The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is proud to announce that it is now accepting applications at www.pgadiversity.org for its 14th annual Power of Diversity Master Workshop. The Power of Diversity workshop is designed to foster the development of aspiring and seasoned producers who bring diverse perspectives to television, film, documentary and digital media. In the past thirteen years, the workshop has launched top creative talents to even greater success in the industry. Only ten producers per year are selected from a world-wide search. Non-guild members are encouraged to apply.
This highly selective two-month program provides participants with master classes headlined by some of today’s top producers, as well as one-to-one mentoring with members of the Producers Guild Diversity Committee. Topics are tailored to the participants and their individual projects, and include a broad range of producing skills, such as story development, pitching, packaging, financing, marketing, multiplatform, and new media opportunities.
Applications will be accepted until 6pm Pacific Time on Monday, March 13th, and the eight-week workshop will run from mid-May through mid-July in Los Angeles. The Power of Diversity workshop is offered free of charge to those selected.
“We are thrilled by the recent influx of more diverse projects into the marketplace and are optimistic that the industry will soon recognize that greenlighting authentic, diverse stories is also good business,” said Julie Janata and Sasheen Artis, the chairs of the PGA Diversity Workshop. “World-renowned producers and individual mentors challenge workshop participants with state-of-the-art tools to prepare their projects for today’s marketplace. In the workshop, we celebrate all ethnicities, all religions, all genders, all sexual orientations, all ages and levels of ability, as we empower these creative producers to bring their full passion and unique voice to the screen.”
A number of diversity participants have gone on to produce major films and top television shows, including Sarah DiLeo (Bless Me, Ultima), Ben Lobato (“Ice,” “Queen of the South,” “Justified”), LaToya Morgan (two-time NAACP Award-nominee for “Turn: Washington’s Spies,” “Into the Badlands,”), Hollie Overton (“Shadowhunters,” “The Client List”), and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas (“Sleepy Hollow,” “CSI: NY,” “Southland”).
Past speakers have included top producing talent such as Bruce Cohen (Silver Linings Playbook, Milk, American Beauty), Mark Gordon (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds”, Steve Jobs, Saving Private Ryan), Bruna Papandrea (“Big Little Lies”, Gone Girl, Milk), Lori McCreary (“Madam Secretary”, Invictus), Marshall Herskovitz (“Nashville”, The Last Samurai, Traffic), Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal”, “How To Get Away With Murder”), Damon Lindelof (“The Leftovers”, “Lost,” Star Trek Into Darkness), Paris Barclay (“Empire”, “Sons of Anarchy”, “NYPD Blue”), Caryn Mandabach (“Nurse Jackie,” “That 70s Show”, “The Cosby Show”), Lindsay Doran (“Nanny McPhee, “Sense and Sensibility”, “The Firm”), Luis Barreto (“America’s Next Top Model”, “The Mole”, “LA Ink”), Ali LeRoi (“Everybody Hates Chris,” Are We There Yet?), Ralph Winter (X-Men franchise, Fantastic Four franchise), and Bonnie Arnold (How To Train Your Dragon franchise, Toy Story, Dances With Wolves), among many others.
In addition, the PGA Diversity Committee has fostered partnerships with international producers’ organizations, bringing producers from around the world into the Power of Diversity Master Workshop, and in exchange, teaching the workshop on three continents in Jordan, South Africa and Taiwan.
For further information and application, please go to pgadiversity.org.
