Academy Foundation. Thanks to GEI, I have learned the ins and outs of the entertainment industry. I’m on the road to pursuing my dreams, and I owe it all to GEI!

Making a film is a group effort, but for entirely too long that group has systemically excluded Black, Indigenous, people of color and several other underrepresented communities. This is a global problem which will not be fixed overnight, but change can start locally and immediately.

The entertainment world is so daunting, and GEI makes entering it much less of a challenge. With their help, I was able to make my first major steps into starting my career.

GEI has made the opportunities I once thought unreachable a rewarding reality. I’m so very grateful to be part of an initiative that uplifts and vouches for the voices that have long been unheard.

Disney’s Creative Talent Development & Inclusion is pleased to sponsor Group Effort Initiative. For the past three seasons, GEI (and its prior iteration, Evolve Entertainment Fund) has sourced great talent for our Disney PA Program, a pipeline that provides production assistants opportunities on our Disney series. We value our partnership with GEI and look forward to continued collaboration!

The partnership between Columbia College Hollywood and GEI has been an unbelievable gift for our students who want to break into the entertainment and creative industries. GEI has provided tools and opportunities that have far surpassed expectations which has helped launch our students careers and changed their lives in ways that they never could have dreamed possible. GEI has opened the doors for internships at top tier companies of which many have turned into permanent entry level positions, jump-starting our students’ entertainment industry journey.

GEI has been instrumental in growing our company into a strong, multifaceted and vital entity in Hollywood. Their teams work tirelessly to place and support talented young film professionals, and we’ve had the privilege of working with dozens of smart and ambitious employees through their programs. As a company committed to fresh approaches and a diverse workplace, GEI has been an essential partner helping us achieve our goals.

GEI has provided me with irreplaceable resources to build my career and knowledge in television. I have become a more confident and efficient person in my career and I continue to grow with their help

Getting students to and through college and ultimately into quality high-paying jobs is about so much more than test scores and GPA.

Evolve is about more than injecting young people’s voices into our City’s creative output — it makes sure the studios of Hollywood better reflect the melting pot of backgrounds that makes Los Angeles extraordinary. This merger between Evolve and the Group Effort Initiative will provide even more individuals from underserved communities with the opportunity to chase their dreams, secure a career in our City’s most iconic industry, and help ensure our backlots and soundstages represent the diversity in our own backyard.

We are very grateful for our partnership with the Group Effort Initiative. GEI is one of our most trusted partners to resource tenacious, passionate & diverse voices for our internship program. It is with their help that we can build teams that tell stories that represent the rich and vibrant world in which we live.

GEI connected me with some of the top entertainment companies such as Netflix for valuable workshops, and continued supporting me even after they helped me secure internships with companies like NBCUniversal and Lucasfilm. I don’t know if I would have had these incredible opportunities if I didn’t have GEI advocating for students like me.