The Rising Director Fellowship (RDF) is a yearlong intensive that fosters 5-7 directors who show a substantial portfolio of work in the short form space (narrative or documentary shorts, episodic, commercials, music videos, and web content) who have yet to direct a narrative feature film.

2027 RISING DIRECTOR FELLOWSHIP

Applications for the 2027 Rising Director Fellowship will be open from 9:00am PT October 15, 2026 through 11:59pm PT November 15, 2026. AWD Directing Members can find requirements and application questions in their Member Center.

This program is open to AWD Directing Members. Applications for membership must be submitted by 11:59pm PT November 8, 2026 in order to be eligible to submit to the 2027 RDF program.

2026 RISING DIRECTOR FELLOWSHIP

Alliance of Women Directors is excited to embark upon the third year of the Rising Director Fellowship. The fellows in previous years have had the chance to hone their scripts and pitching skills, build out their portfolios, and shoot proof of concept shorts for their debut feature films. Program participants have met with executives from Universal, TriStar, Paramount, IFC Films, Duplass Brothers Productions, Neon Heart, Picturestart, Shudder, Gunpowder&Sky, Sundance, Neon Heart, Feigco Entertainment, Apatow Productions, Shondaland, Film Nation, Calamity Jane, Paper Kite, Scrap Paper Pictures, and more! Fellows have additionally met with reps from Black Bear Pictures, Verve, Heroes & Villains, 42 Management, UTA, Redefine Entertainment, and more!

Fellows from the 2025 class were mentored by industry luminaries Steve McQueen, Reed Morano, Niki Caro, Mike Mills, Susan Johnson, Erica Tremblay, and Amber Sealey. Read more about the mentors and the program here!

Read more about our 2026 fellows here.

2026 Rising Director Fellowship Sponsored By

PREVIOUS CLASSES

Read more about our 2025 fellows here.

Read more about the 2024 Rising Director Fellows here.

2024 Fellows along with RDF Co-Chair Lesley Powers and AWD Interim Executive Director Kylie Eaton at their capstone screening, February 5th 2025 at UTA. Photo by Alexandra Clayton.