A Snugglr and a prison guard are just a couple of the characters tackled by newly released shorts from Conde Nast Entertainment and Indigenous Media’s Project HER incubator program. Designed with the goal of bridging the gap in opportunities for women directors on the small and big screens, the initiative connected female filmmakers at various stages in their careers with experienced industry mentors. The Hollywood Reporter announced the arrival of the shorts.
The six films include Joyce Sherri’s “Beauty,” a 1930s-set story about a black woman with mysterious abilities, Georgia Bernstein and Cemre Paksoy’s “Snugglr,” a portrait of a professional Snugglr who supports lonely clients in Chicago, and Philiane Phang’s “The Row,” an exploration of how a prison guard is affected by an inmate’s death sentence.
Lesli Linka Glatter (“Homeland”), Kasi Lemmons (“Eve’s Bayou”), Sarah Treem (“The Affair”), Betty Thomas (“Private Parts”), and Mimi Leder (“The Leftovers”) were among those who served as mentors for the incubator. They helped participants develop the shorts, with the idea that they “could eventually be adapted into a television series,” THR explains.
“We strongly believe that the future is female and Project HER is a platform to make women’s voices heard, so Conde Nast Entertainment and Indigenous Media are proud to foster a community of up-and-coming creators and established Hollywood talent working together to accomplish that,” said Teal Newland, senior vp marketing and new platforms at CNE. “The incubator is a step towards creating an environment where women can explore new forms of storytelling and emerge to go on and navigate and disrupt the current Hollywood system.”
Indigenous Media co-founder Rodrigo Garcia added, “As evidenced by the amazing work that each of Project HER mentors have done, women’s voices are indisputably valuable, and the industry has a responsibility to help resolve gender disparity in the business by providing them the opportunities they deserve.”
Descriptions of all six Project HER films are below, courtesy of THR. You can watch the shorts online via CNE’s The Scene and on Project HER’s Facebook page.
“Beauty” by Joyce Sherri
In this film, set in the 1930s, a black woman with mysterious abilities interviews to be housekeeper to an eccentric white widow, but in order to get the job she must use her abilities in a way she didn’t intend.
“Black Night” by Jordan Trippeer
To discover their origins, four teenagers with inhuman abilities must escape the experimental lab that imprisons them — but is this, too, part of the experiment?
“Good Eggs” by Maria Burton
A 40-year-old woman who finally feels settled in life and her relationship finds she may be not be as content as she thought after an ex-boyfriend requests one of her frozen eggs.
“The Row” by Philiane Phang
A prison guard’s life is drastically changed by one inmate’s death sentence.
“Snugglr” by Georgia Bernstein and Cemre Paksoy
An emotionally unavailable professional Snugglr offers comfort to her lonely and often strange clients around Chicago.
“Watch Party” by Blythe Haaga Parker
Three women laugh and figure out their own lives as they get together weekly to watch their favorite trashy reality show.
