The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has launched a program for women of color filmmakers, a group that is heavily underrepresented in Hollywood.
The Latino Lens: Narrative Short Film Incubator for Women of Color will offer Latina and other women of color filmmakers the opportunity to create original short films in four months. It will provide production grants, training and other support from preproduction to completion of projects. Sponsored by Netflix, the program will select four U.S.-based directors and writers. Applications are now being accepted.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Netflix for our new program Latino Lens: Narrative Short Story Film Incubator for Women of Color to promote historically underrepresented voices,” says NALIP Projects Director Liliana Espinoza. “With both NALIP and Netflix being supporters of inclusive representation in the industry, we are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate and amplify intersectional narratives”.
Few women of color are among the top feature films and television projects in Hollywood, according to recent surveys. There were just 13 women of color among the directors of the 1,300 top movies from 2007 to 2019 reported the 2019 USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “This is less than 1% of all directing jobs,” says the study, which notes that women of color account for more than 20 percent of the U.S. population. The vast majority of directors are white men. “The ratio of white male directors to underrepresented female directors was 92 to 1,” states the USC report.
Television also suffers from glaring disparity despite some recent progress. “While the shares of episodes directed by women and African Americans reached new highs, Latinos and women of color continued to be severely underrepresented despite their sizable and growing presence in the population,” stated the Directors Guild of America based on its latest Episodic Television Director Inclusion Report published in February. The study surveyed 4,300 episodes produced in the 2019-20 season.
The NALIP short film incubator for women of color aims at helping to reduce that gender and women disparity in Hollywood. It will also offer mentorship. The incubator will produce and feature four short narrative scripts, according to the nonprofit association.
The completed shorts will be showcased at NALIP’s Latino Media fest in October of this year during Latino Heritage Month. The incubator’s participants will also participate in other events of the producers’ group, including its annual Median Summit and Diverse Women in Media Forum.
“NALIP has long advocated for Latinx creators, and we’re excited to support their latest effort to identify and uplift stories told by Latinx women and women of color,” said Pete Corona, Netflix director of drama development. NALIP’s latest program is supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, which reportedly plans to invest $100 million over the next five years in organizations working to improve the representation of minorities and women in the TV and film industries, as well as Netflix programs for up-and-coming talent worldwide. NALIP and Netflix have not disclosed the total funding amount for the new Narrative Short Film Incubator for Women of Color.
The deadline to submit applications for the new program is May 23. To get more information and apply, click here.
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