Kenan Thompson is set to be honored with the Reel Works ChangeMaker Award at the 2025 Reel Works ChangeMakers Gala, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.

Reel Works, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Stephanie Walter and John Williams, offers free filmmaking programs to underserved youth in New York City. The organization's mission is to mentor, inspire, and empower young people through documentary production and storytelling.

Reel Works has grown from serving 50 students annually to reaching 1,500 young people across New York City.

“Two New York television producers found joy in mentoring underserved young filmmakers, making cinema a little more diverse along the way.”

On May 24, 2023, the 2023 Reel Works ChangeMakers Gala celebrated emerging filmmakers and honored Actress Nia Long and NBCUniversal's Val Boreland as ChangeMakers in the industry. The Gala occurred at New York City’s historic Ziegfeld Theatre and was hosted by actress and comedian Ego Nwodim.

“GMA” has a huge surprise for deserving teacher Charles Reynoso, the director of education at Reel Works, which is a program that inspires young people to share their stories through filmmaking.

NBCU will grant $119,000 to the Alliance, a nonprofit focused on cultural impact in media arts, to train NBCU volunteers on how to mentor the Lab apprentices effectively and to share best practices with the apprentices’ nonprofit creative agencies on how to create powerful and impactful spots. These agencies include Reel Works, RE:IMAGINE, PhillyCAM, Spy Hop and Youth FX. The Alliance’s grant will also be used to support its own Arts2Work workforce development program and its Accelerator Fund to help women, young adults and veterans as well as low-income, BIPOC and disabled creatives in the field.

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the New York State Office of Strategic Workforce Development has awarded more than $6 million in grants to eight projects across the state through the first round of the Capital and Pay for Performance Grant Programs. These grants will support the training of nearly 3,000 workers through collaboration between training providers and more than 100 employer partners in fields like advanced manufacturing, information technology, and film and television. The Office, which operates under Empire State Development, is charged with supporting workforce development programs and practices to ensure New Yorkers are prepared to meet the needs and priorities of today's employers.

On October 17, Mayor Adams hosted the first-ever NYC Film and Television Production Industry Council Meeting at City Hall, where he and members of his administration, including Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo, and MOME Deputy Commissioner for the Film Office Kwame Amoaku, met with top industry representatives to discuss opportunities and challenges facing the industry and its post-pandemic recovery in NYC.