WeForShe has announced the participants for this year’s DirectHer Program. The nine female directors will pair up with seasoned TV directors, who will guarantee the participants’ work on key parts of the production and shooting of a television show.

During the 2018 program Lynn D’Angona will collaborate with Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: Discovery”); Paige Morrow Kimball with Todd Holland (“30 Rock”); Jen McGowan with Mary Lou Belli (“NCIS: New Orleans”); SJ Main Muñoz with David Rodriguez (“The Chi”); Melissa Oren with Tamra Davis (“You’re The Worst”); Bola Ogun with Tawnia McKiernan (“Supergirl”); Mo Perkins with Gail Mancuso (“Modern Family”); Amber Sealey with Daisy von Scherler Mayer (“The Walking Dead”); and Emily Moss Wilson with Christine Gernon (“Fresh off the Boat”).

“The greatest barrier to acceptance for new female talent in the TV directing landscape comes down to risk on an unknown entity,” said WeForShe co-founder Katy McCaffrey. “Through the WeForShe DirectHer Program we’re future-proofing this hurdle by pairing these talented female directors with established veterans in an effort to expand the roster of proven and available talent.”

Vanessa Parise, Anya Adams, Valerie Weiss, and Marta Cunningham are among the DirectHer alumni. They’ve directed or are set to direct eps of “Charmed,” “GLOW,” “Fresh off the Boat,” “Speechless,” “Chicago Med,” “Insecure,” and other buzzy series.

WeForShe, which advocates for gender equality in television, is accepting nominations for the 2019 WriteHer List through December 7. The list is a curation of the best women-written, women-driven pilot scripts.

“WriteHer and DirectHer are proven programs that have truly helped put many talented, deserving women writers and directors on the map,” explained WeForShe co-founder AnnaLea Rawicz-Arnold. “We are energized by these incredible creatives and industry executives who are committed to making a change toward gender parity in television.”

Bios for the 2018 DirectHer participants are below, courtesy of WeForShe.

LYNN D’ANGONA

d’Angona has 25 years’ experience in film and television including as 1st AD on Shondaland’s “Gilded Lilys,” “The Glades,” “Criminal Minds,” “CSI Miami,” and “Saving Grace.” She produced and directed the digital documentary series “Promises Kept,” short documentary “R.I.S.K. – Radiation In Space = Knowledge” for NASA, and was tapped by the DGA for the 2007 Kodak 35mm short series “Moments to…Forget” with her short “Girl Talk.” She produced and directed the award-winning feature documentary, “Between the White Lines,” and was 2nd Unit on “Megiddo, The Omega Code 2.” Her directorial debut, short film “Lulu Askew,” won multiple awards.

PAIGE MORROW KIMBALL

Morrow Kimball began in unscripted and later directed films for HBO’s iconic “Sesame Street,” the comedy web-series, “Exiled Out East” and wrote and directed the award-winning comedy short “Ending Up.” Her award-winning short “Play Date” is being developed into an educational program. Her directing and producing credits include: “Project Greenlight,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Boot Camp,” and “NASCAR Driver.” She was a participant in CBS’ Directors Program and the DGA’s inaugural Diverse Directors Initiative Mentorship Program. She’s shadowed veteran TV directors including Ron Underwood, Jaffar Mahmood, Melissa Kossar, Lee Shallat Chemel, Bob Koherr, Daisy von Sherler Mayer and Millicent Shelton.

JEN MCGOWAN

McGowan is a Film Independent Fellow, Clint Eastwood Filmmakers Award finalist, and AWD Breakout Award for Excellence in Directing recipient. She created filmpowered.com a skill-sharing, networking and jobs resource for women in film and television, part of Sundance Women’s Initiative Resource. Her first feature Kelly & Cal – released by IFC Films – premiered at SXSW, where she won the Gamechanger Award. She’s behind the award-winning shorts Confessions of a Late Bloomer and Touch and the TV series “Angelica,” a 2018 MIPTV In Development selection at Cannes. Next up – features Rust Creek and Breaking Down the Walls.

SJ MAIN MUNOZ

Main Muñoz spent nearly 20 years in production before transitioning to directing, her films screen worldwide, garnering numerous awards. She’s worked at Merchant Ivory, Walden Media, River Road, with director Stanley Done; been supported by AWD’s Industry Support, FIND’s Project: Involve, IFP’s Emerging Narrative Filmmaker program, NALIP’s Writer’s Lab, and Producer’s Academy and Media Markets; and shadowed veteran directors Lee Rose and Ron Lagomarsino. She’s directed current shorts Reconnected and Requiescat. She holds a BA in Theatre Acting and Directing from UCLA, an MFA in Directing from Columbia University and a PhD in Media and Communications from EGS of Switzerland.

MELISSA OREN

Award-winning writer and director Oren recently directed a Parents.com digital series.

She shadowed on series including “Life in Pieces,” “Modern Family,” Happy Endings, “Work It,” Thundermands” and “No Tomorrow.” Her on-set experience includes assistant to showrunner Jeffrey Richman on multi and single cams including “Frasier,” “Jake in Progress” and “Yes, Dear” as well feature Get a Job. Her award-winning short film, The Best Friend, has been accepted to numerous festivals and her writing credits, with husband Ben, include “First day,” “State of Georgia,” a Fremantle Media digital series, Awesomeness TV sketch material, and a half hour pilot for Warner Bros.

BOLA OGUN

Ogun is featured on El Rey’s “Rebel Without a Crew.” Robert Rodriguez executive produced her directorial On The Run. She was selected for AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, the inaugural Ryan Murphy Half Mentorship Program, and shadowed directors Brad Falchuk, Michael Lehman and Rose Lee. Her first short The Water Phoenix received the California Institute of Contemporary Art Grant, her second – Are We Good Parents – starred Tracie Thoms. She produced the Emmy campaign music video for “Crazy E-Girlfriend,” Vanity Fair’s viral video “Ladyboss,” and worked on The Dark Night Rises, Neighbors, Battleship, “True Detective” and “Friday Night Lights.”

MO PERKINS

Perkins has a BA in film studies from UCSC and a Masters in directing from UCLA, where she received prestigious awards including the Motion Picture Association of America Award, a Student Academy Award and UCLA’s Director’s Spotlight. Her award-winning writing/ directorial debut feature A Quiet Little Marriage was picked up by IFC; her second, comedy feature The Last Time You Had Fun was distributed by Gravitas Ventures. A 2017 Sony Diverse Directors Program participant, she recently directed The CW’s I Ship It, is developing “The Farm: with Orchard Farm and is co-creator of “The Witches of Echo Park.”

AMBER SEALEY

Sealey is an award-winning director, writer, and producer who has made three feature films:

award-winning No Light & No Land Anywhere, executive produced by Miranda July, released theatrically by Factory 25 in 2018; award-winning How To Cheat released by FilmBuff; and her first film, A Plus D, released by IndiePix. She has been supported as an artist by Sundance, Film Independent, Women In Film, Tangerine Entertainment, and is a current fellow of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. She has directed content for AOL, Yahoo, and Oath, among others and shadowed television directors including Jill Soloway, Jamie Babbit and Daisy Meyer.

EMILY MOSS WILSON

Moss Wilson’s Twilight Zone-inspired directorial debut short Drink premiered to rave reviews on the festival circuit and has millions of views on YouTube. Through her Paper Crane Productions, she produced award-winning shorts Grande Drip and Knight to D7. Mentored by Garry Marshall, she shadowed veteran TV directors including Allison Liddi-Brown, Rick Bota, Mark Tinker and Joel Zwick. She serves as Creative Executive for the ATX Television Festival in Austin, TX and recently completed Ryan Murphy’s Half Foundation Directing Program where she was paired with the Jamie Lee Curtis as her mentor. Her first feature film, Missing Daughter, premieres this year.