*AT&T Hello Lab’s filmmaker mentoring program — aimed at supporting the creative voices of those underrepresented by Hollywood — returns for its second year, with Common, Lena Waithe and Tessa Thompson among the lineup of mentors for projects from six emerging directors.
The filmmakers, comprising five women and one man, will debut their short films on the Hello Lab channel on AT&T’s DirecTV and DirecTV Now streaming service later this year, reports Variety.
Joining actor-writer-producer Waithe (writer on “Master of None,” creator of Showtime’s “The Chi”), rapper/actor Common, and actress Thompson (“Westworld,” “Dear White People”) among the seven 2018 mentors are producer Shelby Stone (“The Chi,” “Bessie”); Cary Fukunaga (“True Detective”); director Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Boy”); and cinematographer Rachel Morrison (“Mudbound,” “Black Panther”).
The mentors selected the filmmakers they wanted to support; two of the projects have ties to Showtime’s “The Chi” drama series set on Chicago’s South Side.
“The only way change can happen is by helping to create it, and it’s exactly why I’ve invested in this mentorship program,” Waithe said in a statement.
Common — who also participated in the AT&T Hello Lab program last year — together with Shelby Stone are mentoring Melisa Resch. Resch is a creative executive at Common’s Freedom Road Productions (and his former exec assistant), where she worked on Waithe’s “The Chi,” a drama series set on Chicago’s South Side.
“I believe the seed of this whole mentorship program will get people who are often not heard to be out there with their art,” Common told Variety.
“We know in the world inequality exists,” Common continued. “We see Hollywood is making an effort, but we want to do our part to allow the people who don’t get the chance to be heard, really — women and people of color. For some of the these directors and writers, it’s their first work that will be seen.”
All the films will be 10-20 minutes in length. According to AT&T, all of the mentees have experience and connections in the entertainment industry but they’re still fairly new directors. On the back end, Fullscreen, AT&T and the filmmakers together will put together marketing plan based on genre of film and filmmakers background and social profile.
The AT&T Hello Lab Mentorship Program will be featured in a presentation at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Thursday, June 21, at 3 p.m. CST.
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