Aspiring female filmmakers are getting the white glove treatment in 2018 — the kind worn by Mickey and Minnie, that is.
Disney this week announced it has partnered with the UN Foundation’s Girl Up initiative to launch #DreamBigPrincess, a new program empowering 21 young women from around the world create digital shorts focused on female role models, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
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“Using the journeys of characters like Anna, Elsa, and Moana to inspire kids to dream big is at the very heart of what all of us at Disney do,” said Jennifer Lee, the Academy Award-winning writer/director of Frozen and recently named chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, in a statement.
“The #DreamBigPrincess series is the perfect extension of that vision, providing a powerful platform for the next generation of aspiring filmmakers to create content about the women who have inspired them.”
Lee herself will be the focus of one of the #DreamBigPrincess shorts. Other subjects have yet to be announced, but are said to range across all industries.
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Plans for the program were announced at the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, this week, where the 21 girls from 13 countries participated in a workshop to give them the tools they can use to make their digital shorts, according to a Disney press release.
BIG NEWS!! @Disney and @Girlup are teaming up for the #DreamBigPrincess project, where 21 girls from around the world will make digital shorts telling the stories of their #GirlHeroes! https://t.co/2HDX6RWFVW@WaltDisneyCopic.twitter.com/j24VzbRmvw
— Girl Up (@GirlUp) July 9, 2018
Each video will be shot on an iPhone X and will be edited using Final Cut Pro X running on MacBook Pro, the statement noted.
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The aspiring filmmakers will also receive hands-on training from Apple technical experts, mentoring sessions with female-led production company Summerjax, and “creative inspiration from Disney storytelling veterans,” the announcement read.
The initiative also has a monetary component, Variety noted in an earlier report: Each “like” and “share” of the projects on social media platforms with #DreamBigPrincess will translate to a $1 donation from Disney to Girl Up, up to $1 million.