Robin Cloud, Revati Dhomse, Ashley Eakin, Tiffany Huang, Marie Jamora, Bridget Moloney, Lara Panah-Izadi, and Nicole Taylor-Roberts are the AFI Directing Workshop for Women’s (DWW) Class of 2020. Per a press release, the eight women will receive several months of film education and produce a short film during the program, which aims to boost the number of women directors in film and TV.
DWW will also provides participants “immersive training in screen directing, professional development resources, and inroads to the industry.” The directors will premiere their shorts at Los Angeles’ Samuel Goldwyn Theatre next year.
Taylor-Roberts’ feature screenplay, “A Girl from Haiti,” won the Grand Prize in the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Competition. Eakin shadowed Jon M. Chu during the production of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Good Trouble’s” pilot. Cloud, Huang, Dhomse, and Panah-Izadi have all directed short films. Jamora helmed and co-wrote the feature “What Isn’t There,” following a man who doesn’t speak as he returns home to Manila. Moloney penned and directed indie pilot “A Teenage Pillow Queen,” which premiered at Tribeca’s TV Fest in 2018.
“AFI has led the conversation about the need for more female directors since the Directing Workshop for Women opened its doors over 40 years ago,” said DWW director Lauren Ludwig. “The rising filmmakers in this program embody the Institute’s active, enduring steps to create change, and we are excited to see the stories from this year’s class come alive on the screen.”
“Homeland” EP and director Lesli Linka Glatter, “UnREAL” co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, and “Queen Sugar” director-producer Neema Barnette are among DWW’s alumni.
Head over to AFI’s website to check out the DWW Class of 2020’s full bios.
