Jennifer Lee Frozen Director Headshot - P 2012
Courtesy of Walt Disney StudiosDisney and the UN Foundation’s Girl Up initiative have launched a project through which 21 young women from around the world will make digital shorts telling the stories of female role models.
Jennifer Lee, the Academy Award-winning writer/director of Frozen who was recently named chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, succeeding John Lasseter, will be the subject of one of these shorts.
The studio declined to reveal additional subjects for the video series, dubbed #DreamBigPrincess, only saying the women would come from a range of professions.
Supported by Apple and female-led production company Summerjax, each video will be made using Apple products — shot with an iPhone X and edited using Final Cut Pro X running on MacBook Pro. The filmmakers — each of whom was selected by Disney and Girls Up — will received training from Apple and mentoring from Summerjax and Disney.
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Plans call for Disney to offer these shorts on its social media platforms in October. Additionally, for each like or share of a video or photo with #DreamBigPrincess on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, Disney Worldwide Services will donate $1 to Girl Up, with a minimum donation of $500,000 and a maximum donation of $1 million.
Said Lee in a statement: “Using the journeys of characters like Anna, Elsa and Moana to inspire kids to dream big is at the very heart of what all of us at Disney do. The #DreamBigPrincess series is the perfect extension of that vision, providing a powerful platform for the next generation of aspiring filmmakers to create content about the women who have inspired them.”
Last year, Disney and Girl Up teamed on a #DreamBigPrincess photography series, with participation from 19 female photographers. That campaign resulted in a $1 million donation to Girl Up.
