Skip to main content
Donate

'Fine Cut' Student Workshop Offers Emerging Filmmakers Personalized Mentorship and a Studio Walking Tour

Everett Downing is wearing a red polo shirt and is seated at a round table with a white table cloth. Students are seated around him, leaning in as he speaks to the table.
Feature film story artist and animator Everett Downing answers questions and offers advice at a 20-minute roundtable mentor session with Fine Cut 2022 students.
By Lindsee Diaz
October 21, 2022
Support Provided By

On Sunday, Oct. 16th, KCET's "Fine Cut Festival of Films" hosted an exciting Mentoring Workshop at Los Angeles Center Studios, sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Seated on the studios' open-air deck, students had the opportunity to speak with leading industry professionals alongside their peers in 20-minute roundtable-style discussions. Small groups of eager students gained insight from experienced producers, directors, writers and animators who shared their career path and offered advice for breaking into the industry. For students working towards their creative and professional goals, these discussions offered a chance to hear curated advice from diverse perspectives.

Saga Elmohtaseb is wearing a black blazer over a t-shirt and is sitting at a round table with a white tablecloth draped over. Her hand is resting on the table as she leans in to the table, listening to someone speaking out of frame. Students are seated around the table.
"Fine Cut" 2022 mentor Saga Elmohtaseb offers advice during a roundtable discussion at the "Fine Cut" workshop held in Los Angeles Center Studios.

Students interested in television met with mentors Rachel Goldberg ("A Friend of the Family," "Resident Evil"), James Lee Hernandez ("The Big Conn," "McMillion$"), Raamla Mohamed ("Little Fires Everywhere," "Scandal"), and Daniel Willis ("Cruel Summer," "The Blacklist"). Film mentors included Russell Brown ("Loren & Rose"), Marcella Ochoa ("Madres, My Name is Maria De Jesus"), Grace Santos ("Silk," "Election Night"), and Saga Elmohtaseb ("LA Foodways," "10 Days in Watts"). Animation students met with storyboard artist Juan Luis Bravo, Everett Downing Jr. ("My Dad the Bounty Hunter," "Hair Love"), Matthew Schofield ("The Simpsons," "Prince of Egypt"), Keely Propp ("The Addams Family," Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio"), and Roxy Simons ("Bunk'd: Learning the Ropes").

Watch
Fine Cut Season 23 (Preview)
Fine Cut Season 23 (Preview)

A group of students walk in a group towards a building. Behind them is a studio lot with trailers parked along the road and towering buildings in the near distance.
Students tour Los Angeles Center Studios following the roundtable mentor discussions.

After the mentor discussions, students were offered a tour of LA Center Studios. They explored sound stages where famous shows like "Mad Men" and "The X-Files" were filmed and snapped photos in the studios' fully-dressed morgue and precinct sets.

Over 100 students from 30 different schools attended the workshop to have their unique questions answered, receive personalized advice from experienced mentors and tour a working studio in downtown L.A.

Scroll down to view more photos from the event.

Three people are seated at a long table with papers arranged in front of them. They are all wearing masks and signing in students who are lined up in front of the table. Behind the table is a poster board that says, "Fine Cut: Festival of Films."
Students wait in line to sign in to the 'Fine Cut' 2022 workshop at Los Angeles Center Studios.
Brown note pads with the words, "Fine Cut: Festival of Films," printed on in purple are arranged in a grid on a table. Below the grid of note pads is a pile of white pens with the letters, "KCET" printed on in yellow.
Pens and note pads were provided for students to take notes during the roundtable mentor discussions.
Angela Boisvert stands in the middle of the outdoor event space holding a microphone and a folded piece of paper. The microphone is plugged into a small speaker at her feet. Next to Angela is a poster board with that reads, "Fine Cut: Festival of Films."
KCET Senior Director of Production Angela Boisvert kicks off the 2022 "Fine Cut" workshop with opening remarks.
Daniel Willis is seated at a round table. Students are seated around the table and listen in to Daniel Willis as he speaks. Coffee cups and thermoses stand on the tabletop.
Director Daniel Willis offers advice at a roundtable mentor discussion at the 2022 "Fine Cut" workshop.
Four student participants at the "Fine Cut" 2022 workshop are seated side-by-side at a round table. Two of them write into their note pads on the table. The other two look on, eagerly, at a speaker who is out of frame.
"Fine Cut" 2022 participants take notes during the roundtable mentor discussions.
Keely Propp is wearing a pink sweater and has bright red long hair. They are sitting at a round table topped with a white table cloth. Two other participants sit across the table from her as she speaks.
Storyboard artist and director Keely Propp talks with student attendees at the "Fine Cut" 2022 workshop at Los Angeles Center Studios.
Marcella Ochoa laughs at a round table outdoors. Other students and young people are seated around the table, listening in to the conversation.
Filmmaker Marcella Ochoa at a roundtable mentor discussion at the 2022 "Fine Cut" workshop held in Los Angeles Center Studios.
Matthew Schofield is wearing a wide-brim hat and an army green utility jacket as he sits at a round table topped with a white table cloth and water bottles, coffee cups and thermoses. Students are seated around the table.
Director and animator Matthew Schofield sits at a roundtable mentor discussion at the 2022 "Fine Cut" workshop.
A group of students walk across a crosswalk, through a studio lot. Behind them is a building that reads, "Flix Cafe." A man wearing a button-up shirt is leading the group and has his hand up as he speaks to the group.
"Fine Cut" 2022 participants take a guided walking tour of Los Angeles Center Studios.

Support Provided By
Up Next

Meet the 2022 'Fine Cut' Mentors

A video camera with a pink light in the background

These Filmmakers DIY'ed Their Way to Making a Twin Movie — Without Twins

Two young girls with a side braid that runs down one shoulder are seated at outdoor elementary school tables. Each girl has a lunchbox and orange water bottle in front of them. The girl on the left, has "Jane" written on the lunchbox while the girl on the right has "Amelia" written on the lunchbox.

'Fine Cut' 2022 Winners Showcase a Diversity of Perspectives

Fine Cut background image with a mosaic of different films.