Disney Launches Howard University Foundation to Support Black Storytellers – The Hollywood Reporter
Disney has partnered with Howard University to help create advancement opportunities for low-achieving students in the media and entertainment fields.
The initiative, the Disney Storytellers Foundation at Howard University, was announced by The Walt Disney Company Sunday at the Elite Cultural Festival.
The multi-year program will provide wages for a period of 5 years to student projects focusing on storytelling through animation, digital design, gaming, journalism, live action, performing arts art, product design, visual design, virtual reality and more, according to the company.
Disney is also sponsoring a new co-creative space at the university and says it will provide access to speakers, mentors and internships for students in the program to help spark interest. interested in the areas needed to build skills for a future career in storytelling.
“Across Disney brands, we’re working to amplify underrepresented voices and untold stories,” said Jennifer Cohen, corporate social responsibility spokesperson. “The Disney Storytellers Foundation at Howard will help us support students and the innovation and creativity the university has fostered for over 150 years. We’re excited to help the next generation of Black storytellers turn their ideas into reality. “
Phylcia Rashad, dean of Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard, added in a statement, “Our students at the College of Fine Arts find their creative expression in many ways – in the arts. performance, in animation, in the design of the products that we use in our lives. The Disney Storytellers Foundation is a great support for our emerging artists as they discover and develop their potential in and across fields. “
The program is part of Disney’s partnership and social investments, including school-age STEM programs, to increase access to careers in storytelling and innovation for those before This is not presented much.
Also at the Essence festival on Friday, Disney revealed the name, arrival date and more details of the reimagined Mount Splash ride, which has been criticized for its racist depictions. Refurbished attraction, titled Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, premieres at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in late 2024.
The company was recently widely criticized for its lack of response to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Florida ultimately voted to strip Disney’s special tax district, though the final outcome of that measure remains unclear.
