AFI ANNOUNCES 2024-2025 CANVA FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
Scholarship Program Continues AFI’s Partnership With Canva to Empower Rising Filmmakers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Los Angeles, CA, July 11, 2024 – Today, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced the recipients of The 2024-2025 Canva Fellowship at the AFI Conservatory. This marks the second year Canva has joined with AFI to further their shared mission to educate and inspire the next generation of filmmakers to create visually impactful work. The scholarship will support one Fellow from each of the six disciplines at the AFI Conservatory: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting.
The six recipients are Eliana Alcouloumre (Directing), Katheryn “Silas” Croddy (Cinematography), Frida Gonzalez (Editing), Cierra Hendrix (Producing), Khairi Reynolds (Production Design) and Lindsay “Elle” Tilden (Screenwriting). Over the course of their two-year AFI Conservatory MFA program, each Fellow will receive a $40,000 scholarship, with a total of $240,000 awarded to the six recipients. The Fellows will attend the AFI Conservatory starting this fall.
“The AFI Conservatory is dedicated to educating emerging filmmakers, both in the art of filmmaking and how to become leaders in their creative communities,” said Susan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory. “We are grateful that Canva continues to collaborate with us to create new opportunities for our AFI filmmakers as they share their voices and diverse stories with the world.”
The inaugural recipients of The Canva Fellowship at the AFI Conservatory recently completed their first year at the AFI Conservatory and shared their thoughts about their creative journey. View video.
“We’re thrilled to partner with AFI for a second year to support this talented group of creatives in taking their careers to new heights. This program is close to our hearts at Canva because we believe in the power of visual storytelling to transform and inspire. Each of these recipients represents a unique voice and vision that we are excited to see flourish,” said Kristine Segrist, Global Head of Consumer Marketing at Canva.
About the 2024-2025 Recipients
Eliana Alcouloumre (Directing)
Eliana Victoria Alcouloumre a Los Angeles-based director who has directed projects across the US, Italy, Mexico and Ireland. She graduated from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts with a double major in film production and cinema studies and was one of four students selected to direct a thesis. Since then, she has worked as a union boom operator, first team set PA and art department researcher on projects such as EUPHORIA, OPPENHEIMER and MINDHUNTER. She has also been selected for screenwriting mentorships in Italy and France, and her first feature screenplay was a quarterfinalist in the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship.
Katheryn “Silas” Croddy (Cinematography)
Katheryn “Silas” Croddy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and Russian from Bryn Mawr College. They then obtained their master’s degree in film aesthetics from Oxford University, where they did research on topics such as Soviet war cinema and camp aesthetics. For their dissertation, they wrote on the sapphic gaze in PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE. Since then, they have spent several years doing camera work in the UK, from shooting short films and promotions to working as a camera assistant in film, TV and online campaigns.
Frida Gonzalez (Editing)
Frida Gonzalez is an award-winning Mexican-American film editor with a BFA in motion pictures and television. She was born and raised in San Francisco, and the city’s artistic influences led her to develop a deep passion for filming and editing fascinating stories. She has edited several short films, including A SEARCHING SOUL and LA NOCHE, as well as two episodes of the award-winning independent television series THE LAST GASP. Gonzalez is currently in post-production for THE FURY, a horror short film full of female rage, and aims to partner with genuine storytellers to continue creatively crafting stories through the art of editing.
Cierra Hendrix (Producing)
Cierra Hendrix is a producer originally from Smithfield, Virginia, who moved to Los Angeles in 2023 after graduating from Norfolk State University with a Bachelor of Science in mass communications with a focus on broadcasting. At NSU she served as the Mass Communications department’s Media Specialist. She produced, directed and edited two talk shows, PREMIER and LET’S TALK, which aired on Norfolk’s local channel 47 for two seasons each. In 2022, she attended the Nate Parker Foundation Film Institute, where her original film REMOTE was produced and screened at the 2023 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA.
Khairi Reynolds (Production Design)
Khairi Reynolds is a Syracuse University graduate holding a degree in architecture. Following graduation, he delved into the professional realm of architecture across the Bay Area, Los Angeles County and New York City, contributing to projects Including high-rise towers and homeless shelters from container pods to amusement park designs. However, his true passion lies in film and television. He began drafting for the CBS series THE NEIGHBORHOOD and expanded his portfolio to include music videos for Avril Lavigne (VMA nominated), horror movies with Dolby Labs, art direction for the AFI Conservatory thesis film WE WERE MEANT TO (official Sundance selection and Oscar qualified) and animation projects with CRUNCHYROLL.
Lindsay “Elle” Tilden (Screenwriting)
Lindsay “Elle” Tilden graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Lewis & Clark College. She studied publishing at the Columbia Publishing Course at Oxford. Most recently, she worked as a senior editorial coordinator at New York Magazine, where she helped manage publication processes across web and print. Tilden also managed the magazine library and worked closely with in-house producers to pitch archival material for film and TV development.
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
The American Film Institute (AFI) is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. Established in 1967, AFI launched the first comprehensive history of American film and sparked the movement for film preservation in the United States. In 1969, AFI opened the doors of the AFI Conservatory, a graduate-level program to train narrative filmmakers. The Conservatory, which counts Deniese Davis, Affonso Gonçalves, Susannah Grant, Matthew Libatique, David Lynch, Melina Matsoukas and Rachel Morrison as Alumni, is ranked the #1 film school in America. AFI’s enduring traditions include the AFI Life Achievement Award, which honors the masters for work that has stood the test of time; AFI AWARDS, which celebrates the creative ensembles of the most outstanding screen stories of the year; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and the AFI Archive that preserve film history for future generations. AFI exhibition programs include AFI FEST and year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Maryland. AFI Movie Club is a destination for movie lovers from around the world to celebrate and engage with the art form every day. Other pioneering programs include workshops aimed at increasing diversity in the storytelling community, including AFI DWW+ and the AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women. Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, YouTube.com/AFI, X.com/AmericanFilm, TikTok.com/@americanfilminstitute and Instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.
About the AFI Conservatory
The AFI Conservatory opened its doors in 1969 to an inaugural class that included Terrence Malick, Caleb Deschanel and Paul Schrader. Today, the Conservatory offers a two-year MFA degree in six filmmaking disciplines: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting. In a collaborative production environment, AFI Fellows learn to master the art of storytelling, collectively creating up to 175 films a year. Fellows actively participate in the entire life cycle of a film, from development through production and exhibition.
Alumni of this elite program, ranging from modern masters to bold new voices defining the state of the art form, include Andrea Arnold, Darren Aronofsky, Ari Aster, Deniese Davis, Sam Esmail, Brad Falchuk, Affonso Gonçalves, Susannah Grant, Liz Hannah, Patty Jenkins, Janusz Kamiński, Matthew Libatique, David Lynch, Melina Matsoukas, Polly Morgan, Rachel Morrison and Wally Pfister, among others.
About Canva
Launched in 2013, Canva is a free online visual communications and collaboration platform with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design. Featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface and a vast range of templates ranging from presentations, documents, websites, social media graphics, posters, apparel to videos, plus a huge library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, video footage, and audio clips, anyone can take an idea and create something beautiful. Entertainment professionals can access resources to help them express their ideas, pitch film and TV projects, plan shoots and beyond at canva.com/entertainment.
Press contact:
American Film Institute
Shari Mesulam, [email protected]
