Photo by Ryan Pfluger
AFI is thrilled to share that Emmy® Award-winning writer/director/producer Lucia Aniello (HACKS, BROAD CITY, ROUGH NIGHT) will deliver the keynote address at the AFI DWW+ Showcase for the Class of 2025 which will take place on Wednesday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.
The DWW+ Showcase is an integral part of the AFI DWW+ program and provides an opportunity for the graduating cohort to premiere their short films to an audience of agency and studio representatives, as well as working artists from throughout the creative community.
The presenting directors from the Class of 2025 include Julia Bales, Jahmil Eady, MG Evangelista, Marissa High, Jasmine J. Johnson, Natasha Mynhier, Karina Lomelin Ripper and Ezra Rose. The directors were mentored by AFI DWW+ Guest Artistic Director Hanelle M. Culpepper (STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE, STAR TREK: PICARD, WESTWORLD) who also oversaw the artistic curriculum for the 2024–2025 program.
“Lucia Aniello is an imperative and dynamic voice in today’s storytelling landscape, and we are honored to welcome her as this year’s keynote speaker at the AFI DWW+ Showcase,” said Susan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory and Executive Vice President of the American Film Institute. “We look forward to bringing the entertainment community together to celebrate the DWW+ Class of 2025 directors and their bold new films.”
Emmy® and Golden Globe winner Lucia Aniello is a writer, director, producer, performer and one half of the comedy team Paulilu with her partner, Paul W. Downs. Aniello and Downs have achieved critical acclaim and commercial success writing, directing, producing and acting in comedies such as HACKS, BROAD CITY, TIME TRAVELING BONG, NORA FROM QUEENS, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB and more.
Aniello is currently writing, directing and executive producing the fourth season of Max’s Original comedy series, HACKS, starring Jean Smart, which she also co-created alongside Downs and Jen Statsky. HACKS has received 48 Emmy® nominations and nine wins across its three seasons, including wins for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series, and Aniello has won two Directors Guild of America Awards in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series. The series was honored as one of the Outstanding Television Programs of the Year at the AFI AWARDS for seasons one, two and three. Season three of the show premiered on May 2, 2024, on Max with season four premiering in the Spring of 2025.
RSVPs are required to attend the AFI DWW+ Showcase.
As one of the longest-running and preeminent film and television workshops nationwide, AFI DWW+ has trained hundreds of artists whose directorial work has entertained global audiences and defined our collective cultural landscape. Distinguished Alums of the AFI DWW+ program include Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft, Neema Barnette, Pippa Bianco, Tessa Blake, Tricia Brock, Ellen Burstyn, Rebecca Cammisa, Dyan Cannon, Dime Davis, Jan Eliasberg, Naomi Foner, Jennifer Getzinger, Lesli Linka Glatter, Lyn Goldfarb, Randa Haines, Siân Heder, Victoria Hochberg, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Matia Karrell, Maggie Kiley, Lynne Littman, Nancy Malone, Gandja Monteiro, Amber Sealey, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Becky Smith, Cicely Tyson, Jude Weng and Joanne Woodward. View full list of 350+ AFI DWW+ Alums here.
AFI DWW+ is part of the AFI Conservatory’s Department of Innovative Programs, which also includes the AFI Cinematography Intensive Workshop. Through a range of learning opportunities, Innovative Programs serves a diverse community of aspiring visual storytellers to cultivate cutting-edge technological and media-making skills, bridge access to professional networks and place participants on an upward career trajectory.
Learn more at Conservatory.AFI.com/Innovative-Programs/.
