ICF Summer Program is an intensive 8-week hands-on introduction to professional filmmaking for 30 to 40 new "incoming" high school graduates. It includes over 450 hours of class work, homework, and student film projects. The curriculum is structured around five interlocking classes:

Weekends are for homework and production as each student creates, preps, shoots, edits and completes a 3 - 5 minute narrative film. Students also work in various crew positions on 6 other team member films. All films are screened at summer graduation.

Our classes - There are 2 or 3 classes a day. Each class is 3 hours in length, 5 days a week, in July and August. Since 1993, the USC School of Cinema has generously provided a classroom on their campus. Since 1995, the Lantana Center, our headquarters in Santa Monica, CA has warmly welcomed our students to a nice, clean, safe working environment and the film industry.

We provide hands-on training with digital cameras, Arri lights, Kino Flo, Matthew Production Equipment, Mole Richardson Lighting, and Avid editing equipment. The purpose is to expose students to the whole filmmaking process, to create positive career role models while building students' confidence, tolerance, team work, time management, and leadership skills, and to successfully prepare students for real-life, college, and behind-the-scenes industry jobs. Overall, 95% of our Summer Program graduates attend college and universities.

Our staff includes, but is not limited to - 10 Instructors, 6 Mentors, 6 Team Captains, 10 TA's, 6 Field Trip Hosts and 50 Guest Speakers. They are USC instructors, DGA Directors, ACE Editors, and ASC Cinematographers as well as studio executives, CAA, ICM, and WME clients who are working professionals and multiple award winners. By the end of summer we have matched many of our alumni TA's to industry jobs.

In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, once again, generously provided the beautiful Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, CA for our Summer Program Class of 2009 Graduation. Our 1,000 guests included family, friends, educators, ICF alumni and staff, many studio executives and industry icons such as Haskell Wexler, ASC, Cinematographer, Coming Home, One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest, and two-time Academy Award-winner for Best Cinematography, Bound for Glory, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?, as well as Cameron Crowe, Writer/Producer/Director, Elizabethtown, Vanilla Sky, Maguire, and Academy Award-winner for Best Screenplay, Almost Famous. Our Keynote Guest Speaker was Rick Hess.

Rick Hess leads the Film Finance group at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a talent and literary agency based in Los Angeles, California. He joined CAA in January 2002, and has focused on the packaging and financing of feature films, as well as the structuring of film production and film finance companies. During his time at CAA, he and his group have packaged, arranged financing for or sold over 140 films, including Academy Award-winners Milk, and Brokeback Mountain, Syriana, Crash, as well as Good Night, and Good Luck., Lord Of War, The New World, North Country, Michael Clayton and Into the Wild.

Friars Charitable Foundation, once again, provided the Martin Roth Student Screenwriting Scholarships and plaques to select students for best script.

1^st Place - Tal Kamran, A Doll and Her Girl
2^nd Place - Emmanuelle Yang, Side Effects May Occur
3^rd Place - Hassan Siddiqui, Vinnie's Wacky Adventure

Motion Picture Sound Editors, once again, provided Sound Editing Scholarships and plaques to select students for best sound editing.

1^st Place - Jay Person, The House
2^nd Place - Emmanuelle Yang, Side Effects May Occur
3^rd Place - Anthony Quiroz, Rejected

ABC-TV News also interviewed our 2009 graduates, which aired on the 11pm TV news.

In 2008, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, invited us for the first time to hold our Summer Program Graduation at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, CA. Our Keynote Guest Speaker was A. Scott Berg, Pulitzer Prize winning Biographer and Author of "Goldwyn: A Biography". 1,000 guests attended graduation including family, friends, educators, donors, and many industry executives, including producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy.

Friars Charitable Foundation provided the Martin Roth Student Screenwriting Scholarships and plaques to select students for best script.

1^st Place - Antoine Bandele, Uncover'd
2^nd Place - Elizabeth Jeri, The Violin
3^rd Place - Derek Sakata, Polarity

Motion Picture Sound Editors provided Sound Editing Scholarships and plaques to select students for best sound editing.

1^st Place - Erik Margolin, The Camera
2^nd Place - Ashten Winger, Effects of a Kilt
3^rd Place - Lindsay Rappaport, Beaker's Chicken

George Pennacchio, ABC-TV Entertainment Reporter, interviewed many of our 2008 graduates, which aired on ABC-TV news. A pre-reception in the theater lobby was generously hosted by The Walt Disney Studios.

Applications for the ICF Summer Program are available through high school teachers and career counselors and social service agencies. Scholarships are awarded to diverse financially needy high school graduate candidates who meet ICF requirements.

"Inner-City Filmmakers is a place where you flourish as an artist, get your voice heard, and learn how to be a human being."
Jennifer Zuniga, Class of 2009