NBC Announces 2019-20 Classes of Female Forward, Emerging Director Program

NBC has ushered in the 2019-20 classes of its groundbreaking scripted directing initiatives, Female Forward and theEmerging Director Program. The initiatives aim to increase representation of female and ethnically diverse directors, respectively, by creating a pipeline into scripted television. They are the only programs in the industry that give participating directors an in-season guarantee to direct at least one episode.

The new class of Female Forward directors and the NBC series they will helm are Kris Lefcoe ("Superstore"), Brenna Malloy ("Chicago Fire"), SJ Main Muñoz ("Chicago Med"), Kim Nguyen ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") and Sara Zandieh ("Good Girls"). The class for this year's Emerging Director Program are Mahesh Pailoor ("The Blacklist") and Dinh Thai ("New Amsterdam").

Chosen from 500 applicants, the new classes are comprised of directors experienced in various mediums, including independent features, music videos, commercials and branded content. Their work includes award-winning films that have premiered, been official selections or won prizes at the Telluride Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, among others.

Female Forward is entering its second year after a successful inaugural year where seven directors from its first class were invited back to direct additional episodes of NBC shows. The Emerging Director Program, NBC's first scripted directing program, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and counts celebrated directors Kat Coiro, Hanelle Culpepper, Nisha Ganatra, Solvan "Slick" Naim and Sharat Raju amongst its alumni.

"Our scripted directing initiatives are proven changemakers in our industry. While celebrating this milestone year, we are so proud to continue building NBC's legacy of making a meaningful impact in representation on television," said Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, Co-Presidents, Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment.

"Female Forward and the Emerging Director Program have become the litmus test for successful and effective pipeline programs, and our new class of accomplished directors will continue to add to our rich heritage," said Karen Horne, Senior Vice President, Programming Talent Development and Inclusion, NBC Entertainment. "It is especially gratifying to continue to provide a stepping stone into episodic directing for so many talented directors."

Female Forward aims to achieve gender parity in the director's chair, while the Emerging Director Program focuses on ethnically diverse male and gender non-binary directors. Finalists for both programs shadow episodic directors on an NBC scripted series and receive an in-season commitment to helm at least one episode of the series they shadow.

All finalists for both programs will be mentored by an established television director. Among them will be the Female Forward advisory council chaired by acclaimed director Lesli Linka Glatter. The council also includes Norberto Barba, Ruben Fleischer, Liz Friedlander, Pamela Fryman, Nisha Ganatra, Peter Horton, Gail Mancuso, Ken Olin, Julie Anne Robinson, Millicent Shelton and Michael Spiller. Jaffar Mahmood and Sharat Raju joined the council this year.

To be eligible for either Female Forward or the Emerging Director Program, finalists were required to have directing experience in their respective fields of expertise such as feature films, music videos, commercials, digital content and theater. Candidates could have no more than one scripted television directing credit.

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