Yahoo Finance DGA Announces New Mentorship Program From Women’s Steering Committee
The Directors Guild of America announced its new Women’s Steering Committee Squad Mentorship Program along with its first class of mentees. In the program, 10 mid-career directors are each paired with filmmakers that are well established in the field.
The WSC Squad will last for six months. Mentors will not only discuss craft and artistic opportunities with their mentees, but will also provide guidance on the unique challenges involved with navigating the film industry as women. A second round of the WSC Squad will begin in Jan. 2022.
More from Variety
'No Man of God' Director Amber Sealey on Joe Berlinger's Fiery Email: 'It Felt Very Mansplain-y'
Directors Guild, Content Players Decry 'Malicious Attacks' Against AAPI Community
“We started this program because the need for mentorship and community never goes away, even when you are working at very high levels in the industry. Women-identifying directors deal with particular situations and it was our goal to forge a sort of sisterhood of mid-career directors,” said Amber Sealey, co-chair of the program. “We purposely paired them with mentors who can offer advice in the specific areas they are interested in and who they have something in common with, even inspirationally. We are thrilled to have such an exciting inaugural group of mentees for this new official DGA mentorship program, and are so grateful to all of the extraordinary mentors who are graciously donating their time and expertise.”
Maureen Bharoocha and Daniela De Carlo co-chair the mentorship program with Sealey. Co-chairs of the WSC are Maria Burton, Hanelle Culpepper, Liz Ryan and Tara Miele.
The first class of mentor-mentee pairs includes:
Debbie Allen mentoring Morenike Joela Evans
Julie Anne Robinson mentoring Pratibha Parmar
Kay Cannon mentoring Kimmy Gatewood
Tara Miele mentoring Annette Haywood-Carter
Millicent Shelton mentoring Princess Monique
Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton mentoring Jen Arnold
Kari Skogland mentoring SJ Main Muñoz
Nicole Kassell mentoring Mo Perkins
Marta Cunningham mentoring Li Lu
Claire Scanlon mentoring Sharon Everitt
For more information, including bios of the current mentees, visit thewscsquad.com or email WSC@dga.org.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
