The Latinx House Announces the Adelante Directors Fellowship, a New Incubator for Latina and Non-Binary Directors

Latinx House Adelante Directors Fellowship BELatina Latinx
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The Latinx House, the initiative of activists Monica Ramirez, Alexandra Martinez Kondracke, and Olga Segura, has announced a program like no other to support Latina and non-binary female directors.

In partnership with the Sundance Institute’s Women at Sundance program, Netflix, and Shondaland, The Latinx House announced the launch of the Adelante Directors Fellowship, an incubator that will support the professional development of Latina and non-binary directors.

The Adelante Directors Fellowship will be a year-long program that will help the professional development of selected directors and create an avenue to support independent filmmakers as they advance their careers and learn more about directing series.

The fellowship includes the opportunity to shadow an episode of a series, a fellowship to support the artist for six weeks as they pursue the track, a two-day orientation with masterclasses, and bespoke support from The Latinx House. Shondaland will also offer shadowing opportunities as part of the program on some of its productions.

“It’s essential that the industry dedicates the resources needed to develop a strong pipeline of Latina and non-binary Latinx directors. We are so excited to be working with Women at Sundance, Netflix, and Shondaland, allies who can help us build opportunities for talented creators. We believe it is critical to be working with like-minded partners in Hollywood to accelerate change in the industry. We hope that this Fellowship is just the beginning and will inspire even more studios and companies to open doors for Latinx directors,” said Olga Segura, producer, activist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of The Latinx House.

The program is a response to the findings of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s 2021 study, which showed that, of the top 1,300 grossing films released between 2007 and 2019, there were only 12 individual Latina directors represented, and only 3 of the 1,447 directors were women of Hispanic/Latino origin. In addition, the report found that only 5 percent of the characters in feature films were Latinx — with those roles often perpetuating harmful stereotypes.

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with The Latinx House, Netflix, and Shondaland on the inaugural year of the Adelante Directors Fellowship. Women at Sundance continues to support filmmakers from underrepresented communities and recognizes the impact that can be made by working together with our partners to build a more inclusive community of creators. Providing a shadowing opportunity is one of many ways we hope to increase access and exposure for Latina and non-binary Latinx directors,” said Adella Ladjevardi, Associate Director, Women at Sundance.

The candidates for this program have been selected through outreach by The Latinx House and the Sundance Institute. The three selected Latina and non-binary female directors will be announced in early summer.

For more information about the Adelante Directors Fellowship, interested applicants can contact The Latinx House at info@thelatinxhouse.org.

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