The gift will be used to finance a state-of-the art edit suite that contains an advanced AVID editing system, digital location sound equipment as well as maintain the projector in CSUN’s Alan and Elaine Armer Theater. The remaining $50,000 will support Northridge’s Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellows program which funds senior film projects that are required for graduation and are screened each spring during Northridge’s annual student film showcase.

“This year’s donation is evidence of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s commitment, not only to film schools in general, but to our film production program,” said Nate Thomas, head of Northridge’s film production option. “We must be doing something right.”

The equipment upgrade and student scholarships will continue to assist Northridge students in producing portfolios that rival others seeking jobs in the film industry, Thomas said.

“The gift literally means the difference between our students’ dreams and the realization of those dreams,” Thomas said. “Everyone can dream, but without the money, those dreams could not be realized.”

The gift was awarded during the annual Hollywood Foreign Press Association luncheon at Beverly Hills Hotel on July 20.

Among the luncheon’s attendees were actors Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, Sally Field, America Ferrera and Ziyi Zhang. The event was hosted by actors Peter Falk and Emma Rossum.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hosts the annual Golden Globe Awards, is a nonprofit organization that has awarded more than $5.5 million in charitable donations to film programs within the past 11 years. CSUN’s CTVA department has received more than $200,000 from the organization since 1996.