MFA in Film Students Nominated for Careers in Entertainment Tour

Yasmine Gomez at the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation (WJSFF) Careers in Entertainment Tour stop in New York City.

September 2, 2016— Eugina Gelbleman, Yasmine Gomez, Matthew Gonzalez, and Viviana Leo—four students enrolled in the Stony Brook Southampton Killer Films MFA in Film program based in Southampton and Manhattan—were selected to take part in the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation (WJSFF) Careers in Entertainment Tour stop in New York City on September 21, 2016.

The New York City CIE Tour stop offered 400 exceptional high school and college-aged youth from underserved communities the opportunity to engage directly with entertainment industry leaders, film studios, television networks and educational partners.

At the New York event, an industry leader panel attended by Jada Pinkett-Smith was followed by a career fair providing exposure to a variety of career paths in the entertainment industry. The event was part of a long-term, multi-city initiative that seeks to address the persistent opportunity gap that young people from various backgrounds face when trying to establish careers in the entertainment industry.

MFA in Film Associate Director Magdalene Brandeis noted this week that the invitation for the Stony Brook Southampton MFA in Film to nominate four students to participate was arranged by Kareema Pinckney, one of the students in the program’s groundbreaking “20/20/20” filmmaking initiative, who now works with the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation.

The WJSFF Careers in Entertainment Tour is offered through a partnership with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. Small Business Administration, and was organized in support of President Obama’s My Brothers’ Keeper Initiative.