On 50/50 Day, Straight Up Films, in partnership with Google and YouTube, announced an initiative that pairs prominent men and women working together to inspire girls in computer sciences. The short film series will raise awareness towards the need for gender equality in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The first group of directors for the “Girls in Tech” short film series includes Dev Patel, Diane Kruger, John Cho, Ana Brenda Contreras, Norman Reedus, Gina Rodriguez and Octavia Spencer.
Male directors will be paired with a female writing team and female directors will be paired up with a male writing team. Each filmmaker will choose an idea from a talented writer’s room that showcases a variety of diverse voices, genres and writing styles from emerging scribes including Eshom and Ian Nelms, Sofia Passik, Scotty Crowe, Jen and Sylvia Soska, Kim Nuesch and Reilly Smith among others.
Filmmakers will also collaborate with YouTube Creators throughout the entire production to help craft the stories, play significant on and off screen roles and use their expertise to ensure the film series will be engaging and authentic to its audience. There will also be specifically designed opportunities for students from underserved, non-profit organizations to participate and be mentored by filmmakers.
“It’s important to have men engaging in the conversation on women’s equality, and the power of this series stems from men and women working together. Kids learn best when they can see it, when led by example, so we wanted to create something impactful and inspiring by championing one another,” saya Marisa Polvino, Co-CEO and Founding Partner of Straight Up Films.
“Google’s research shows that perceptions are the primary drivers that motivate women to pursue Computer Science and other technical fields,” said Courtney McCarthy, Google CS in Media Women’s Lead Strategist. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Straight Up Films and some of entertainment’s leading voices to showcase diverse portrayals of engineers and inspire the next generation of technologists.”
Producers on the project are Marisa Polvino, Kate Cohen, Sandra Condito, and Ngoc Nguyen. The Executive Producers are Adam Stone and Cat Stone.
