Inside the Ghetto Film School that’s rewriting the movie industry script

On a drab Saturday morning, the classrooms of an East London school are buzzing, despite the school bell ringing to end the day more than 12 hours earlier.

It may be the weekend, but this group of students are thirsty to learn. Yet-to-be discovered cinematic talent, they graft in their free time in a bid to make their mark on the big screen in years to come. 

But what makes this place all the more fascinating isn’t what is going on, however – it’s who is doing it. 

In an industry where ethnic minorities represent less than 5% of the workforce, the people who use the space at Mulberry Academy, Shoreditch work to create opportunities for underrepresented voices.

Called Ghetto Film School (GFS), it’s a non-profit that was established in New York in 2000 which now has branches in the Big Apple, Los Angeles and London. Its ethos is to offer training and education in storytelling for young people 16-19 who want to work in the film, TV, radio and entertainment spaces, but would have little chance to get a foot in the door otherwise. 

The teens do lessons not just on Saturdays, but also during school holidays – and the majority juggle it with sixth form college, university or work.

One current student is Hannah Adan, a 20-year-old who was born and raised in Croydon.

She’s just finished her first year studying International Relations at the University of Westminster and is two years into her GFS training.

She discovered the school while in sixth form at a mixed comprehensive school, after the organisers came in for a presentation. ‘It felt like an opportunity that came at the perfect time,’ Hannah tells Metro.

She had dreamed of pursuing a film career after watching the Disney Channel’s Sonny With a Chance starring Demi Lovato – a show-within-a-show that portrays a group of teens working on a sketch comedy, and their behind the scenes antics. ‘Seeing them have so much fun being creative inspired my little 11-year-old brain,’ explains Hannah, who is of Somali descent.  

Now, she spends every Saturday at GFS, alongside studying for her degree.

Living both worlds is difficult sometimes, Hannah admits, but she has no regrets. ‘Balancing university assignments, film school work and social life isn’t easy but it has become more manageable over the years,’ she says.

But it definitely would have taken me longer to get into film [without GFS] and taken a lot for me to decide to take the risk because it’s such a competitive industry.’

Although her parents don’t work in the arts themselves, they have been supportive of her decision to pursue filmmaking, and Hannah credits Love Island host Maya Jama and internet personality Chunkz, for helping more Somalis be seen on our screens in a positive light. 

‘The image of Somali people has been tainted because of conflicts we’ve had, but that’s not our personality,’ she explains.

‘Having people to show a different side to the community has been really heartwarming and given me something to look up to; it makes me think there is a place for me in the industry – I just have to find it or make my own space and others will follow.’

Addressing the issue

Kirsty Bell, the founder of Academy Award and Bafta-winning film production company Goldfinch Entertainment, says that even though the industry has made progress toward inclusivity in the past five years, there are still ‘big barriers based on race, sexuality, gender, class, age, and neurodivergence.’

‘There’s a lack of representation and role models in key positions, which keeps the cycle of exclusion going,’ she tells Metro. ‘When aspiring filmmakers don’t see themselves in leadership roles, it’s hard for them to imagine a place in the industry.’

Meanwhile, Eloise Skinner, an ambassador for the UK’s social mobility charity, Career Ready UK, says the structure of the film industry makes it harder for certain groups to break the glass ceiling, which particularly impacts ethnic minorities and women.

Eloise works across topics such as identity, and shifts and transitions in cultural trends. ‘The creative space can represent more social mobility challenges than some other industries,’ she says.

‘The arts in particular is an industry that can have quite an unstructured career path. Compared to something like corporate training programmes, the arts have a less clear hierarchy. 

‘This can mean people with connections are given opportunities that are not open or even known by groups of other individuals, and there might not be a clear path to promotion or advancement without particular contacts or networks.’

Making connections

Establishing contacts is a key factor at GFS, and one of the skills Rachel Akinola has utilised now that she’s graduated from the school and now working in the industry.

Growing up, she was a big fan of the likes of Pan’s Labyrinth and Prison Break. The 22-year-old from east London would write her own scripts as a childhood hobby. 

‘I was around 15 when I realised I wanted to go into film,’ she tells Metro. ‘We were discussing career plans and I had no idea what I wanted to do but I looked back at what I had enjoyed growing up, like writing my own scripts, and then I realised I wanted to do something I enjoy as a career. It all led back to film.’ 

Although her teachers were supportive, Rachel’s school focused on academia rather than the arts. But the Shonda Rhimes fan refusedto let her childhood dream go to waste.

Luckily, she found GFS when another film school came to her school to do a talk. After looking at their prices – which were out of her budget – she searched for cheaper and free alternatives.

However, when it came to start the course in the summer of 2020, the country was in lockdown and it had to  be done via Zoom. 

Having virtual classes made things a little complicated, admits Rachel, but she was still able to learn how to use a camera, Premiere Pro editing software, how to master script writing, and filming exercises. The class also had guest speakers, including Kingsman’s director Matthew Vaughn, which was  ‘exciting’ for her, as she also wants to direct. He even gave the class advice and feedback. 

‘‘Now that I am in the industry I can see it’s very connections-based and it’s rare to get in without some sort of networking,’ says Rachel, who is currently studying BioMed at university. 

‘GFS has become my connection into the industry’. 

Starting her film education in the summer of 2020 impacted Rachel’s approach to filmmaking as it also marked the beginning of worldwide Black Lives Matter protests after the killing of George Floyd.

The protests led to widespread conversations that stretched beyond police brutality into diversity in the arts and workspaces. ‘Topics like this would come up in a few peoples’ scripts and we had guest speakers who would touch on it,’ recalls Rachel, who wrote and directed a docu-fiction short film shot in Amsterdam, which focused on the yearly blackface tradition in the Netherlands. ‘ We tried to stay positive.’

She also noticed a growing number of Black women looking to  pursue a career in film through GFS. ‘It’s such a rare demographic, so it was good to see more of us coming in,’ she says.

Today, Rachel is currently working in production at Academy Films, both on set and in the office for adverts, music videos and short films. ‘Through my connections I’ve been able to get work at a production company, and this means I’m in the same space as other creatives and industry professionals, directors, producers, being on set at least once or twice a month. That in itself is an opportunity to get guidance.’

Would she be here today without the school? ‘The chances are slim because I didn’t even know where to start. GFS was the first thing I could put on my CV.’ 

It all started in The Bronx

‘With three cameras, some borrowed computers and a tiny storefront space, we started the first class 1st July 2000,’ Ghetto Film School’s original creator Joe Hall tells Metro. 

He came up with the name after meeting with a group of young people he knew from old neighbourhood programmes in South Bronx, New York. When speaking about his plans for a film school, a participant said they didn’t want a ‘social service program masquerading as arts training, and another kid responded they didn’t want a ‘ghetto film school’.

Since then it has grown across both coasts in the US and GFS LDN is the newest – and fastest growing – member of the community.  ‘London –and the UK at large – has an incredible creative industry, world renowned, established and historic,’ says Joe. 

The team came to the UK in 2016 to do an international shoot, which they do every year (including the Netherlands, Iceland and a Canada). By then, they had already bounced around ideas about adding a third location on home soil in Miami or Atlanta. But then they took a liking to London and did a six-week trial run in 2017, which one 17-year-old called Tony Fernandes took part in.

Like many of the students he stumbled across GFS by accident, after finding a booklet while at sixth form in 2017, advertising a film degree.

‘I did not know they existed,’ he recalls. After doing more research online, Tony eventually found out about GFS in America, so when the school came to the UK he leapt at the chance to be involved in the pilot scheme.

At the end of the run, Tony told the organisers if they ever wanted to return he’d be happy to help and after completing a 10-month internship at Sky’s creative lab, GFS offered him the chance to be involved in a permanent London film school.

Eager not to waste an opportunity, Tony started a research project, recruited board members and partners, and got the school up and running in Shoreditch.

Today, he is executive director of GFS London in Shoreditch.  ‘It’s been pretty impressive because a lot of it happened so quickly,’ Tony, 24, admits. 

Since 2020, about 100 people have gone through those Shoreditch doors. The entire GFS LDN community is made up of 65% young women and 60% young Black people. There are 40 active students.

Day-to-day, he works to get students placed in work after they finish the course. His goal is to support people of different genders, race, sexual orientations and religions progress into leadership roles so those coming into the industry behind them see people like them. 

And, unsurprisingly he credits the school for his success.

‘Trying to figure things out on my own, I may have given up,’ he admits. ‘ButGFS LDN heps develop the writers, directors, producers and showrunners of tomorrow – and that will be the biggest change to the creative industry.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Claie.Wilson@metro.co.uk 

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