Spike Lee and The Gersh Agency have officially announced the first-ever class of Spike Fellows at the Gersh Program.
First announced in January, the Spike Fellows program is designed to help support students from the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which includes HBCUs Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University, helping them break into the film industry.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the five fellows are Quentin Anderson of Morehouse College, Tai Livingston of Spelman College, Jalen Ellis of Morehouse College, Shayna Cartledge of Clark Atlanta University, and Halle Jones of Clark Atlanta University.
The attendees were selected on, “grade point average, leadership, school involvement, creative work, and professional recommendations,” the report said. The program will kick off on June 12, 2023, and will consist of an immersive, eight-week experience, complete with mentoring from senior-level industry members, volunteer projects, and off-site learning opportunities.
At the end of the program, attendees will be awarded $25,000 to use toward their academic debt, as well as full-time employment starting in September 2024. Gersh’s head of culture, Jayson Council, will lead the program.
“I am who I am because of my grandmother (Zimmie Jackson) and my mother (Jacquelyn Shelton Lee) who both graduated from Spelman College,” Lee shared in a statement regarding the program earlier this year per Deadline. “I am who I am because of my grandfather (Richard Jackson Shelton) and my father (William Lee) who both graduated from Morehouse. It’s on the campuses of Spelman and Morehouse where they met, fell in love, and got married. As my elders often told me, ‘Deeds not words.’”
For more information on the Spike Fellow program, head to the official site here.
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