COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

On Friday, April 24, more than 200 SPE employees participated in Sony Global Volunteer Day, a day dedicated to volunteerism and giving back to the community supported by SPE employees worldwide. To honor its ongoing commitment to a better environment, SPE partnered with Heal the Bay and TreePeople for a special "surf and turf" project. A group of SPE volunteers worked with TreePeople at the Bad News Bears Park in West Los Angeles to plant over 30 trees while a second group, led by Heal the Bay, cleaned up the beach in an area where the Ballona Creek meets the Pacific Ocean, collecting over 200 pounds of trash and recyclables.

click to enlarge images

This year’s $25,000 contribution was directed toward the effort to restore arts education in all schools in the District and was the fifth of a ten-year commitment.

SPE’s contribution to the Unified Fund this year supported the 4th Annual Culver City Art Walk, the Summer Sunset Music Festival, Music in the Chambers, the Performing Arts Grant program, Fiesta La Ballona, the Holiday Tree Lighting, after-school/teen center programs and various City and environmental cultural programs.

In April SPE contributed $10,000 to the Culver City Education Foundation as a Gold Level sponsor. Funds contributed to CCEF support and enhance the quality of educational programs for every student in the CCUSD.

SPE’s Government Affairs department hosted a reception in June welcoming new City Manager Mark Scott soon after his arrival from South Carolina. City Council and staff were joined by Culver City Chamber Board members in studio’s historic Rita Hayworth Dining Room to welcome Mr. Scott to Culver City.

For the third consecutive year, SPE supported The Actors’ Gang educational initiative – a partnership with CCUSD and SPE. The grant supports The Actors’ Gang residencies at the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (CCHS AVPA), Culver City Middle School and La Ballona Elementary School. The middle and high school programs are year-long residencies in which artists from The Actors’ Gang work with students to develop their own creative voices, which culminates in a performance at the Ivy Substation. The elementary school program is a twice weekly program for fourth and fifth graders who learn the basics of playwriting, acting and movement from the actors, while also building skills in teamwork and conflict resolution.

In September, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) received an arts education grant from SPE to provide Culver City Middle School and High School students with the opportunity to participate in MOCA’s Art Outreach programs First Visit and Beyond and Contemporary ArtStart. This multi-week outreach used the exhibition Index: Conceptualism in California from the Permanent Collection to facilitate student learning about contemporary art and museum practices, while emphasizing art production and career opportunities in the field of design.

The 11th annual SPE Teacher of the Year award honoree this year was Nan Borcherding, who has taught at La Ballona Elementary School since 1997. Ms. Borcherding received her award in May at the 2009 Tribute to the Stars dinner, an annual event hosted by the Culver City Education Foundation.

SPE’s Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Social Responsibility, Janice Pober, was on hand as both an award recipient and presenter. Janice was honored with the CCEF's Superintendent Award for her dedication and focus on the arts in the Culver City Unified School District.

Additionally, the 2009 SPE scholarship awarded to a student interested in pursuing a career in film and video was presented to CCHS AVPA senior Nicholas Haley at a ceremony held in the Robert Frost Auditorium in June. This was the 17th year for the scholarship award.

click to enlarge images

SPE’s Government Affairs department hosted the Culver City Chamber’s annual fundraising screening in February. Attendees enjoyed the Columbia Pictures-MGM comedy, The Pink Panther 2, at the studio’s state-of-the art Cary Grant theatre.

In June SPE hosted the premiere screening of the CCHS AVPA’s Young Filmmakers annual film project. This year the students created three films: Hand to Hand, Vents for Angst and the feature-length film, 0h00. The films were screened in the Jimmy Stewart theatre on the Sony Pictures Studios lot. More than 200 people, including students, families, friends and CCUSD faculty and staff, attended screenings and were treated to a reception in the studio’s courtyard.

click to enlarge images

In October SPE provided a grant to support CCUSD’s Visual and Performing Arts Strategic Plan which partners Center Theatre Group (CTG) with the District to determine how best to align the resources of CTG and other community organizations. This strategic partnership supports CCUSD and current arts programming in Culver City.

In March the HeArt Project received an arts education grant from SPE to provide Culver Park High School, Culver City’s continuing education high school, with year-long arts programming. This program provides students with three, consecutive ten-week art workshops.

click to enlarge images

SPE provided an Arts Education Grant for expansion of the ACME program to include both the Culver City Middle School and High School. ACME provides educational support for animation studies by connecting animation professionals with students in classrooms via long distance learning. This program is funded in partnership with the CCEF and CCUSD.

For the tenth consecutive year, SPE sponsored the Sony Pictures Screenland Classic youth soccer tournament. The tournament serves Culver City, Mar Vista and Palms communities and invites players from other parts of Southern California. AYSO is a nationwide, non-profit organization that develops and delivers quality youth soccer programs in a fun, family environment. This year the tournament took place over two weekends between March 28 and April 5.

SPE supported the Young Storytellers program and provided employee volunteers who acted as mentors to students at El Rincon and Linwood Howe Elementary Schools. These mentors guided the students through a seven-week program to encourage the students to develop their own short screenplay while increasing literacy and self-esteem.  The program concluded with "The Big Show," where professional actors were brought in to act out the plays in front of the students and their families.

click to enlarge images

The following is a list of boards and committees that SPE executives serve on and volunteer for in Culver City:

Kristin Cavanaugh, Director, Studio Relations
Culver City Historical Society

Jonathan Cowan, Executive Director, Government Affairs
Culver City Chamber of Commerce, Board Member

Lani Monos, Global Corporate Social Responsibility
Upward Bound House Culver City Family Shelter, Advisory Committee

Janice Pober, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Social Responsibility
Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Advisory Council, Culver City Unified School District Art Team, Antioch University, Board of Trustees

Keith Weaver, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs
Exceptional Children’s Foundation, Board Member

Lance Wedegaertner, Vice President, Real Estate Administration
Culver Palms Family YMCA, Board of Managers