As announced in Variety, Alliance of Women Directors (AWD) today unveiled the class of 2026 Rising Director Fellows. The six directors who were chosen are: Aeryn Michelle Williams (Umbrella Academy, Harlem), Alexandra Hsu (Sophie, Our Way Home), Ann Marie Pace (Growing Fangs, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), Marcella Ochoa (Hour of Blood, My Name is Maria de Jesus), Taylor Lee Nagel (Lady Liberty, If You Can Ever Get Back), and Tijuana Ricks (All Souls, The Corps). These up-and-coming filmmakers will participate in a yearlong program during which they will refine a feature script, finalize pitch materials, and film a proof of concept. The 2026 Fellowship will conclude with a private industry screening, showcasing the Fellows’ work for agents, executives, and producers.
The Fellows were selected through an intensive, competitive process, with evaluations conducted by AWD Advisory Board Members Wendy Mericle, Tracey Baker-Simmons, and Icon Members Dawn Wilkinson, Bola Ogun, Bethany Rooney, Amber Sealey, along with Rising Director Fellowship Chair Lesley Powers. Created to help directors transition from short-form achievements to feature-length storytelling, the AWD Rising Director Fellowship annually selects five to eight exceptional filmmakers for a tailored program that combines mentorship, professional development, meaningful industry exposure, and the creation of a proof of concept for an original narrative project. Throughout the program, the Fellows will meet with more than 30 producers, industry executives, managers, and agents, and will conclude the Fellowship with a screening of their proof of concept.
“The Rising Director Fellowship is designed to meet directors at a pivotal moment in their careers, when talent is undeniable, but access and opportunity can still be out of reach,” said Kylie Eaton, Executive Director of AWD. “This year’s Fellows bring bold perspectives, emotional depth, and a clear command of story. We’re proud to support them as they take the critical step from short-form success to feature filmmaking and share their voices with the industry at large.”
Aeryn Michelle Williams is a writer and director from Detroit, Michigan. She holds a BFA in theater and an MA in television and film from Syracuse University. Most recently, she co-executive-produced Netflix’s hit genre series, Umbrella Academy, and Tracey Oliver’s comedy series, Harlem, for Prime Video. She wrote the feature Gentrified for Lionsgate, as well as the drama series Studs, which she sold to Netflix, and Malika, a pilot based on the “Malika: Warrior Queen” comic published by Dark Horse, which she sold to Prime Video. She has directed several music videos for rapper-artist Figgy Baby, as well as multiple short films, including an experimental dance short called #Prayfor and a short-form sci-fi series titled Bubble Pop.
Alexandra Hsu is a Chinese American director/producer whose work explores identity, intergenerational relationships, and often, but not limited to, the inner lives of Asian and Asian American women. Her films—including Sophie 籠中雀, Our Way Home 歸程, Rencontres Paysannes–Farmers Dating, Unwavering, and POP! starring Emmy-nominated Michelle Ang—have screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals such as Austin, Foyle, HollyShorts, and BendFilm. Sophie was nominated for Best Student Short Film at Austin and Best Short Foreign Film (Drama) at NewFilmmakers LA, and won Best Director and Best Cinematography at Next Generation Film Festival. The film also earned Hsu a place on the D&AD Next Director Shortlist. Alexandra is an alum of the SFFILM FilmHouse Residency and a finalist for the Westridge Grant, and has been supported by Cine Qua Non Lab (CQNL), Unlock Her Potential, Women in Film, and the Gold House Futures Network. She holds an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Asia) and a BA from Scripps College. She is currently developing her debut feature, Beach House, an atmospheric psychological drama. In 2025, the film was selected for the CQNL Storylines Lab, Galway Film Fleadh Marketplace, Stowe Story Labs, BendFilm BaseCamp, and Plenty of Pie Talent Incubator. She creates with intentionality and care, building collaborative spaces where artists can take risks and thrive.
Ann Marie Pace is a queer Mexican American filmmaker who is drawn to stories of identity and discovery when you don’t fit into just one box. Pace wrote and directed the Imagen Award-nominated short film Growing Fangs, a tale about a half-human, half-vampire teen, which was positively reviewed by The New York Times and won an Artios Award for casting. As an episodic director, Pace has directed episodes of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for Disney+. She is also attached to direct the feature film Counting By 7s, based on the New York Times bestselling novel. Pace received her MFA in Directing from UCLA. Her thesis film, Beyond the Gate, which was shot in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, won first place in the DGA Student Film Awards.
Marcella Ochoa is a San Antonio–born writer / director known for telling social justice stories through a genre lens. Her work includes the Imagen and Humanitas Award–nominated Western horror short film, Hour of Blood, starring Isabella Leon and Jesse Garcia, inspired by the injustices that occurred in 1915 Texas. She also wrote and directed the Imagen Award–nominated short thriller, Worry Dolls, and the short film on Americanization, My Name Is Maria de Jesus for HBO, which led to a national university speaking tour. She co-wrote the NAACP and Imagen Award–nominated Blumhouse social justice horror feature on forced sterilization, Madres, which premiered on Prime Video, as well as the horror feature Discarnate, which also premiered on Prime Video. She most recently wrote horror feature films for both New Line and Universal.
Taylor Lee Nagel is an independent director and producer working across narrative and documentary film, drawn to stories of dignity, defiance, and resilience. She was an Eric & Wendy Schmidt Fellow at New America while producing her documentary If You Can Ever Get Back, which follows combat veterans navigating the long-term implications of military service. Her narrative projects range from coming-of-age comedy to foreboding psychological drama. Waiting Period, which dramatizes the coercive tactics used by anti-choice activists to dissuade those seeking abortions, was named “NH Short of the Year” at the New Hampshire Film Festival. Her award-winning short film Lady Liberty, a coming-out story set in New York City, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She is currently in production on a documentary about seaweed farming along Maine’s coast, examining the impacts of climate change and the future of the working waterfront.
Tijuana Ricks began her career as an actor and transitioned into directing 10 years ago. She has written, produced, and directed multiple award-winning short films and web series in both the comedy and drama genres, including All Souls, which won the Gold Award at the DC Web Fest, the Audience Award for Short Drama at Flickfair, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Drama at Die Seriale. Her short Make America Bake Again! took home the Best Comedy Award at Shockfest and screened at the Portland Comedy Film Festival, where she was a Best Director Finalist. She also wrote, directed, and starred in the web comedy The Corps, which screened at the 2021 Urbanworld Film Festival and the inaugural ABFF Comedy Festival. Ricks is a recipient of the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Directing Mentorship, a 2023 WIF Directing Fellow, and a National Parks Arts Foundation Fellow (2025). She is currently developing her first feature film, Home Bound.
The Rising Director Fellowship, now in its third year, is made possible by generous support from Scriptation, Backstage, Shotdeck, Largo AI, Peerspace, Chemical Wedding, Front Row, Canon, Black Magic, Birns & Sawyer, Illuminar, LZ Rentals, Fotokem, Anarchy Post, Smart Post Sound, Out Loud Audio, and Signature Post.