The Sundance Institute has announced an expansion of its artist development programs to include support for second-time feature filmmakers.

The new FilmTwo Initiative will “address a growing need in the field of independent storytelling, especially for women and filmmakers of color,” and offer “selected directors specialized creative and tactical guidance in navigating the unique challenges of making their second feature films.”

The Initiative’s inaugural Fellows participated in a Screenwriters Intensive in March and will continue to receive customized creative and tactical support for their next projects. Six of the thirteen inaugural FilmTwo Fellows are women: Shaz Bennett (“Alaska is a Drag”), Marta Cunningham (“Valentine Road”), Siân Heder (“Tallulah”), Marielle Heller (“The Diary of a Teenage Girl”), Anna Rose Holmer (“The Fits”), and Crystal Moselle (“The Wolfpack”).

According to Sundance, “The FilmTwo Initiative was created to provide support to a diverse group of independent filmmakers in response to the specific challenges they face in developing and completing their second feature film, often the greatest barrier to a sustainable career as a filmmaker. These include identifying and/or writing their second project, defining their distinctive voice, scaling up and creating more ambitious projects in terms of budget and scope and a dearth of development financing. Second-time filmmakers are also faced with the challenge of having a shorter timeline to capitalize on the first feature while they take on prolonged distribution activities related to that film. Navigating the film industry and working successfully with new collaborators contribute to these challenges, which are often compounded for women and people of color.”

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Our FilmTwo Initiative is a holistic response to challenges filmmakers have expressed to us. It builds on our existing work to ensure that the most exciting and diverse filmmakers have the support they need to overcome the hurdles of getting their films made and seen.”

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, said, “As the filmmaking industry changes, our programs continue to evolve by addressing the needs of the community. With our FilmTwo Initiative, we are extending our focus from starting a filmmaker’s career to growing that career and continuing to provide a creative and tactical support system for the films they want to make.”

“Beyond the Lights” director Gina Prince-Bythewood added, “I was so fortunate to have the support of Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Directors Labs for my first film ‘Love and Basketball’, which was released in 2000. Making a good first film says you have potential. Making a good second film says you are the real deal, but getting that second film made is often just as difficult as the first. I’m excited that Sundance has responded to the unique challenges second-time filmmakers face with the creation of the FilmTwo Initiative. It will be an incredible leg up to filmmakers looking to clear that hurdle.”

Biographies of the female participants are listed below, courtesy of Sundance:

Shaz Bennett
Shaz Bennett is a writer, director and storyteller. She recently wrote and directed her debut feature film, “Alaska is a Drag” and was a writer on episodes of “The Glades” and “UnREAL”. She is a graduate of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women and FOX’s inaugural Top 20 Directing Program.

Marta Cunningham
Marta Cunningham is an accomplished filmmaker and producer. Her feature length documentary “Valentine Road” played in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, premiered on HBO in October 2013, was nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards and was part of the Institute’s 2014 Film Forward Program. Cunningham was a Sundance Institute Women Filmmakers Initiative fellow. She is currently directing episodes for television and digital platforms, including Refinery29, and her production companies, Off The Wall Productions and Sugar Sky Pictures, are currently in pre-production on several features and documentaries.

Siân Heder
Siân Heder writes and produces on the acclaimed Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.” Her short film “Mother ”received top honors at the Cannes Film Festival, Florida Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival. Her debut feature film “Tallulah,”which she wrote and directed, stars Ellen Page and Allison Janney and premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Marielle Heller
Marielle Heller’s debut film “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a special jury prize and went on to win the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus at the Berlin International Film Festival before it was released in theaters in August 2015. She received a DGA nomination for outstanding directorial achievement of a first-time feature film director, three Gotham Award nominations, won the Best Actress Award for Bel Powley and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Heller is an alum of the Sundance Institute Screenwriters and Directors Labs and the recipient of the Women at Sundance Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Vanguard Award.

Anna Rose Holmer
Anna Rose Holmer was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2015. Her narrative directorial debut “The Fits,” which screened at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival and the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT category, is a selection of the Venice Biennale College-Cinema 2014/2015 and the Sundance Institute Editing Intensive Fellowship. She recently produced Jody Lee Lipes’ “Ballet 422,” which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and was acquired by Magnolia Pictures and Mike Plunkett’s “Salero” (2015 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam).

Crystal Moselle
Crystal Moselle is a New York-based director best known for her 2015 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary “The Wolfpack.” In the last decade she has worked with short-form storytelling for publications such as Vice, Nowness and The New York Times. She has profiled different artists including Pharrell Williams, Shepard Fairey and a pack of 14-year-old ballerinas running through New York City.