Ryan Reynolds has launched `The Group Effort Initiative,` a diversity and inclusion program that Reynolds is self financing with the goal of giving people of color opportunities to work and learn on the `Deadpool` actor's productions, the actor announced on Friday.
Reynolds will be mentoring between 10 and 20 trainees of all ages who are black, indigenous, people of color or from marginalized communities. These new trainees will be both paid and housed out of his own salary and will spend their days on set, learning from on-set professionals and getting real-life experience that they can then parlay into another job and hopefully a career in the film industry.
The Group Effort Initiative will commence on Reynold's upcoming action-adventure film, currently untitled and produced and directed by Shawn Levy, and will continue on for future projects.
The film is prepping for a fall shoot in Canada, subject to COVID-19 shooting protocols. Skydance is developing the action-adventure film that has Reynolds attached to star and produce along with Levy and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger producing for Skydance.
Additionally, The Group Effort Initiative has been working with Dr. Stacy Smith, Director of the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism on this program.