If you’re a woman or person of color trying to break into unscripted directing, take note: NBC has unveiled the new Alternative Directors Program, the entertainment industry’s first initiative for unscripted series. Designed for women and diverse helmers with at least one directing credit, the program’s goal is to “help feed the pipeline for new talent behind the camera on alternative series.”
Five directors will be selected for the Alternative Directors Program’s inaugural outing. Each will shadow an experienced director for several weeks on an NBC unscripted show — such as “The Voice” or “America’s Got Talent” — including prep, production, and post-production. The program is spearheaded by Meredith Ahr, President, Universal Television Alternative Studio, and Karen Horne, NBC’s Senior Vice President, Programming Talent Development & Inclusion.
“The Alternative Directors Program creates a big opportunity to start changing the unscripted landscape and flip the paradigm on who calls the shots in our industry,” said Ahr. “While much of the conversation around inclusion has been focused on scripted programming, we believe that a big piece of the puzzle is missing without equal concentration on the unscripted space, which makes up a big percentage of what audiences are watching every week,” she explained. “With this program, the goal is to not only give emerging directors the extraordinary opportunity to learn from the best in the business, but also to galvanize the industry as a whole to make strides towards increasing representation behind the camera on alternative series.”
“NBC has always led the way in broadcasting an inclusive view of our world from airing the first African-American woman on television in 1939 to the first interracial kiss on ‘Star Trek,’” added Horne. “So it should be of no surprise that our legacy of groundbreaking ‘firsts’ also extends to our talent pipeline programs, where over the past almost two decades, we have created many of the industry’s first initiatives aimed at developing diverse talent in front and behind the camera,” she stated, referencing Female Forward and the Emerging Director programs. “Our hope is that the Alternative Directors Program will follow in the tradition of our long standing scripted tent pole initiatives by creating a wider breadth of representation of people from different backgrounds in unscripted programming.”
The deadline to apply to the Alternative Directors Program is Friday, June 29.
Submissions must include a letter of recommendation, a bio, a reel summarizing the director’s work, up to three work samples, and responses to two essay questions. A second letter of recommendation is optional.
To submit your application or to find out more, go to NBC’s Talent Infusion Programs website.
