Works in Progress Program
There was a great turnout for our first Works in Progress Program event of the 2026. The guest speaker, Crickett Rumley, Senior Director of the Film Festival Department for the New York Film Academy, spoke about strategic planning of festivals for shorts and features.
The talk was followed by the short film, EUROPA by Jacqueline Rosenthal and three director reels by AWD Directing members.
AWD Directing members can request to screen their projects at an upcoming WIP using this form.
Virtual Social Sunday
January’s Social Sunday attendees reviewed Passion Planners and talked about breaking up goals into manageable parts (ie.- quarterly goals and the detailed steps that are necessary to achieve each of them). The group discussed the Blockers (things that we perceive as keeping us stuck) and worked on a schedule to help increase each member’s professional visibility (reaching out to ppl in and out of our networks; working on professional representation like resumes, IMDb, websites, reels, etc. and increasing social media visibility.
Film Finance Seminar with Scott duPont
AWD welcomed Scott duPont to talk about “5 SHIFTS to get YOUR Movie funded.” He reviewed suggestions for thinking about funding differently and provided advice on how to bring equity investors onto indie projects. Scott was very thorough and spent time fielding questions about specific projects.
A recording of this workshop is available for Directing Members to view in their Member Center.
AWD at Denton Black Film Festival
AWD had a fantastic time at the 2026 Denton Black Film Festival! In addition to a specified block of films, Monique Younger and Tomeka M. Winborne spoke on the The Creative Pivot: Finding Your Place (and Paycheck) in the Industry panel and Monique taught the Costume Design/Supervision Workshop (For Low-Budget/Limited Resource Filmmakers) workshop.
AWD films selected to screen were: Wise Love (Dir. Tomeka Winborne); In Living Memory (Dir. Rae Shaw); Marque Dos (Dir. Asha Chai-Chang); Red Velvet (Dir. Danielle Gibson); We Got Ours (Dir. Alycia Cooper); White Agbada (Dir. Lande Yoosuf); Sister Salad Days (Dir. Adesola Thomas); Best Eyes (Dir. Kira Powell); Laundry (Dir. Okema T. Moore); and A Mess of Memories (Dir. Ebony Blanding).
Mixer with Costume Designers Guild and Art Directors Guild
Directing Members of AWD had a great afternoon kicking off 2026 with members of the Costume Designers Guild and Art Directors Guild.
The networking mixer was the perfect place to make new contacts and meet collaborators for upcoming projects!