Today, Ava DuVernay’s distribution, arts and advocacy collective, ARRAY, announced a partnership with Google that offers emerging creatives from historically underrepresented communities with the opportunity to apply for a career-changing $500,000 feature film grant.
The ARRAY + Google Feature Film Grant was instituted as a way to help build a more equitable and inclusive artistic community of diverse storytellers. ARRAY is a grassroots distribution, arts and advocacy collective focused on amplifying work by people of color and women, founded by acclaimed director Ava DuVernay.
“Having started my filmmaking journey by self-funding projects, this is a full-circle moment,” said ARRAY Founder Ava 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.”
The recipient of this mentorship and filmmaking opportunity will be selected by an esteemed advisory committee within the independent filmmaking community, including Gabrielle Glore (Urbanworld, Festival Director & Head of Programming), Francis Cullado (Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Executive Director for Visual Communications Media), Crystal Echo Hawk (IllumiNative, Founder and Executive Director), María Rauqel Bozzi (Senior Director of Education & International Initiatives at Film Independent), and Jio MAMI (Artistic Director, Mumbai Film Festival).
“We’re honored to help ARRAY showcase talented creatives from underrepresented communities and to add volume to more diverse voices,” said Elle Roth-Brunet, Google Assistant’s Entertainment Partnerships Lead and producer on 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.”
The ARRAY + Google Feature Film Grant was developed in partnership with Google due to their ongoing commitment to amplify marginalized voices and highlight perspectives from historically underrepresented communities. Google also recently partnered with The Black List to launch a storytelling fellowship that provides financial and creative support to writers from underrepresented communities, as a means to develop their first feature film script or TV pilot.
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