ARRAY, the arts collective for women and people of color founded by Ava DuVernay, will help bring one underrepresented creative’s film to the screen with its latest initiative. According to a press release, ARRAY is joining forces with Google for a $500K film grant. Powered by ARRAY Crew, ARRAY’s inclusive database of below-the-line talent, the ARRAY + Google Feature Film Grant will “provide funds to produce the recipient’s first full-length feature film…as a way to help build a more equitable and inclusive artistic community of diverse storytellers.”

Leaders from the independent filmmaking community — including Urbanworld’s Gabrielle Glore, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival’s Francis Cullado, IllumiNative’s Crystal Echo Hawk, Film Independent’s María Rauqel Bozzi, and Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival’s Smriti Kiran — will serve on the grant’s advisory committee and select its winner.

“Having started my filmmaking journey by self-funding projects, this is a full-circle moment,” said DuVernay. “I’m pleased to partner with Google and ARRAY’s grant advisory committee to identify an emerging writer/director to bring their vision to the screen. Inclusive storytelling is at the heart of ARRAY’s mission and we’re proud to also provide access to ARRAY Crew in order to further ensure that the set of the grantee’s film reflects the full array of the world around us.”

ARRAY President Tilane Jones added, “We live and breathe filmmaking at ARRAY. For the past decade we have had the opportunity to amplify the work of so many stellar women and filmmakers of color, and the opportunity to partner with Google on this grant is the start of a strong partnership. We are so lucky to have Crystal, Gabrielle, Francis, Maria, and Smriti on our advisory committee and be working with every pillar of ARRAY to produce and distribute this project.”

Introduced earlier this year, ARRAY Crew is a resource for execs and hiring managers searching for women and BIPOC film and television professionals. The platform currently has more than 6,000 members.

Google is also partnering with The Black List for a fellowship supporting underrepresented writers developing a feature film script or TV pilot.

DuVernay’s TV adaptation of DC Comics’ “Naomi” was ordered to series at The CW. Her packed slate also includes HBO Max’s “DMZ” and original podcasts as part of her deal with Spotify. “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time” are among her film credits. She made history as the first woman of color to helm a $100 million-plus live-action film with the latter. DuVernay received an Oscar nod and two Emmys for “13th,” her documentary linking mass incarceration to slavery.

DuVernay and ARRAY won the first Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award last fall.