Vanessa works on an animated tiger that appears in her short film, "Wild Woman." Photo: Lauren Frost/KNOM

Fellowship Sends Alaska Natives to Hollywood Diversity Forum

GCI is partnering with the nonprofit Walter Kaitz Foundation to send two Alaska Natives to the 2018 Hollywood Creative Forum in Los Angeles.

The application is due today, Thursday, November 30. It’s open to directors, producers, playwrights, and others involved in the film, television or digital media industries.

The forum is hosted annually by the Walter Kaitz Foundation, which works to promote diversity in the media industry. According to a press release, the Hollywood Creative forum includes keynote speakers and panels on diversity and will offer the chance for the winners to meet network executives and other professionals.

Heather Handyside, GCI’s director of corporate communications, says the company is proud to help Alaskan content creators “advance their professional careers and further promote the need for diversity in Hollywood.”

Finalists will be chosen based on a combination of experience, artistic goals, and how they feel the forum would help them achieve those goals.

The two fellowship winners will be announced at the Anchorage International Film Festival in early December, and the forum is scheduled for February 13th to 14th, 2018.

Photo at top: Vanessa Sweet, a local animator from Shishmaref (Photo: Lauren Frost, KNOM, 2017).

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