Edit. Empower. Elevate.

Access to tech and creative industry employment

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Los Angeles is home to over 60,000 formerly incarcerated people—many Black, Latino, LGBTQ+, and low-income—yet they remain excluded from the city’s $70 billion creative economy (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2023; Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, 2022). ARC Creatives helps justice-impacted transitional-age youth overcome barriers like disrupted education, housing instability, and employment discrimination by providing paid training and mentorship in culturally responsive fields such as film, digital storytelling, and postproduction. A survey by the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership found that only 40% of local employers consider applicants with criminal records (LARRP, 2020). As one participant shared, “I never thought telling my story could lead to a career”—a powerful reminder that with creative jobs on the rise, now is a critical moment to expand access for historically excluded youth before cycles of poverty deepen.

ARC Creatives is a multimedia workforce initiative that provides formerly incarcerated and system-impacted individuals with paid, hands-on training in postproduction, digital storytelling, and creative entrepreneurship. Over 12 months, ARC will equip its new multimedia studio with editing software, sound equipment, and creative technology to deliver high-impact programming to 20 transitional-age youth. Participants will learn film editing, podcasting, graphic design, and visual storytelling while producing original content and building career-ready portfolios. Through cohort-based learning, creative mentorships, and industry partnerships,ARC Creatives offers a bridge to union jobs and sustained employment in LA’s $70 billion creative economy. This initiative directly addresses barriers to reentry—such as low educational attainment, hiring bias, and trauma—by fostering both economic mobility and healing. Designed by and for justice-impacted creators, ARC Creatives transforms lived experience into marketable skill sets, narrative power, and pathways to upward mobility. It is a unique, community-rooted response to the exclusion of formerly incarcerated Angelenos from one of LA’s most dynamic industries.

ARC Creatives envisions that Los Angeles will be home to a more inclusive creative economy—one where justice-impacted individuals not only find employment but also shape the narratives that define the region. In the short term, ARC Members will complete digital media training, produce 20 original projects, and access union job pathways. Through mentorships, creative cohorts, and a final public showcase, participants will gain income, confidence, and career-ready portfolios. In the longer term, we envision scaling ARC Creatives to serve more cohorts annually, deepen partnerships with studios and unions, and embed creative workforce pipelines into reentry ecosystems. This expansion includes supporting ARC Members in writing, shooting, and editing a short film to be submitted to a film festival—amplifying their voices and showcasing the talent of justice-impacted artists on a broader stage.