Ava DuVernay’s Array Teams With Google To Create Feature Film Grant For Underrepresented Creatives

Ava Duvernay’s Array has partnered with Google to create a new $500,000 feature film grant available to up-and-coming creatives from historically underrepresented communities.

The endowment, referred to as The Array + Google Feature Film Grant, will prove funds allowing the recipient to produce their first full-length feature. The initiative speaks to ongoing efforts, on the part of Array and Google, to help amplify marginalized voices, thereby building toward a more equitable and inclusive artistic community.

The recipient of this year’s grant will be chosen by an indie film advisory committee that includes Gabrielle Glore (Festival Director & Head of Programming, Urbanworld), Francis Cullado (Executive Director for Visual Communications Media, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival), Crystal Echo Hawk (Founder and Executive Director, IllumiNative), María Rauqel Bozzi (Senior Director of Education & International Initiatives at Film Independent), and Smriti Kiran (Mumbai Film Festival).

The production to be funded through the grant “will be powered by Array Crew,” the database that DuVernay created, to help hiring managers easily access underrepresented film and TV professionals.

“Having started my filmmaking journey by self-funding projects, this is a full-circle moment,” said DuVernay, who founded the Array film collective in 2011. “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.”

“We’re honored to help Array showcase talented creatives from underrepresented communities and to add volume to more diverse voices,” added Elle Roth-Brunet, Google Assistant’s Entertainment Partnerships Lead, who is producing the project. “The Array x Google Feature Film Grant is intrinsically aligned with Google Assistant’s commitment to speak with a diverse set of voices, and connect with more people to help in their everyday lives.”

Google’s partnership with Array comes on the heels of its recent partnership with The Black List. In that case, the company is helping to launch a storytelling fellowship, also providing financial and creative support to underrepresented writers, as a means to develop their first film or TV script.

Read More About:

Source: Read Full Article