ELA Students Produce Video for Local School

Just down the street from Emerson College Los Angeles (ELA), on Sunset Boulevard near the Hollywood landmark Crossroads of the World, teachers at Blessed Sacrament Jesuit Preparatory School attend to students between pre-Kindergarten and eighth grade. Surrounded by studios and theaters, with a church that has included parishioners such as singer and actor Bing Crosby and actress Irene Dunne, the school has been serving the Hollywood community for more than 100 years.

On June 3, during the school’s Star Awards, an annual gala event, a video produced by ELA students will premiere. The video showcases some of the school’s students, its activities, and educational achievements.

“It was great for our Blessed Sacrament students to see what Emerson students are able to do and to watch them give back to the community and inspire each other,” said Alycia Belle, associate director of advancement and marketing at the Blessed Sacrament school. “It’s wonderful that we can both be giving members of a thriving Hollywood community.“

Belle reached out to Emerson about producing a video for the school after she attended a gala for the Hollywood Police Activities League, where she watched a video that students had produced for the organization. Akil Anderson, ELA’s media services and event director, reached out to students and alumni to ask who would be willing to volunteer their time to produce, film, and edit the video.

Holly Horne ’15 stumbled upon Anderson’s post on Facebook and was immediately interested.

“I was hired as the director of photography and we had a blast,” said Horne, who had recently moved to LA and was looking for opportunities to exercise her creativity and shoot videos.

“Shooting documentary things like this is a nice way to ease back into it. Also, the kids were super cute and I could tell they genuinely enjoyed their school and what they were talking about, so that made it easy for me,” said Horne.

Kylie Federici ’17 served as a camera assistant on the video and Patrick Adley ’17 edited it. Adley said the project was interesting to work on because of the school’s similarities to Emerson.

“They are very focused on the arts, which is great to see,” said Adley. “We don’t see many schools putting arts first these days.”

At the Star Awards, Emerson alumnus and Trustee Vin Di Bona ’66 will be honored for his dedication to supporting the education of youth in Hollywood. As a young boy, Di Bona was a parishioner of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, which was founded in 1904.

“Vin is an amazing person and an inspiration. He is extremely generous with many organizations throughout Hollywood and connects opportunities for people,” said Belle. “He’s the epitome of philanthropy and giving back to the community that he loves.”

For Anderson, helping to produce the video was a positive experience. 

“It was gratifying to watch Emersonians come together to produce such an important project for Blessed Sacrament. Working with the kids was a fun experience,” said Anderson. “We’re proud to be a part of the Hollywood community and to use our talents in such a meaningful way.”