The Hollywood Reporter and Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television have announced that two girls in The Hollywood Reporter’s five-year-old Mentorship Program have been named recipients of the newly created LMU/Women in Entertainment Scholarship. The scholarship provides a four-year, fully funded education at the University for two of 13 mentees in the highly competitive Mentorship Program. The program pairs inner-city teenagers with top-level women executives in entertainment.
Actress Demi Lovato presented the two finalists with scholarships on December 11, 2013, at The Hollywood Reporter’s 22nd annual Women in Entertainment breakfast, held at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
“The response and support we have received because of The Hollywood Reporter’s Mentorship Program scholarship fund has been inspiring,” said The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director Janice Min. “LMU’s generous offer of two full scholarships to the girls in our Mentorship Program is a huge step in training the next generation of women to achieve success as our Mentorship Program enters its fifth year.”
“Our University takes pride in its mission of social justice, but those remain only lofty words unless they are backed by action,” said Stephen G. Ujlaki, dean of the Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television. “So we find it particularly gratifying to be able to act upon this ideal and make a transformative change in the quality of somebody’s life. These scholarships will enable the recipients to focus on their education and to pursue their professional goals and personal dreams — debt free.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment Mentorship Program is a joint venture with the national non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters that selects 15 inner-city schoolgirls and pairs them with top-level women in the entertainment business. The girls, all high school students from some of L.A.’s toughest schools, spend one afternoon every two weeks with their mentors in what has proved to be a life-changing experience.