A California university has partnered with companies like Walt Disney Studios, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Google to launch a grant program for student film projects promoting abortion.
The “Reproductive Rights Accelerator” program will award at least four senior film students a $25,000 grant toward the script development and creation of films about the issue of abortion. The program is part of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
A press release from the school indicated that the program is being offered as a direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“With the curtailing of reproductive rights, it is not only necessary to find legal solutions to protect marginalized communities, but it is essential to educate and inform audiences about these topics,” said Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “Entertainment has a unique ability to reach viewers and provide that education. Our goal is to illuminate how many opportunities there are to use storytelling as a tool to expand the conversation and create substantial attitude and policy change.”
Nicole Hunt, the life issues analyst for Focus on the Family, agreed that storytelling has the ability to reach far and wide.
“Storytelling is an essential component in the culture wars waging over abortion policy today,” she told The Christian Post, warning that abortion activists will use anything at their disposal to shape the narrative surrounding abortion.
“The pro-life movement can and must counter these efforts with its own storytelling,” she said.
USC student Morgan Farrier told Campus Reform that she hopes the program will truly embrace diversity and inclusion like it promises.
“If they fund a political narrative for reproductive rights, I hope they would also fund a political narrative for unborn rights,” she said.
“I would hope that if this grant funds a story about somebody who’s life was made easier because of her abortion, they would also fund stories about the women who regret their abortions, the women who chose life and were happy with their decision, stories of abortion survivors, and other individuals that don’t fit the pro-choice narrative.”