Starz #TakeTheLead and Alliance of Women Directors have announced the fellows for the inaugural class of The Creative Leadership Lab, a four-week program designed to support women and gender-expansive directors during the early stages of their careers.This year’s fellows are Josie Andrews, Tiffany Frances, Cris Gris, Christina YR Lim, Alejandra López and Tessa Slovis, all of whom are members of AWD and were chosen through an independent evaluation process.Each of the members has experience either directing episodic television or shadowing episodic directors on set. Additionally, they were also recognized for their strong creative vision and readiness for leadership roles.  The Creative Leadership Lab is built on Starz and AWD’s pre-existing partnership and aims to prepare participating directors with “the leadership, communication and professional skills necessary for sustainable television careers,” providing them with high-touch mentorship and leadership development.  Andrews is a director, producer, and writer whose narrative shorts have played at Academy Awards and BAFTA qualifying festivals. Her debut documentary, “Waiting in the Wings” is available on PBS and she recently wrapped production on her feature debut “Bach Sh*t Crazy.” She participated in the Sundance/WIF finance intensive, AWD’s Rising Director Fellowship, and serves as an Adjunct professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.Gris is a Mexican filmmaker whose work has screened internationally at major festivals, including La Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival and Berlinale International Film Festival. Her short film, “San Miguel,” received the Spike Lee Film Production Fund and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellows Fund, while her short, “Alma y Paz,” won the Special Jury Award at the Morelia International Film Festival. Gris is a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow and a Sundance Institute Screenwriter and Director Lab Fellow. In television, she has directed for multiple platforms in Mexico, including HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix.Frances is a Taiwanese American writer and director whose work includes an episode of “Kung Fu” for The CW and the sci-fi short film “Another Day,” which premiered at the Elle Women in Hollywood event and is currently being developed as a feature. Her award-winning AFI DWW+ short “Hello From Taiwan”  played at more than 30 festivals worldwide and screened at MoMA’s FOFIF series. Frances has directed work for brands including Levi’s, Always, Xbox, McDonald’s, Lancome, Vogue, and more.Lim is a Korean-American writer/director who tells “fish-out-of-water, genre-bending stories, often centering an overachieving AAPI woman.” She is an alumnus of The Black List x WIF Feature Residency, Djerrassi Artist Residency, Cine Qua Non, EAVE, and Wscripted’s Cannes Screenplay List. Christina’s debut feature, “B-side: For Taylor,” was released in 2024 through Buffalo 8 and EST Studios. Her second feature, “Wolfie,” is being produced by Objectively Good Media and is slated to film  in 2027. Lim recently received the Seriesfest x Shondaland Directing Mentorship and the Yaddo Artist Residency.López is a Puerto Rican writer and director who became the first Latina to direct for Marvel Entertainment and has also directed Bad Bunny for W Magazine. Her short film “The Blue Cape,” has screened at multiple Academy Award-qualifying film festivals. Most recently, López  shadowed Lesli Linka Glatter on “Imperfect Women” and served as an Observing Director on “9-1-1.” López  is currently in pre-production for two proof-of-concept films, financed by Dirty Films, Cate Blanchett’s production company, with Netflix and Top Dawg Entertainment Films.Slovis is a queer Argentinian-American/Jewish filmmaker whose directorial debut, “Pizza Party,” screened at more than 20 Academy Award-qualifying and international festivals. Her subsequent films, including “Falsies” and the romantic comedy “Aisles,” have continued to screen at festivals nationwide, while she is currently attached to direct the feature comedy “False Profits” and the revenge western short “Hunger Pains.” Slovis has also directed acclaimed stage productions and taught at the University of Southern California, where she co-founded the USC MFA Film initiative to support emerging actors and filmmakers through the production company Dramatic Narrative Design.

Variety is the official media partner for Back to Set: Working Director Intensive hosted by Alliance of Women Directors this weekend.