The nonprofit project The Latinx House has joined forces with film industry entities to launch the Adelante Directors Fellowship, a program to help Latina and non-binary Latinx directors gain experience to open new doors in TV and moviemaking.
The Latinx House partnered up with the Sundance Institute’s Women at Sundance program, Netflix and Shondaland created the year-long program with the purpose is to support selected directors’ professional development and establish a pipeline to support independent filmmakers as they level up in their careers and learn more about directing on a series, according to a press statement from Netflix.
Three Latina and non-binary Latinx directors will be chosen this year and announced in early summer.
The program includes the opportunity to shadow an episode of a series, a grant to support the artist for the duration of a six-week period while shadowing, a two-day orientation with masterclasses and support from The Latinx House.
Shondaland, the production company founded by multiple-Emmy nominee Shonda Rhimes and which is behind the current series Bridgerton and Inventing Anna, will be providing shadowing opportunities as part of the program on some of their productions. The company’s IMDb page shows a dozen projects in development and on TV mini-series in production.
“It’s essential that the industry dedicates the resources needed to develop a strong pipeline of Latina and non-binary Latinx directors,” says Olga Segura, producer and co-founder of The Latinx House. Her production credits include the films Waiting for the Barbarians, starring Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson and Mark Rylance. “We are so excited to be working with Women at Sundance, Netflix, and Shondaland, allies who can help us build opportunities for talented creators,” says Segura. She added that it is critical for her organization to work with like-minded partners in Hollywood to accelerate change in the industry. “We hope that this fellowship is just the beginning and will inspire even more studios and companies to open doors for Latinx directors,” she stated.
A project of the national nonprofit Justice for Migrant Women, The Latinx House dubbed itself as a “gathering place for people who appreciate and support the Latinx community and who celebrate Latinx excellence in film and entertainment.” In addition to Segura, the group’s co-founders include social entrepreneur Mónica Ramírez and filmmaker Alexandra Martinez Kondracke, whose TV credits include the series Hung and The L Word.
For Adella Ladjevardi, associate director of Women at Sundance, partnering up is key for inclusion. “Women at Sundance continues to support filmmakers from underrepresented communities and recognizes the impact that can be made by working together with our partners to build a more inclusive community of creators,” she says. “Providing a shadowing opportunity is one of many ways we hope to increase access and exposure for Latina and non-binary Latinx directors.” The Sundance Institute produces the annual Sundance Film Festival.
A recent 2021 study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that of the 1,300 top-grossing films released between 2007 and 2019, there were only 12 individual Latino directors represented. It also reported that only 3 out of the 1,447 directors were women of Hispanic/Latina origin. Additionally, the survey found that only 5 percent of characters in feature films were Latino, with roles often perpetuating damaging stereotypes. There are more than 62 million Latinos in the United States. Accounting for 18 percent of the population, Latinos are the largest minority in the U.S.
“We know that great representation on-screen begins with who’s behind the camera,” says Bela Bajaria, head of Global TV at Netflix.
Tom Verica, Shondaland’s head of creative production, says his company “is committed to finding ways to ensure equal representation both in front of and behind the camera.”
Applicants for the Adelante Directors Fellowship will be recruited by The Latinx House and Sundance Institute.
For more information about the program, people can write to info@thelatinxhouse.org.
