The Handy Foundation
Join Us In Making A Difference Now
The stories we tell are powerful. They shape culture, define what is possible, and create the future.
The Opportunity
The stories we tell are powerful. They shape culture, define what is possible, and create the future. It is important that these stories are told responsibly, authentically, and by those who are a diverse as the community who sees them.
The entertainment community has made powerful, public commitments to diversity and the public good, but has found it challenging to deliver.
Our communities need pathways to good, well-paying jobs, particularly as college becomes less accessible and affordable.
The Impact
Addressing Challenges of Workforce Development
The Handy Foundation's model addresses structural workforce development challenges presented by an aging workforce, inaccessible college, and lack of access to effective training programs.
Building and Inclusive Entertainment Industry
The Handy Foundation places authentically diverse talent on production teams,where they are uniquely positioned to speak to the ways the storytellers can be true to the cultures they represent.
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Changing Life Trajectories
Where other programs may offer an exciting experience, our graduates describe the Handy Foundation program as life-changing. Most program graduates go on to work on not only one project, but continuously, raising their income and standard of life to a staggering degree.
What We Do
The Handy Foundation is building a holistic ecosystem that helps studios and productions meet their impact goals, supports authentic, inclusive storytelling, and builds a pipeline to well-paying, sustainable careers in entertainment.
Youth Pre - Apprenticeships
Watch Our Latest Video
Registered Apprenticeships
High School Pre Apprenticeship
Hollywood 101 LMS
Hire an Apprentice
Apply Now
How To Partner With Us
Employers Partners
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Program Sponsors
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Donations
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Why Handy
Foundation ?
We Fill A Gap In The Market
Where other programs end, ours is just getting started. We are one of the few programs that selects, trains, and actually places graduates in jobs. Highly trained, diverse, below-the-line talent can be hard to find. Handy Foundation addresses this with a unique program model.
We Are Proven
Since our founding in 2020, we have trained 233 apprentices and placed 113 graduates in industry productions.We have reached over 1,000 high school students in 6 California school districts. As a strategic partner of the California Film Commission, we are uniquely positioned to build connections across sectors.
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We’ve Built A Cohesive Ecosystem
We inspire young people and provide pathways to careers, offer apprenticeships that train talent, and support productions with resources they need. We've helped to push forward creative arts workforce development mandated in the 2021 California Creative Workforce Act (SB 628).
Meet The Founder
Ri- Karlo Handy
Founder + CEO
Founder + CEO of Sunwise Media. Partners with NTV, OWN, BET, and Starz. SVP, Creative, Unscripted Content at Blink 49 Studios for the show The Braxtons, showrunner for the Emmy-nominated Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward on NBC.
Our Partners
