Lucia Aniello, Boots Riley and Karyn Kusama Join DGA Women's Mentorship Program

The Directors Guild of America's Women's Steering Committee has named its seventh class of mentors and mentees, and the mentor list reads like a festival lineup. Lucia Aniello, Mike Flanagan, Karyn Kusama, Boots Riley and former DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter are among the established directors pairing up with mid-career women and nonbinary directors this cycle.

The program, launched in 2021, runs a nine-month curriculum. It's built around a simple idea: pair directors who've already broken through with directors stuck at the harder middle stage of a career, and give both the tools and the community to keep moving. Along the way, the cohort discusses the specific challenges women directors face in the industry.

Who's mentoring whom?

The seventh class breaks down into twelve mentor-mentee pairs:

• Lucia Aniello and Carmen Angelica
• Abe Sylvia and Shaz Bennett
• Kat Candler and Sabrina Doyle
• Shannon Murphy and Claire Fowler
• Gandja Monteiro and Saray Guidetti
• Mike Flanagan and Anna Halberg
• Boots Riley and Tiffany Johnson
• Geeta V. Patel and Manjari Makijani
• Karyn Kusama and Kate Sullivan
• Jake Schreier and Alissa Torvinen
• Lesli Linka Glatter and Mallory Thompson
• Laura Belsey and Kristin Windell

The mentors bring serious range. Aniello directed "Hacks" and "Broad City." Flanagan has "Carrie" and the upcoming "The Exorcist: Martyrs." Riley made "Sorry to Bother You" and "I Love Boosters." Kusama's credits include "Jennifer's Body" and "Girlfight." Glatter, a former DGA president, directed episodes of "Mad Men" and "Homeland."

What does the program actually do?

Karla Braun, Jess Brunetto, Tiffany Frances and Alexis Ostrander, the program's co-leaders, framed the mission in a joint statement. "It is our mission to cultivate and strengthen the careers of our SQUAD cohort," they said. "We believe these incredibly talented directors deserve every opportunity to reach the next level and beyond."

Their statement also addressed the moment the industry is in. "Amid the ongoing contraction of our industry, the WSC and DGA's commitment to building this community is more meaningful than ever," it continues. "Together, we are creating a space where we can support, champion and empower one another. We are inspired by these mid-career directors and cannot wait to see what they accomplish next."

The "contraction" the co-leaders reference is the broader production slowdown that has hit directors at every level, but mid-career filmmakers often feel it hardest, without the security of an established name or the institutional support newer entrants receive. A nine-month structured program is the WSC's answer: a fixed community in a shrinking market.

The Women's Steering Committee itself runs wider than the mentorship program. Beyond co-leaders Braun, Brunetto, Frances and Ostrander, the WSC is co-chaired by directors Shaz Bennett, Jade Jenise-Dixon, Valerie Weiss and alt co-chair Liz Ryan.

With twelve new pairs now underway, the program moves into its next nine-month cycle — and, if past classes are any guide, its graduates' next credits will be the real measure of whether the model works.