TORONTO – The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television has named Netflix as the principal partner of the Apprenticeship for Women Directors program which this year has expanded to include French-language participants.
A Netflix spokesperson said that the partnership agreement stems from the streaming giant’s commitment to support industry development opportunities in Canada, and is part of the $25 million development fund that it announced last September.
The Apprenticeship for Women Directors program aims to provide emerging female directors the opportunity to further develop and enhance their careers across all platforms (for the purposes of this program, the Canadian Academy defines an emerging director as those who have been working in the industry and have a director or assistant director credit on one of the following: no more than one feature film, a minimum of two short films, a minimum of 15 minutes of digital content in any format, or one or more music videos.)
The intensive six-month program will run from September 2018 to March 2019, and match each apprentice with an established director currently working on a project. Participants will receive one-on-one professional development and on-the-job training, access to virtual discussions with industry and filmmaker guests, two-day summit meeting with industry executives during TIFF, as well as a conference pass to the festival, and a one-year membership to the Canadian Academy.
This year, up to eight applicants will be chosen, and with Netflix’s sponsorship, two participants will be Francophone. The application process opens Friday and potential participants may apply online between May 18 and June 15, 2018. Applications will be reviewed by a diverse and established group of directors, producers and executives, who will short list 12 applicants before announcing the final participants in late August.
“At a time when all aspects of our industry are finally recognizing that female directors have traditionally been underrepresented, we’re thrilled to offer the Apprenticeship for Women Directors for another year,” said Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television CEO Beth Janson, in the news release. “It’s also very exciting to have the support of our new partners at Netflix that will allow us to expand our work to include women working in Quebec.”
“At Netflix, we’re always looking for the best stories which is why we are excited to partner with the Canadian Academy to expand its Apprenticeship for Women Directors program to include French language participants,” added Dominique Bazay, director of kids and family content at Netflix. “We’ve made a commitment to the Canadian creative community because we believe in the talent here and are happy to invest in programs like the Apprenticeship for Women Directors which help enhance the skills of the next generation of female filmmakers to create stories for Canada and the world.”
More information on the project and applicant requirements is available here.
