WJSFF helps develop the next generation of bold new voices by creating access, inclusion and diversity for historically underrepresented artists through our Arts & Education initiatives.
Arts & Education
Program Spotlight
AFI Young Women in Film Conservatory
The AFI Conservatory and the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation (WJSFF) have partnered to create the Young Women in Film intensive. The eight-week filmmaking workshop teaches 45 high school girls pitching, screenwriting, producing, directing, cinematography, production design, and editing, in order to cultivate the next generation of female storytellers. The students receive mentorship from a talented group of both current Fellows and working professional alumni of the AFI Conservatory.
Social Impact Thought Leadership
Inspiring Audiences to Create
WJSFF works with the Smith family’s production partners to ensure that the movies, music, shows, and other work the family produces, upholds their values and inspires audiences to create impact in their own communities. For example, WJSFF collaborates with Overbrook Entertainment to structure awareness-raising partnerships around their projects and connect them to up-and-coming creators who have been developed through WJSFF sponsored initiatives.
Tools for Positive Change
WJSFF worked with Overbrook to develop partnerships between FilmRise, Citi, and Global Citizen to position Sprinter, a story about a Jamaican teenaged sprinter who strives to escape his impoverished and troubled home life, as a tool for positive change, including employing locals in Jamaica as the film’s crew. The film was nominated for the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Diaspora Feature.
Minhal Baig, a female Muslim writer and director, developed Hala, a film about a Muslim teenager finding her own identity as her family falls apart, into a feature film. The Sundance Screenwriter Intensive and WJSFF helped her secure an inclusion rider that ensured below-the-line roles for women and diverse people in the film’s production, and worked with Baig on Hala’s sale to Apple TV.
Ensuring Access for Diverse People
Minhal Baig, a female Muslim writer and director, developed Hala, a film about a Muslim teenager finding her own identity as her family falls apart, into a feature film. The Sundance Screenwriter Intensive and WJSFF helped her secure an inclusion rider that ensured below-the-line roles for women and diverse people in the film’s production, and worked with Baig on Hala’s sale to Apple TV.
Powerful Partnerships
As a result of our partnerships with powerful brands, thousands of young people are now empowered not only to tell their own stories, but also better equipped to pursue this as a professional path. On key initiatives, members of the family play a personal role, such as Jada’s membership on the AFI Board of Directors. As WJSFF continues to grow, our goal is to pair every artistic project that a member of the Smith family is involved in, with a corresponding change effort, such as a grant, a partnership, or impactful content.
