PAUL FEIG ANNOUNCED AS DISTINGUISHED ARTIST
AT AFI CONSERVATORY DIRECTING WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN
DWW CLASS OF 2018 FILMMAKERS ANNOUNCED
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — FEBRUARY 7, 2017, LOS ANGELES, CA — The AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) — AFI’s filmmaker training program committed to increasing the number of women working as directors and showrunners in film and television — has revealed the eight participants for 2017–2018. Following a recent kick-off event on the AFI Campus with DWW’s 2017 Distinguished Artist, filmmaker Paul Feig (BRIDESMAIDS, GHOSTBUSTERS, SPY and a four-time Emmy® nominee for TV’s THE OFFICE), the Class of 2018 will embark on a year of mentorship, collaboration and creation to make a short film or series — all in preparation for professional success in narrative directing. Feig, a longtime champion of female creators through his film and television work and his production banner Feigco Entertainment, fielded questions from the incoming DWW participants in an intimate meet-and-greet on Friday, February 3, on campus.
“To meet with this amazingly impassioned group of diverse, talented filmmakers is a dream come true,” said Feig. “I salute the AFI for their strong support of female storytellers. We need their voices more than ever.”
The DWW Class of 2018 filmmakers are: Beth de Araújo, Georgia Fu, Milena Govich, Tiffany Johnson, Katrelle Kindred, Nancy Mejía, Gandja Monteiro and Lorraine Nicholson. Full bios are available here.
The 2017 DWW Showcase for this year’s graduating class of participants, who began their work in the program last year, will take place on April 18, 2017, at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles.
About the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women
Founded in 1974, the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women is a hands-on training program committed to increasing the number of women working professionally in screen directing. The innovative and tuition-free workshop is open to women with three years or more of professional experience in the arts, providing them an immersive opportunity to learn by doing — with each participant required to complete a short film or series by the end of the program.
DWW participants have gone on to great success, including Pippa Bianco (AFI DWW, Class of 2015), Cannes Cinéfondation Prize winner for her DWW short SHARE; Lesli Linka Glatter (AFI DWW, Class of 1983), Emmy®-winning producer/director of HOMELAND; Sian Heder (AFI DWW, Class of 2006), director of Netflix’s TALLULAH, based on her DWW short MOTHER; and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (AFI DWW, Class of 2013), co-creator of UNREAL.
The AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women receives generous support from Twentieth Century Fox, Lifetime’s Broad Focus, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Google, Comcast/NBCUniversal, the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation, 20th Century Fox, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Indiegogo, Linda Hope, the Jean Picker Firstenberg Endowment, The Nancy Malone Endowment provided by The Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation and the Estate of Nancy Malone, and the many other individual supporters committed to providing opportunities for women in the media arts. For more information visit: AFI.com/DWW.
