Twentieth Century Fox Film and American Film Institute Strike Innovative Partnership Aimed at Female Directors
Graduates of AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women Are Given
Opportunities to Work on Fox Franchise Properties
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Twentieth Century Fox Film and the American Film Institute have entered
a new partnership to help increase the number of female directors
working on major studio films. The initiative will provide alumnae of
the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) — the American
Film Institute’s unique female filmmaker training program — the
opportunity to direct short films based on the Studio’s film franchises.
With the necessary expertise, tools and access to the Studio’s extensive
intellectual property, the filmmakers will be invited to contribute to
building the narrative world of Fox’s film franchises, and in the
process, create sample work in genres, particularly action and science
fiction, in which female filmmakers are often underrepresented.
“The dearth of female directors is not a matter of passion or talent,”
said 20th Century Fox Film Chairman and CEO Stacey Snider, who made the
announcement today. “Instead, it’s often a question of access and
resources. We’re excited to offer these to talented women filmmakers who
then can build upon this practical work experience.”
“AFI believes that the future of this American art form is a true
symphony of voices,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “We have
been committed to this issue from our founding, and we look forward to
this landmark collaboration with Fox to impact the art and entertainment
landscape in a profound way.”
Fox is committed to providing significant resources to the projects, to
reflect the quality and scale of the franchise films that they support.
Fox will finance, produce and distribute the short films, via its many
platforms. The filmmakers will be able to add the projects to their
portfolios and pitch Fox feature films unrelated to the shorts in the
future.
Kicking off the trailblazing partnership, 35–50 graduates will be
selected for an introduction to the terms of the initiative. Ten
finalists will present original pitches to senior executives at 20th
Century Fox. One or more filmmakers will be chosen to make their concept
into a short film.
About Twentieth Century Fox Film
Twentieth
Century Fox Film is one of the largest motion pictures studios in the
world. The company produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures
throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by
the following units of the studio: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000
Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Productions and
Twentieth Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.
About the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop
for Women
Founded in 1974, the AFI Conservatory
Directing Workshop for Women is a hands-on training program committed to
increasing the number of women working professionally at the highest
creative level in film and television. The innovative and tuition-free
workshop is open to women with three years or more of professional
experience in the arts, providing them an immersive opportunity to learn
by doing — with each participant required to complete a short film or
series by the end of the program.
DWW participants have gone on to great success, including Lesli Linka
Glatter (AFI DWW, Class of 1982), whose Emmy®-winning work as
a producer and director on HOMELAND earned her PGA and DGA Award
nominations in 2016; Sian Heder (AFI DWW, Class of 2005), whose film
TALLULAH, based on her DWW short MOTHER, recently premiered on Netflix;
and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (AFI DWW, Class of 2012), whose series UNREAL
received two 2016 Primetime Emmy® nominations including
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
In addition to the support the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for
Women receives from Twentieth Century Fox, it is also the recipient of
generous gifts from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
Comcast-NBCUniversal, Jean Picker Firstenberg, Google, the Hollywood
Foreign Press Association, Linda Hope, Indiegogo, Lifetime, Mark and
Lynne Liss, the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation, Rosalind Wyman, the
Jean Picker Firstenberg Endowment and the Nancy Malone Endowment
provided by the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation, and other
individuals committed to providing opportunities for women in the media
arts. For more information visit: AFI.com/DWW.
Contacts
20th Century Fox Film
Chris Petrikin
chris.petrikin@fox.com
or
American
Film Institute
Stephanie Sweeney
SSweeney@AFI.com
