Film Industry Unites for Inaugural Horizon Award for Women in Film

The disparity between the numbers of female to male directors is well established. According to a study published in 2012 by Women In Film and Sundance Institute, females made up only 9% of directors in the top 250 domestic highest grossing films of that year. In order to tackle this issue, acclaimed producers Christine Vachon, Lynette Howell and Cassian Elwes in partnership with Twitter, Vimeo, The Black List, Sundance Institute, Woman in Film and IndieGogo, the world's largest crowdfunding platform, have established the Horizon Award: a competitive accolade intended to help young female directors break into the movie business.

Today, the Horizon award is launching a campaign on Indiegogo to help fund the award. The goal is to raise $15,000, of which the first $5,000 will be matched by Elwes. The money raised by THE CAMPAIGN will help cover travel, lodging, any other necessary expenditure in Park City, as well as the further development of the award in years to come.

Contribute to the Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/horizon-award/x/4216615

The Horizon Award is open exclusively to women and will focus on students who are currently in college or recent graduates (within 6 months of graduation). The winner will have the chance to travel with an all-expense paid trip to the 2015 Sundance Film Festival under the mentorship of Vachon (BOYS DON'T CRY, KILL YOUR DARLINGS), Howell (BLUE VALENTINE, THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES), and Elwes (DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER) and other prominent power players (such as Michelle Satter of Sundance Institute and Cathy Schulman of Women In Film) in order to give them some insight into the film business and its inner workings. The producers hope this life-changing experience will help the lucky winner understand this competitive field and provide them with experience that will guide them in their future career.

"Our hope is that this initiative will help us identify talent early so we can help these young female filmmakers navigate the hurdles that currently exist in our business," said Elwes.

"Women In Film believes that real life experiences and hands-on mentorship are foundational requirements to help women in media be active in overcoming gender disparity. We're thrilled to be a partner in this terrific project that Cassian, Christine and Lynette have designed," said Women In Film President Cathy Schulman.

The application process calls for candidates to submit a self-directed film that is two minutes or less to the Horizon Award's website (www.horizonaward.org ). A blue ribbon panel of notable female directors (to be announced later) will then review each of the submitted films, with the winner to be chosen by Vachon, Howell, and Elwes. Applications begin immediately and will end November 30th. 2014.

It's time to level the playing field for women in the movie industry and it starts here.

About Women In Film:

Women In Film is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women, encouraging creative projects by women, and expanding and enhancing portrayals of women in all forms of global media. Given that women comprise fifty percent of the population, WIF's ultimate goal is to see the same gender parity reflected on and off screen. Founded in 1973, WIF focuses on advocacy and education, provides scholarships, grants and film finishing funds and works to preserve the legacies of all women working in the entertainment community. For more information visit www.wif.org.

ABOUT INDIEGOGO

Indiegogo empowers people around the world to fund what matters to them. As the largest global crowdfunding platform, campaigns have launched from almost every country around the world with millions of dollars being distributed every week due to contributions made by the Indiegogo community. At its core, Indiegogo is the equal opportunity platform dedicated to democratizing the way people raise funds for any project - creative, entrepreneurial or cause-related. The company was launched in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles and New York.

For more information, visit www.indiegogo.com and follow us at www.twitter.com/indiegogo and www.facebook.com/indiegogo.

About The Black List:

The Black List is Google for screenplays. Begun in 2005 as an annual survey of several dozen executives' favorite unproduced screenplays, the Black List has grown to survey over 500 executives each year (virtually 100% of the Hollywood studio system's executive corps.) 270 Black List scripts have been produced into films grossing over $23BN in worldwide box office and earning 37 Academy Awards including three of the last six best pictures and seven of the last fourteen screenwriting Oscars. The Black List includes an online database of every feature screenplay and episodic pilot circulating in Hollywood and all those submitted by English language screenwriters around the world. Its Black List Live events, begun in June 2014, have hosted monthly dinners for Hollywood's most successful screenwriters and live staged script readings at historic Los Angeles theatres.