20th Century Fox Television's FOX Directors Lab Launches Third Edition

21CF Global Inclusion will begin its third annual FOX Directors Lab (FDL) program on the FOX Studio Lot in Los Angeles in August. FDL is a highly selective program designed to nurture experienced television directors who have diverse voices, backgrounds, and life experiences. The goal of the program is to create a strong pipeline of well-rounded talent for potential staffing on FOX television series.

The 2018 FOX Directors Lab offers eight directors a rigorous four-week educational curriculum focused on professional development, mentorship, and exploration of the business of media and entertainment, and the potential for shadowing assignments across Fox's television shows. The program will include guest speaker sessions with working directors, showrunners, producers and executives, as well as one-on-one mentorship opportunities with FOX creative executives and with FDL alumni who have gone on to successfully direct episodic television. Following the Lab, directors will be considered for shadowing assignments on FOX, FX or Twentieth Century FOX Television and FOX 21 Television Studios-produced television shows.

Director Fellows will meet with senior creative executives and producers including Terence Carter, EVP of Drama and Comedy Development for Twentieth Century FOX Television; Brooke Bowman, SVP Drama Development and Programming for FBC; Gloria Fan, VP of Current Programming for FOX 21 Television Studios; executive producer and director Jason Ensler ("The Exorcist," "Brooklyn 99" and the upcoming FOX drama "The Passage"); executive producer and director Erin O'Malley ("New Girl," "Fresh Off the Boat," "Speechless" and the upcoming comedies "Single Parents" and "Bless This Mess"); author, television writer and producer Chad Gervich; and entertainment career coaches Sara Glasser Havens and India Osbourne.

Selected from a pool of nearly 300 outstanding submissions, the final class of eight (including one directing team) was determined based on samples, bios, personal statements, recommendations and referrals, work histories, and potential to shadow. The FOX Directors Lab Class of 2018 includes:

Èric Boadella

Ashley Brim

Li Lu

Gandja Monteiro

The Mundo Sisters: Rena Mundo Croshere and Nadine Mundo

Kim Nguyen

Jackie J. Stone

"This incredibly talented group of eight up-and-coming and accomplished directors represents precisely the kind of globally diverse creative talent necessary to drive our business forward. We're excited to offer access and opportunities to these directors through mentorship, education, shadowing, and exposure to key executives and creative professionals. It is our hope that these talented directors will go on to collaborate on existing and future television series at FOX and ultimately strengthen the pipeline of diverse talent," commented MyKhanh Shelton, SVP, 21CF Global Inclusion, Engagement and Diversity.

Fox Director Lab Fellow Biographies:

Èric Boadella started his career by directing music videos for his own band, The Moon Men, while working as an electronic engineer for several years. He continued directing music videos and short films until he was recognized for his first feature film, TOASTMASTER (2014), a dramedy about an eccentric man passing a family tradition of master of ceremonies to his nephew. The film won Best Director and Best Script at the 17th Malaga Film Festival, the main venue for contemporary Spanish films, and was acquired by Canal Plus. It opened the Washington Film Festival and won the audience award at the ARPA International Film Festival in Los Angeles, amongst other recognitions. After the film's release, Boadella was listed on the "Top Spanish Directors to Follow," which is written every year by the president of the Spanish Film Academy in the business magazine También Somos Así. Boadella is currently based in Los Angeles and his upcoming project is THE ARROW OF OUR YOUTH, a psychedelic love story starring Danny Trejo. He is also preparing a feature film inspired by the legends and myths that are still alive in the Pyrenees Mountains.

Ashley Brim is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Photography and Art History, she transitioned to filmmaking to be director Michael Cuesta's assistant on the pilot for the Emmy Award winning television series HOMELAND. Ashley is a HALF Foundation fellow in the 2017 class of the Ryan Murphy Television Directing Mentorship Program where she was mentored by Dan Minahan. She recently won the 2018 The Film EMPIRE "Fempire" Filmmaker Competition. Brim's first short film SWIPED premiered at the 2015 Catalina Film Festival. Her short film AN ACT OF TERROR, starring Olivia Washington and Tonya Pinkins, premiered in the "Race in America" program at the 30th Annual Virginia Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short. The film was a finalist for the Summer 2017 Roy W. Dean Grant, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at Richmond International Film Festival, and is screening in competition at Bronze Lens Film Festival in Atlanta. Brim currently serves as Assistant Producer on the Showtime series HOMELAND.

Li Lu is an award-winning filmmaker living in Los Angeles. She was born in Suzhou, China, and moved to the US when she was five. Raised on all three coasts and graduating high school in Sugar Land, TX, Lu received her BA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. THERE IS A NEW WORLD SOMEWHERE, her debut feature, won three Best Feature awards and was distributed theatrically and on demand. Her current project, A TOWN CALLED VICTORIA - a documentary about an arson of a Texas mosque - has garnered support from numerous organizations, including the Sundance Institute and Austin Film Society. She also directs commercials and music videos, with some reaching over a million views. Her work has been supported by organizations such as Film Independent, IFP, and Women in Film, and profiled in the New York Times, IndieWIRE, and NPR. A maker of fiction and documentary films, she focuses on work that creates social impact and expands representation.

Gandja Monteiro is a director, writer and producer based in Los Angeles and São Paulo. Raised between New York's Lower East Side and Brazil, she has been making films since she was 17 and traveling the world since she was just three months old. This early exposure to vastly different cultures instilled a CURIOSITY that has always inspired and informed her work. The desire to discover new people and places has fueled her love of film and storytelling and has led to countless adventures. Since graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, she has directed work in more than a dozen countries, four continents and eight languages. Her narrative short ALMOST EVERY DAY premiered at Tribeca and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards®. Monteiro has directed commercials and branded content for Nike, Adidas, Google, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet and Smirnoff, among others. BENEATH THE CANOPY, a film she directed for Google Brand Studio, was shortlisted at the Cannes Lions Festival (2018). Her first TV project, an hour-long episode for HBO's documentary series YOUTH just had its broadcast premiere. She's just completed her new sci-fi short film CONTROL/OPTION/ESCAPE, which she directed through the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. She's now focused on Episodic TV directing opportunities and developing her first feature film.

The Mundo Sisters (Rena Mundo Croshere and Nadine Mundo) are an award-winning sibling directing team. Their cinematic storytelling has been featured in commercial work for Pepsi, Alexander Wang, Beats by Dre, Timex, CNN Films, Delta, ESPN and Rachel Roy. The Mundo Sisters recently signed a development deal with Pepsico's Creators League Studio. Their brand film for Pepsi x Alexander Wang was released during the Fall 2017 Shanghai Fashion Week. Their CNN short, A FIELD BETWEEN, was honored as one of the best shorts made by women at the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. The Mundo Sisters are in development on a project with FOX Digital Studios. The duo's ESPN film ROWDY RONDA ROUSEY premiered at the LA Film Festival. In 2015, they went on to create and direct WHAT MAKES US, a series of 5 shorts for ESPN Films. Their 2013 feature documentary,AMERICAN COMMUNE, premiered to critical acclaim at HotDocs and released on Amazon. Their films have screened at Cannes Lions, LAFF, New Orleans, Woodstock, DOCNYC, Hot Springs, New Horizons, Thessaloniki film festivals. They are members of Free the Bid and have received film awards from Women In Film, The Jerome Foundation, New York State Council of the Arts and San Francisco Arts Commission.

Kim Nguyen is a comedy director who has done award-winning commercial work for clients such as Google, Target, and Samsung. She has directed many high profile actors and comedians including Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Channing Tatum, Jason Alexander, Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Rob Riggle, Chelsea Handler, Demetri Martin, REBEL Wilson, Will Forte, Gaten Matarazzo, The Wayans Brothers, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sarah Silverman, RuPaul, Nick Cannon, Vanessa Bayer, and Emma Stone. Her documentary SANTALAND was shortlisted for Full Frame's Documentary Film Festival Best Filmmaker Award. She is a member of the 2017 Directors Guild of America's TV Emerging Directors Program with Gail Mancuso as her mentor. Previously, she was a writer for The Onion and writer/director for MTV. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Jackie Stone is an award winning director/writer and a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and is a 2013-2014 Project Involve Directing fellow. Stone has a penchant for visual storytelling, delivering poetic and precise work that seeks to merge art with social justice. Never fearful of complicated and boundary pushing content, her award winning films have been shown at numerous film festivals and broadcast on HBO Networks. Most recently her short film, BURNING ANGEL DUST has won several awards for Best Short and two best director awards. Most recently, she has ventured into creating content in the digital space and currently serves as CEO and Chief Content Creator of Enchant TV, a digital network.

About 21CF Global Inclusion: 21CF Global Inclusion nurtures diverse voices and stories, both in front of and behind the camera, through a variety of partnerships, initiatives and programs, including the FOX Writers Lab, FOX Directors Lab, FOX Filmmakers Lab and the FOX DP Lab.

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