🎉 We’re thrilled to share that Reel Start’s Co-Founder Evan Goldberg and long-time supporter Seth Rogen have been named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “50 Most Powerful TV Producers of 2025” list! 🎉
From elevating new voices to creating television that resonates with audiences everywhere, Evan and Seth continue to shape the industry with authenticity, humor, and heart. We’re so grateful to have their continuous support in our program! 🌟📺
Congrats Evan and Seth! 🥳🙌🍾
#ReelStartOrg #ReelSteps #filmmakingcommunity #LAcommunity #education #filmeducation #entertainmentindustry #toronto #nonprofit #liveaction #filmandtv #behindthescenes #industrypros #filmsets #losangeles #EvanGoldberg #SethRogen #TV #Storytelling #thehollywoodreporter
Reel Start empowers historically marginalized high school students in Los Angeles 📍 and Toronto 🍁 with year-long, hands-on filmmaking experiences — completely free of charge. 🎬🙌
We’re thrilled to share that 12.75 scholarships are now fully funded 🎓 What an an incredible milestone on our journey to fully support the 2025–2026 cohorts! There’s still work to do, but with your help, we can ensure that cost is never a barrier to opportunity. Let’s keep the momentum going and invest in the next generation of storytellers. 🚀
🌐 Fund a scholarship at bts2025.reelstart.org or click the link in our bio.
Huge thanks to @sethrogen 🤩 and @paulscheer 🎤 for helping us launch our Back To School fundraiser video — you guys are legends! 🤘
#ReelStartOrg #ReelSteps #ReelStepsProgram #filmmakingcommunity #LAcommunity #TOcommunity #Toronto #LosAngeles #education #filmeducation #entertainmentindustry
Meet our Executive Director, Sergio Monserrate! 🤗🎉
We’re so grateful to have him on our #RSTeam!! Sergio joined our team back in September and has already been making huge strides within our organization and programming.
As our Executive Director, Sergio is determined to deliver a qualified, next-generation workforce and is excited to collaborate with our incredible board, staff, partners and supporters.
As a travel enthusiast, Sergio enjoys meeting new people, experiencing different cultures and most importantly, savoring incredible food. ✈️🍲🍽️
#ReelStartOrg #ReelStartProgram #RSTeam #filmmakingcommunity #LAcommunity #industrypro #ourteam #education #filmeducation #entertainmentindustry #executivedirector
It’s been a packed couple of months for our Reel Steps fellows! 😎
Our Steps Fellow Nathan Dana just landed his first PA gig on a commercial set! 🥳🎉 After watching how well each department worked together, Nathan shared that one of his biggest takeaways was the importance of having a positive attitude on set and surrounding yourself with people you genuinely enjoy working with, especially for those long 12 hour days.
Huge thank you to our partners at @caviar.tv , and to Tova Dann and Michael Sagol from Caviar, for supporting our fellows and helping create these real-world pathways. ✨
#ReelStartOrg #ReelSteps #commercials #filmandtv #productionassistant
Give it up for our live-action composer, Mikel Hurwitz! 👏
Mikel got to visit our live-action students in the classroom and offered an inside look at the art of film scoring. Not only did he break down how music shapes emotion, but he also guided our students through how a moment should feel and how a score can bring that vision to life. They had the chance to use their voices, explore creative choices, and gain a deeper understanding of how a powerful score can transform a scene. 🎬🎶
After weeks of feedback and revisions, we’re excited to lock in our score soon! 🎼🎵
#ReelStartOrg #Toronto #liveaction #behindthescenes #filmscore
🎼🎶 Our animation students are tackling the second score pass for their short film, Suplexed!
After critiquing the first pass, they’re seeing how their feedback directly shapes the next and how refining the score can further shape storytelling, especially in animation. 🎬🎵
It’s not just about making the music “better.” It’s about understanding how every note supports story, character, and tone, and how we can deepen our audience’s experience.👥🎭🎶
Special thank you to our composer @ronenlanda for working with us again this year 🙏🎉
#ReelStartOrg #animatedshort #filmandtv #behindthescenes #filmscore
Give it up for our Reel Steps fellows Huda Al-Hussaini, Asher Brooklyn, and Cassie M. Serapion! 👏 In 2023, they were Reel Start students themselves, writing and directing their animated short film, Peppermint Spiral. Now, they’ve come full circle, returning to Reel Start to support our latest live action cohort on Against the Grain. 🎬
With a goal to pursue BTS photography, Huda joined us as our BTS photographer during camera prep day and got to practice sharpening her eye behind the lens. Meanwhile, Asher stepped in as a Production Assistant for the very first time, and Cassie returned as a PA, taking on her first larger-scale project as well as her first time working on stage.
From prep to production, it was incredibly meaningful to reconnect, reflect on where they started, and witness just how much they’ve grown. Seeing them contribute alongside our current students made this experience even more special. ✨
#ReelStartOrg #ReelSteps #toronto #productionassistant #mentorshipmatters
That’s a wrap on Against the Grain! 🎬✨
Our Live Action students got to shadow each department head on set and visited video village to see our director @directedbykells work her magic! 🎥🪄 Our students even caught continuity errors on the day of 👀🙌 such an awesome example of how much they’ve learned and how quickly they’re applying those skills on set. To top it all off, they got special autographed Reel Start t-shirts from the cast and crew who helped bring their dreams to life. ❤️
We had so much fun, and it was incredible to watch this talented group collaborate, problem solve, and create something truly meaningful from the ground up. 💪Huge thank you to our amazing cast and crew for their passion and hard work, and special thanks to our partners at @sunbeltrentals for helping make it all possible!
📸: @allitrato@nshaps & Josh Shultz
#ReelStartOrg #toronto #nonprofit #liveaction behindthescenes
Lights, camera… preparation 🎬
Our Live Action students in Toronto got to prep for their short film, Against the Grain, at @sunbeltrentals ! 🙌
Not only did they get a hands-on camera prep session with our DP @ashleyirisgill and director @directedbykells , but they also had an exclusive mini tour of the sunbelt stages and got to sit in for the final production meeting with the department heads of their short film.
From technical training to real-world collaboration, this experience gave our students a true taste of what it takes to bring a production to life. Huge thanks to @cedarboypictures , the Sunbelt team and our production team for helping make this possible!
#ReelStartOrg #toronto #nonprofit #liveaction #behindthescenes
Last year, Reel Steps fellow Tattiana Marulanda visited one of @evandgoldberg ‘s shows and shadowed VFX Supervisor Karen Heston 📺🎬
Since then, Tattiana has been hired as a VFX PA and gained hands-on experience in a fast-paced, collaborative environment while building a deeper understanding of how VFX integrates into the production pipeline. Being introduced to the department has broadened her perspective and sparked a new interest in VFX. This experience is especially valuable as she works toward her goals of working in the VFX department. 📝👩💻
Tattiana’s journey is a powerful example of how stepping into new opportunities can shape career paths in unexpected and rewarding ways. Congrats Tattiana! 🥳🎉
#ReelStartOrg #ReelSteps #VFX #VFXSupervisor #EvanGoldberg
This month, ShotDeck rep @charlestait visited our animation classroom and introduced the platform’s powerful visual research tools. The students learned how professionals use @ShotDeck for pre-production, lookbooks, and visual planning.
They explored how referencing curated images strengthens storytelling choices and learned to search by elements like color, shot size, lens, lighting, genre, and mood. Students also received a quick walkthrough on sending images from ShotDeck to Canva, making it easy to build polished lookbooks, mood boards, and pitch materials for their projects.
Huge thank you to Charles Tait for this amazing presentation!
#ReelStartOrg #ShotDeck #filmeducation #behindthescenes #pitchdeck
So proud of our animation students! 🎬✨ They recently dove into the world of loop group recording and even got to create and record their own loop group sessions for their short film, Suplexed.
After learning what walla and wildlines are, seeing our students write their own dialogue, direct each other, and bring scenes to life with their layered voices, improv, and background chatter has been incredible.
It’s one thing to animate a story, but adding that extra audio magic takes it to a whole new level. So cool, so creative! 🙌🎧
#ReelStartOrg #educationmatters #animation #behindthescenes #voiceovers
