New endowment to aid international SCA students


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The School of Cinematic Arts will launch a partnership with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to financially support foreign filmmaking students through a $2 million endowment starting in Fall 2017.

Recipients of the gift will be dubbed HFPA International Scholars in efforts to promote international diversity and inclusivity.

SCA Dean Elizabeth Daley and HFPA President Lorenzo Soria announced the establishment of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Endowed International Student Support Fund on March 17.

The fund, the largest donation exclusively in service of international students, will ensure that financial circumstances do not deter non-U.S. students from applying to or attending SCA due to a lack of financial aid.

HFPA is a nonprofit organization, known for producing the annual Golden Globe Awards. The HFPA furthers entertainment-related charities and enterprises, including funding scholarships and educational programs for prospective film and television professionals. Soria lauded SCA as a fitting location for the inauguration of the international student fund due to its distinguished reputation in the entertainment world.

“Tt has been our pleasure and honor for years to help hopeful storytellers and the industry leaders of tomorrow experience the best education, in hopes that they may pursue their dreams to share their stories and have their distinct voices heard,” Soria toldUSC News.

Daley expressed gratitude and admiration to the HFPA for spearheading the inclusion initiative.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press for this generous and impactful gift for international students,” Daley told USC News. “It will allow us to attract and fund the education of diverse storytellers from around the world, which is an important step toward enacting real change within our industry. Support like this is usually talked about but never instituted, so we are indebted to the HFPA for having the vision to actually do it. We look forward to seeing the global impact the HFPA International Scholars will make”