The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is partnering with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) for their new 2022 Academy Film Accelerator, a five-week program that will provide filmmakers from Latinx communities education, resources and mentorships focused on the business of filmmaking. 

The Los Angeles-based program will start in June and with 10 select participants who will learn how to navigate the entertainment industry and build awareness of the business skills required to get a film to the screen. 

“This partnership with the Academy marks another important step in ensuring that Hollywood truly represents the diversity and richness that the Latino community has to offer,” said Edward James Olmos, co-founder of LALIFF.  “We are honored to be able to support these talented filmmakers by offering them the right tools for the continuous growth in their careers.”

The cohort is composed of LALIFF award-winning filmmakers and Inclusion Fellowship recipients. The program is part of Aperture 2025, the Academy’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, representation and equity, and is supported by TelevisaUnivision’s new global streaming service, ViX.

“We are so grateful to LALIFF and ViX for playing a central role in our vision to invest in filmmakers from different communities, backgrounds and experiences,” said Shawn Finnie, the Academy’s Executive Vice President, Member Relations and Awards. 

The Accelerator will be led by the Academy’s VP of Impact and Operations Jeanell English and Associate Director, Member Relations and Awards Angelica Cervantes.  Through our Academy members and industry executives, this program will address the important, yet often overlooked, topic of the business of film.”

The participants will engage in a series of workshops and masterclasses centered around content distribution, facilitated by leaders across the film industry.  Topics will include creative pitching, marketing and promotions, production development, and more.  Participants will each receive exclusive networking opportunities, mentoring from Academy members, a $10,000 stipend to go towards all aspects of distributing and promoting their projects, or to offset living costs, and the opportunity to pitch current or future projects to industry leaders.

The participants who will be acknowledged at the LA Latino Film Festival during the June 1 – 5 dates are: 

Miguel Angel Caballero
Lorena Durán
Michael Flores
Justin Floyd
Gabriela Garcia Medina
Monica Moore-Suriyage
Gabriela Ortega
Kase Peña
Tamara Shogaolu
Maite Zubiaurre