Starz #TakeTheLead and the Women Directors Alliance have announced the first graduating class of Fellows for the Creative Leadership Lab, a four-week program designed to support women and gender-expansive directors early in their careers.
This year’s fellows are Josie Andrews, Tiffany Francis, Chris Guri, Christina Y.R. Lim, Alejandra Lopez, and Tessa Slovis, all members of AWD, and were selected through an independent evaluation process.
Each member has experience directing episodes of television or accompanying episode directors on set. Additionally, they were recognized for their strong creative vision and readiness for leadership roles.
The Creative Leadership Lab builds on Starz and AWD’s existing partnership and will provide high-touch mentorship and leadership development with the aim of equipping participating directors with “the leadership, communication, and professional skills needed for a sustainable television career.”
Andrews is a director, producer and screenwriter whose short stories have been screened at Academy Awards and BAFTA qualifying festivals. Her debut documentary, “Waiting in the Wings,” is available on PBS, and she recently finished production on her feature debut, “Bach Sh*t Crazy.” She participated in Sundance/WIF’s finance intensive event, AWD’s Rising Director Fellowship, and is an adjunct professor in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Guli is a Mexican film director whose films have been screened internationally at major film festivals such as La Semene de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlinale International Film Festival. Her short film “San Miguel” won the Spike Lee Film Production Fund and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellows Fund, and her short film “Alma y Paz” won the Special Jury Award at the Morelia International Film Festival. Gris is a Film Independent Project Involve fellow and a fellow at Sundance Institute’s Writers and Directors Lab. In television, he has directed for multiple platforms in Mexico, including HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix.
Francis is a Taiwanese-American writer and director whose work includes an episode of “Kung Fu” for the CW and the sci-fi short film “Another Day,” which premiered at the Elle Women in Hollywood event and is currently in development as a feature film. Her award-winning AFI DWW+ short “Hello From Taiwan” has been screened at over 30 festivals around the world and in MoMA’s FOFIF series. Francis has directed work for brands such as Levi’s, Always, Xbox, McDonald’s, Lancome, and Vogue.
Lim is a Korean-American writer and director who tells “fish-out-of-water, genre-bending stories, often centered around high-achieving AAPI women.” She is an alumnus of the Black List x WIF Feature Residency, Jerassi Artist Residency, Cine Cua Non, EAVE, and Wscripted’s Cannes Script List. Christina’s debut film “B-side: For Taylor” was released in 2024 through Buffalo 8 and EST Studios. Her second feature, “Wolfie,” is produced by Objectively Good Media and is scheduled to shoot in 2027. Lim recently received a Seriesfest x Shondaland directorial mentorship and a Yaddo artist residency.
Lopez is a Puerto Rican writer and director who was the first Latina to direct for Marvel Entertainment and previously directed Bad Bunny for W Magazine. Her short film “The Blue Cape” was screened at multiple film festivals where it won an Academy Award. Most recently, Lopez starred alongside Leslie Linka Glatter in “Imperfect Women” and was the surveillance director on “9-1-1.” Lopez is currently in pre-production on two proof-of-concept films with Netflix and Top Dawg Entertainment Films, funded by Cate Blanchett’s production company Dirty Films.
Slovis is an Argentinian-American/Jewish queer filmmaker whose directorial debut, Pizza Party, screened at over 20 Academy Award-eligible and international film festivals. Her subsequent films Falsies and the romantic comedy Aisles have continued to play at film festivals across the country, and she is currently directing the feature-length comedy False Profit and the revenge Western short Hunger Pains. Slovis has also directed acclaimed stage productions and taught at the University of Southern California. The university co-founded the USC MFA Film Initiative, which supports emerging actors and filmmakers through its production company Dramatic Narrative Design.
Variety is the official media partner for “Back to Set: Working Director Crash Course,” hosted by the Women Directors Alliance this weekend.
