The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has partnered with Snap on a program to boost one female student filmmaker of color during her senior year.
The Snap Originals Annenberg Inclusion Award will give the winning filmmaker $25,000 for her senior thesis film. A panel of Snap advisors will mentor her throughout her senior year, and she will shadow a working filmmaker on the set of a Snap Original production. At the end of the program, she’ll also be allowed to pitch a short-form unscripted series for the company’s mobile platform for her to direct. Applications will open this month, and the winner will be announced prior to the coming school year.
“The next wave of filmmakers has the opportunity to change the world in new ways through mobile-first storytelling, marrying their incredible passion for truth and authenticity with innovative cinematic perspectives and technology,” Snap head of original content Anjuli Millan said in a statement. “Through Snap’s partnership with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, we couldn’t be more excited to find an inspiring student at the start of their journey and support their unique voice, talent and vision for the future of filmmaking.”
The new award and partnership with Snap follows the Initiative’s Accelerator scholarship, announced in February and also worth $25,000, to support and develop a female filmmaker of color looking to work in visual effects-driven features. According to AI2’s own research, less than 2 percent of the 100 top-grossing films each year from 2007 to 2021 were directed by a woman of color.
“The Snap Originals Annenberg Inclusion Award is a platform to launch a next-generation filmmaker by providing a suite of resources: financial, relational and informational,” Initiative founder Stacy L. Smith said in a statement. “Short-form mobile content is a powerful outlet for creative storytelling. Working closely with Snap will expose the winning director to knowledge and techniques that can support their creative interests both in the short- and long-term.”
