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18,500 High Schools Receive Academy-Developed Teaching Guides on Media Literacy

April 23, 2009

Beverly Hills, CA (RPRN) 04/23/09— The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and curriculum specialists Young Minds Inspired have distributed “Media Literacy: Reading between the Frames,” a free teaching resource guide to more than 18,500 high schools across the United States. Reaching approximately 2.4 million students, the guide was inspired by the Academy’s Media Literacy Program, which twice a year brings up to 400 Los Angeles Unified School District high school students to the Samuel Goldwyn Theater for a three-day seminar. This is the 10th consecutive year the Academy has produced a teaching guide.

Geared for students in English, language arts, visual arts and communication classes, the guide is designed to encourage critical thinking, expand knowledge of filmmaking and increase overall interest in film and its cultural influence.

The teaching guide features a special supplemental DVD hosted by Jason Reitman, the Academy Award®-nominated director of “Juno.” The DVD includes selected scenes from such feature films as “Rebel without a Cause,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Philadelphia,” “The Fast and the Furious” and “Real Women Have Curves.” Students are asked to contemplate numerous questions as they watch the DVD, including “What is the director showing us in each shot?,” “How are the shots edited together and why?” and “How is time being manipulated and why?” The DVD is produced by the Academy and Acme Filmworks.



Each teaching guide also includes a teacher’s guide, activity worksheets in English and Spanish, resource lists and take-home activities.

The Academy will bring the “Media Literacy” guides to life for LAUSD students from Chatsworth, El Camino, Grant, Roosevelt and Westchester high schools on Thursday, April 23. Students will watch “Role Models” (2008) and join in a post-screening panel discussion featuring the some of the film’s cast and crew (subject to availability). This will be the final day of the spring seminar (the first two days were held in March).
For additional information about the program and to download about previous years’ teaching guides (animation, art direction, cinematography, documentaries, film editing, makeup, screenwriting, sound and music, visual effects) visit the Academy’s Web site at http://www.oscars.org/education-outreach.

CONTACT: Teni Melidonian – (310) 247-3090
tmelidonian@oscars.org

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About the Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

©A.M.P.A.S.®
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1972
(310) 247-3000 | www.oscars.org | publicity@oscars.org

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