Women in Film and the Sundance Institute have worked together to form a new program called ReFrame. This senior network of executives will be teaming with studios, networks, agencies and independent financing entities to build awareness and strength to women filmmakers.

The Sundance Institute noted that ReFrame’s three initial offerings are:

1. Culture Change Toolkit
ReFrame will introduce a Culture Change Toolkit tailored to film, TV and media executives and creative teams. The Program aims to improve hiring and promotion practices for women of all backgrounds by addressing bias and other roadblocks at key decision points in the pipeline. Toolkit components will allow Partner companies to supplement what they are currently doing to facilitate inclusion: The toolkit will include proven examples of successful strategies to change culture in organizations, gender inclusion strategies from entertainment and other industries, and unconscious bias/conscious inclusion resources tailored by expert consultants for the media field.

2. Sponsor/Protégé Program
The ReFrame Sponsor/Protégé Program is a comprehensive and customized two-year sponsorship program to establish high-level sustainable careers for established, mid-career female directors. Research shows that sponsorship can serve as a highly effective enhancement to accelerate a woman’s career trajectory. A sponsor is an active advocate who can provide concrete opportunities for his or her Protégé.

3. ReFrame Stamp
The ReFrame Stamp will celebrate studios, networks, agencies, and creatives that have demonstrated measurable progress towards parity in front of and behind the camera when developing, producing, financing and marketing their product. The Stamp will serve as a mark of distinction for qualifying productions and will be publicly awarded to projects based on a rubric of criteria. Over time, the Stamp will emerge as the gold standard for quality programming and the advancement of gender parity in film, television and media.

“The industry’s long-entrenched business practices need to flex and bend to cultivate a marketplace for content that serves diverse audiences. I am so encouraged that leading members of competitive companies have come together as social activists to expand the media landscape which will increase the bottom line across the industry.” – Cathy Schulman, President of Women In Film Los Angeles

For more information connect with the Sundance Institute via social media. Watch over a discussion covering women in film from the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.