*timeline subject to change

2025

JULY: Application portal opened Monday, July 14; Virtual Office Hours will take place on Tuesday, August 19 and Thursday, August 21. RSVP here.

SEPTEMBER: Application portal will close on Wednesday, September 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER: Review Process

DECEMBER: Finalist interviews and notification of acceptance

2026

JANUARY-APRIL: Workshop Weekends focused on fundraising, screenplay development and production. January & March will be virtual. February will be in-person. Participants must complete fundraising by the start of the DWW+ Intensive.

APRIL/MAY: DWW+ Intensive 3-4 weeks. Full-time classes and instruction. Evenings and weekends will be required. Classes include all topics related to directing and visual storytelling. Pre-production commences.

JULY/AUGUST: Production (per each director’s production calendar)

AUGUST-NOVEMBER: Post-Production – Projects must lock picture within 45 days. AFI’s editing facilities may be available for the participants’ use. All final projects are capped at 20 minutes, including credits. Participants work to finish their films with AFI Staff guidance and following a list of assigned deliverables.

DECEMBER: Delivery of Film – Once fully delivered, participants may premiere their films on campus and will be eligible to participate in the annual DWW+ Showcase.

2027

FEBRUARY/MARCH: Industry and Career Workshops – Designed to help the directors make the most of completed projects with topics that cover all aspects of the industry and career-building.

MARCH/APRIL: DWW+ Showcase – Eligible participants’ work is invited to screen in an annual Showcase for agents, managers, producers and executives in Los Angeles.

While DWW+ is a tuition-free program, participants must have the financial means to dedicate full-time concentration to the workshop and the production of their films.

• This will preclude participants’ ability to work full-time for approximately four months (May–August) until the DWW+ project has reached picture lock.
• Participants may raise up to $50,000 in support of their productions. Participants must raise at least $25,000.
• All participants must be fully funded by the beginning of the DWW+ Intensive. Funds raised for an individual production are considered a donation to the American Film Institute, and a letter regarding the donation to a nonprofit arts organization will be provided to each donor.
• We welcome participants from outside the Los Angeles area, but AFI does not provide housing or transportation to participants.
• Many of our participants reach their funding goals through a combination of crowdfunding, matching grants, and individual donations. DWW+ provides mentorship on fundraising in January.
• Meals are provided during any in-person class days during workshops and intensives.

DWW+ is first and foremost an educational program. Participants must come ready to learn, accept feedback and take instruction.

The DWW+ Intensive is a full-time commitment, including weekends and evenings. Classroom attendance during the workshop is mandatory and critical to participants’ success. Along with the intensive in May, it is crucial that participants are available to attend, in-person or virtually, additional classes and workshops throughout the year.

Participants are required to raise their complete budgets by the first day of the DWW+ Intensive.

DWW+ is taught by film and television professionals working at top levels within the industry, as well as experienced Faculty from the AFI Conservatory. Previous teaching artists and guest speakers have included: Neema Barnett, Diane Becker, Shaz Bennett, Janicza Bravo, Mary Lou Belli, Tessa Blake, Bruce Block, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Deniese Davis, Dime Davis, Bill Dill, Jay Floyd, Lesli Linka Glatter, Julian Higgins, Marie Jamora, Deborah Landis, Stephen Lighthill, Karyn Kusama, Lily Mariye, Melina Matsoukas, Rachel Morrison, Rebecca Murga, Jennifer Phang, Issa Rae, Barry Sabath, Lisanne Sartor, and Judith Weston.

Participants enter the program with a short film script. While DWW+ films have a strong track record of being further developed into features or television, submitted scripts must be fully developed short films that can stand on their own. Projects should not be conceived as teasers or proof-of-concept pieces, but rather as complete stories with a clear narrative arc.

• If your script has been co-written or written by an outside writer, the writer must sign a literary release, which is submitted upon acceptance into the program.
• If your script is based on existing material, the rights holder must sign the underlying rights agreement.

The scripts must showcase strong storytelling skills & perspective with potential to grow throughout the workshop with the constructive engagement of mentors and peers. Participants are not required to have written their own material. But they do need to have ongoing access to their writers or co-writers and creative freedom to evolve the script through the workshop process. Submitted scripts must follow the industry standard for formatting: Courier font, 12-pt type, standard margins. All scripts have a limit of 15 pages.

DWW+ participants will direct a short narrative project. Because DWW+ is designed to prepare participants for professional success, all projects must be produced within the parameters of AFI Safety and Production policies. Complete production details will be explained to participants during the orientations and throughout the workshop.

Productions will be scheduled within a very strict time frame. Production will take place in the Los Angeles area (within the 30-mile studio zone) during the summer. Participants will have the opportunity to select production dates from a list of available times in advance. Production is then permitted only during the specific dates assigned to each project.

Editing must be completed within 45 days of shoot wrap. Participants may be given access to AFI editing facilities or choose to edit at an outside facility. Outside editing facilities must be approved in advance. Schedules are strictly monitored, and all participants are required to screen cuts of their film for evaluation of progress. Some areas of post-production, such as sound, color and mixing, will need to be done outside of AFI facilities and within the production’s budget.

• Final projects must be no longer than 20 minutes, including credits.
• Participants are not allowed to act in, shoot or edit their films.
• AFI owns the copyright to the projects produced within DWW+, but not to the underlying rights/intellectual property of the project. The participants are able to develop the projects into other formats beyond DWW+ including but not limited to feature films, television series or digital projects.

The DWW+ Showcase takes place in Spring 2027 and is an exciting celebration of participants’ achievements. The DWW+ Showcase introduces the directors into a wide network of film industry creatives and executives to further pursue their career goals. View 2025 Showcase 

Over its history, DWW+ has curated an incredible cadre of distinguished artists to speak at our annual showcase and engage with our participants. Here is a partial list of the distinguished artists who participated in recent years:

Lucia Aniello, Ana Lily Amirpour, Jamie Babbit, Tamra Davis, Ava DuVernay, Paul Feig, Patty Jenkins, Kimberly Peirce, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Angela Robinson, Joey Soloway, Daisy Von Scherler Mayer, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and Lena Waithe.

Participants become AFI Conservatory Alums and enjoy all benefits thereafter, including mixers and events specific to the DWW+ Community.