NBCU Launch Reveals Scripted TV Directors Program For 2022-2023

Rosy Cordero
·5 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: NBCU Launch revealed its 2022-2023 class for its TV Directors Program and Female Forward.  The new class and the shows they will direct as part of the program Tayo Amos (Chicago Fire), Melanie D’Andrea (Telemundo Global Studios-produced series), Kryzz Gautier (Telemundo Global Studios-produced series), Saray Guidetti (The Blacklist), Gia-Rayne Harris (Chicago P.D.), Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order) and Nicole Taylor-Roberts (Chicago Med).

This year’s class includes directors who will helm a Telemundo scripted series as a new combined effort between NBCU Launch and Telemundo’s Mujeres Imparables (Unstoppable Women) as part of NBCU’s efforts to increase the number of experienced Hispanic female directors in scripted television.

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During the 2022-23 program, veteran TV directors Mary Lou Belli and Bethany Rooney will lead the new class through curated workshops to prepare them to shadow and gain the necessary tools for their assignments. Additionally, NBCU Launch will help participants build their professional networks.

Looking towards next year, NBCU Launch is opening submissions for the 2023-2024 class of the TV Directors Program and Female Forward on Nov. 15 and closing on Dec. 15.

Learn more about the 2022-2023 class below from bios submitted by NBCU Launch.

Tayo Amos is a Nigerian-American filmmaker whose work has been screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and Urbanworld. Her short films Magnolia Bloom and On the Clock have streamed on Peacock and Amazon Prime, respectively. Most recently, the USC graduate was awarded a blind script deal with NBCUniversal as part of NBCU and Target’s Scene in Color Film Series that spotlights BIPOC filmmakers. Amos is repped by CAA and Underground Films.

Director and filmmaker Melanie D’Andrea tells stories about social issues through magical realism, using the blurred lines between reality and fantasy to show the power in each of us and that we’re all more alike than different. Born in Venezuela and raised in South Florida, D’Andrea is a Ryan Murphy Half Initiative fellow and a two-time DGA Award recipient for their films South Arcadia St. and Stand. She is currently directing a feature documentary and producing The Disruptors, a showcase of TV writers of color who are trans, nonbinary, disabled and undocumented or formerly undocumented. They are currently seeking representation.

Kryzz Gautier is a queer Afro-Latina writer-director born and raised in the Dominican Republic who injects her distinctive intersectional background into complex character-driven dramas and novel sci-fi narratives. After earning her bachelor’s degree in directing narrative fiction at Emerson College, she spent over 5 years living as an undocumented immigrant and is now a permanent resident of the U.S. She has since written for HBO Max’s Gordita Chronicles, is a writer/creative consultant on the upcoming installment of 2K Games Bioshock and her feature film directorial debut, Wheels Come Off, landed on the 2021 Black List. She is repped by CAA and Rain.

Saray Guidetti is a writer, director and producer whose work spans across feature films, documentaries, TV and web series. She recently produced the feature film Amor en 266 Millas and her short action film, Lady Justice, is currently being developed into a feature film. Guidetti’s work has also been featured at the Los Angeles Film Festival and San Francisco Latino Film Festival. Most recently, she served as an associate producer on The CW’s Supergirl and HBO Max’s pilot Dead Boy Detectives as well as a supervising producer on HBO Max’s documentary Love, Lizzo. She is repped by Inclusion Management.

Writer-director Gia-Rayne Harris features womxn and people of color in her storytelling and has shaped her career as a love letter to the women who raised her. A graduate of AFI’s Directing Program, she has directed 12 short films that have screened at various festivals, including Outfest, the American Black Film Festival, NewFest and the Pan African Film Festival. In June, Harris was named a finalist for the HBO Short Film Award at ABFF and her short film Pens and Pencils was acquired by HBO and will premiere on the platform next spring. Harris is repped by Heroes and Villains Entertainment.

Director Elisabeth Rohm’s third feature, Girl in Room 13, starring Anne Heche, premiered on Lifetime in 2022. She also directed Switched Before Birth starring Justina Machado and Girl in the Basement with Judd Nelson for Lifetime. Rohm is also an Emmy Award-nominated actress for her starring role on Law & Order. She’s also known for her work on Heroes and Jane the Virgin, among many others. Rohm won a SAG Award for Best Ensemble for David O. Russell’s American Hustle and later reunited with him on Joy. Rohm is repped by Buchwald and Luber Roklin.

Nicole Taylor-Roberts is a director, screenwriter and Emmy Award-nominated producer. The Baltimore native is passionate about amplifying authentic portrayals of female characters and has an affinity for drama, action and thrillers. She directed Go to Bed, Raymond! for Season 3 of 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween on Hulu. She was one of four female writer-directors behind Season 1 of BET HER’S original series, The Waiting Room. The Columbia University MFA Film alum was a fellow in Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative, AFI Directing Workshop for Women, Sony Television Diverse Directors Program, Almanack Screenwriters and was featured in a FREE THE WORK Creator Spotlight. She is managed by Range Media Partners.

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