Warner Bros. has announced the first five participants in the newly launched Emerging Film Directors Workshop and four of them are women. We’re so used to having to lament the fact that women are so often excluded from programs like these, that it’s a welcome celebration when our stories can point out that women made up the majority of those selected for a great program like this.
The program, Variety reports, has been in the works for a few years, and is “designed to give access and voice to new and underrepresented talent via a seven-month fellowship with the opportunity to showcase their work.”
“We’re very excited about the filmmakers we’ve selected for our inaugural Directors Workshop,” said Greg Silverman, president of creative development and worldwide production. “Each of these candidates has a unique background, point of view, and aspiration. They’ve already shown immense talent and passion for filmmaking and we can’t wait to help them further develop their skills, get exposure for their work and advance their careers.”
Beginning in December, the five participants will take their projects through the entire production process, from pitch to premiere. Julia Spiro, VP of Production, and production executive Jon Gonda will act as mentors and industry liaisons. Each filmmaker will be given a budget of $100,000 to create an original short film. The process is designed to mimic a Warner Bros. feature template from beginning to end, including script development, shoot, and post-production. The participants have the option of writing the short themselves or working with a screenwriter. The end results will be shown at a WB film festival in June, 2017 with agents, managers, and other professionals in attendance.
The finale five were chosen from a group of over 5,000 applicants. The women chosen are listed below, with bios courtesy of Variety.
Kristin Burke, who has worked as a movie costume designer for 25 years, working on such movies as New Line’s “The Conjuring.” Burke has written, directed, edited, and produced three original short films.
Alexis Korycinski, a Syracuse University graduate who spent her first few years after college producing documentaries and directed her own in 2011. She has also directed and produced three original narrative short films. In 2014, she participated in the AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and she’s also a participant in the Ryan Murphy Television Half Foundation’s mentorship program, through which she’s shadowed directors on shows such as “American Horror Story.”
Elaine Mongeon, who is from Nantucket, Mass. After attending Boston University, she moved to Los Angeles and eventually became the assistant to director Greg Jacobs, working with him on nine different films.
Xu Zhang, who grew up in southern China, where she attended the Zhejiang University. She earned her MFA in Film & TV Production at University of Southern California, during which time she worked on more than 20 short films, directing several of them.
