LOS ANGELES --

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is now accepting applications for its 16th annual Power of Diversity Master Workshop. The workshop is designed to help aspiring and seasoned producers bring their diverse perspectives to television, film, documentary and digital media. Many of the nearly 200 alumni have used the program as a launchpad to even greater success in the industry. 

The workshop provides participants with master classes headlined by today’s top producers, as well as one-on-one mentoring with members of the Producers Guild Diversity Committee. Sessions are tailored to the participants and their individual projects  and include a broad range of topics such as story, development, pitching, packaging, financing, marketing, multiplatform distribution and new media opportunities.

For this highly selective program, only 10 projects per year are chosen out of a worldwide applicant pool. Non-PGA members are encouraged to apply. The Power of Diversity workshop is offered free of charge to those selected. Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, March 16, 2020 here. The eight-week workshop will be held in Los Angeles and runs two nights per week from June through July. 

“We feel the responsibility of a more diverse and inclusive entertainment industry begins at the producer level,” read a joint statement from Sasheen Artis and Matt Johnson, chairs of the Power of Diversity Master Workshop. “As the only advanced producer training of its kind, our workshop not only connects diverse talent and projects to industry leaders, but also empowers the next generation of producers to lead from the top.”

Workshop participants have gone on to produce top television shows and major films, including LaToya Morgan (two-time NAACP Image Award-nominee for Turn: Washington’s Spies, Into the Badlands), Aaron Rahsaan Thomas (S.W.A.T., Sleepy Hollow, CSI: NY, Southland), Ben Lobato (Ice, Queen of the South, Justified), Hollie Overton (Shadowhunters, The Client List) and Sarah DiLeo (Bless Me, Ultima). 

Past speakers have included world-renowned producing talents such as Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder), Lucy Fisher (Divergent franchise, Memoirs of a Geisha), Mark Gordon (Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Saving Private Ryan), Bruce Cohen (Silver Linings Playbook, Milk, American Beauty), Bruna Papandrea (Big Little Lies, Gone Girl, Milk), Lori McCreary (Madam Secretary, Invictus), Marshall Herskovitz (Nashville, The Last Samurai, Traffic), Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Lost, Star Trek Into Darkness), Paris Barclay (Empire, Sons of Anarchy, NYPD Blue), Caryn Mandabach (Nurse Jackie, That ‘70s Show, The Cosby Show), Lindsay Doran (Nanny McPhee, Sense and Sensibility, The Firm), Luis Barreto (America’s Next Top Model, The Mole, LA Ink), Ali LeRoi (Everybody Hates Chris, Are We There Yet?), Ralph Winter (X-Men franchise, Fantastic Four franchise), and Bonnie Arnold (How To Train Your Dragon franchise, Toy Story, Dances With Wolves).

In addition, the PGA Diversity Committee has fostered partnerships with international producers’ organizations, bringing producers from around the world into the Power of Diversity Master Workshop, and in exchange, conducting the workshop on four continents–in Jordan, South Africa, Brazil and Taiwan.

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