The American Film Institute (AFI) recently announced the 25 female directors selected for the 2017 Fox Filmmaker Lab, an initiative designed to increase the number of women directing major studio films. According to the AFI website, the selectees — who are all alumnae of the AFI Conservatory and the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) — will move on to the next phase of the Lab, with the chance to direct their own short film.

This announcement comes on the heels of Lab Week, “which provided participants with tremendous access to the process of studio filmmaking,” AFI reports. The selected filmmakers were welcomed with a kickoff celebration attended by Twentieth Century Fox Film Chairman and CEO Stacey Snider and AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale.

As we’ve previously discussed, the Lab provides the selectees with mentorship, as well as opportunities to helm short films based on Fox film franchises and titles, like “Alien,” “Chronicle,” “Die Hard,” “The Fly,” “The Omen,” and “Planet of the Apes.”

In the spring, the directors will get to pitch their franchise or reboot ideas to studio executives. “One or more filmmakers will be chosen to make their concept into a short film,” reads the announcement. Further, the directors can include their Filmmaker Lab projects to their portfolios and pitch unrelated feature films to Fox in the future.

This is an exciting development for AFI, Fox, and female directors everywhere. As AFI has stated, Fox is “committed” to supporting these filmmakers and providing them with the tools they need for success. As Snider said when the initiative was originally announced, “the dearth of female directors is not a matter of passion or talent. Instead, it’s often a question of access and resources.”

Hopefully, with the development of this program, other studios will follow Snider’s lead and provide female directors with the support they deserve.

Here is the full list of the 2017 Fox Filmmaker Lab directors:

Joey Ally
Gillian Barnes
Shaz Bennett
Meredith Berg
Aubree Bernier-Clarke
Christine Boylan
Jan Eliasberg
Rachel Goldberg
Anne Hamilton
Tannaz Hazemi
Courtney Hoffman
Mako Kamitsuna
Alexis O. Korycinski
Jean Lee
Erin Li
Maggie Mahrt
Manjari Makijany
Rosita Lama Muvdi
Mia Niebruegge
Jane Pickett
Deborah M. Pratt
Lisanne Sartor
Thoranna Sigurdardottir
Devi Snively
Valerie Weis