NBC Launchan area that houses the comprehensive efforts of diversity, equity and inclusion in the television portfolio of NBCUniversalhas sealed a new alliance with Telemundo to increase the number of Hispanic female directors on scripted television. This association is an extension of the corporate initiative of the Hispanic chain “Mujeres Imparables”.
According to the latest Report on the inclusion of episodic television directors of the DGA, only 2.4% of scripted series episodes were directed by Latina directors out of more than 4,300 episodes produced in the 2019-20 season. The new partnership aims to address the need for more leadership opportunities for this ‘severely underrepresented’ community.
As an important step towards achieving this goal, NBCU Launch and Telemundo promote Female Forward, which has successfully given seasoned female directors a chance to break into episodic television for the past four years. Along with the NBCU Launch TV Directors Program. (formerly known as the “Emerging Directors Program”), are the first scripted directing programs in the entertainment industry to guarantee at least one directing credit per season for its participants.
Beginning with the upcoming class of 2022-23 and beyond, two of the candidates they select will follow at least two episodes of a scripted Telemundo series, culminating in an in-season directing assignment on the same series. This expansion of Female Forward coincides with the initiative Unstoppable Women from Telemundo, which seeks to advance Latinas by sharing their diverse success stories, highlighting their contributions to all sectors of society, and fostering solutions to the challenges that remain for their advancement.
Jeanne Mau, SVP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion of TV Programming at NBCUniversal, commented: ‘Our new partnership is emblematic of one of our main goals, which is to combine inclusion efforts with our sister networks and studios so that together we can create and a significant change. Our shared goals with Telemundo give us a unique opportunity to further focus on Hispanic female directors. This evolution of Female Forward it’s just the beginning of our efforts to grow this underrepresented community while continuing to focus on other marginalized groups who still desperately need opportunities in the director’s chair.’
Monica Gil, EVP, NBCUniversal’s chief administrative and marketing officer, added: ‘The numbers don’t lie: Latinas are underrepresented in our industry and especially in the direct chair. We are delighted to work hand in hand with our colleagues at NBCUniversal to support a shared commitment to our Latino community. We can’t wait to meet the directors and bring even more visionary and unstoppable women to the network.” Registration for the new Women Forward classes and the NBCU Launch TV Directors Program will close on April 3.
The goal of the combined schedule of the two shows is to systematically increase the number of experienced female directors from underrepresented backgrounds on episodic television. Female Forward focuses on female directors, while NBCU Launch TV Directors is aimed at ethnically diverse male and non-binary directors. Contestants watch up to two episodes of an NBCU scripted series before directing a season episode of the same series.
–
