The film crew behind a short created on behalf of the Boyle Heights Beat won the organization 2nd place in a nonprofit filmmaking competition sponsored by CBS.
The Beat will be awarded $50,000 for its placement in this year’s CBS Leadership Pipeline Challenge. The contest, sponsored by the broadcast company, brings together crews of early-career storytellers to pitch short film ideas to local nonprofits centered on their mission, vision, and values.
Crews are matched to groups highlighted in the challenge and given a $5,000 budget from CBS to create their respective films, each ranging between three and five minutes. This year’s five nonprofits included in the competition were the Beat, CARECEN, The Actors’ Gang Prison Project, Our House Grief Support Center, and TreePeople.
Once the films are completed, they are reviewed by judges in the film industry, who score them based on their alignment with the nonprofit’s mission, directing, script, casting, acting, editing, cinematography, sound design, production value, design, and costuming.
CBS awards specific grant amounts to nonprofits participating in the challenge based on where their respective films are placed. This year, CBS awarded a total of $250,000 to the five groups in the challenge. The funds received come with no strings attached, so the organizations can utilize the money without having to worry about grant requirements.
Our House Grief Support Center placed first and won the grand prize of $100,000 in the challenge. Other nonprofits in the challenge also received funding based on their placement:
- 3rd Place ($50,000): TreePeople
- 4th Place ($25,000): The Actors’ Gang Prison Project
- 5th Place ($25,000): CARECEN
The team representing the Beat included Sabine Hrkalovich (Pipeline Executive), Libby Tarquinio (Writer), Yao Liu (Director), Jada Henry (Casting Director), Kim Vela (Production Designer) and Cori Kim (Editor). The crew based the film on an article written by Boyle Heights resident Jennifer Lopez during her time in the youth program in 2016.
Titled “The Whistle,” the short follows a BHB youth reporter who decides to highlight a local churro vendor whom many in the neighborhood recognize for his iconic whistle.
Lopez says watching the short felt like traveling back in time.
“That’s the kind of story only the Beat can do because those are neighborhood icons you’ll only know if you live here,” says Lopez. “Being in the program made me feel like I had a voice, like my neighborhood mattered. I grew up only hearing about the crime in my neighborhood. It wasn’t until the Beat that I felt like my neighborhood was really being represented in a good light.”
Those interested in watching the short can view it on the Boyle Heights Beat Youtube channel.
