Arizona Nonprofit Made In Her Image Puts Girls Of Color In The Director's Chair

By Lauren Gilger
Published: Monday, July 29, 2019 - 10:46am
Updated: Thursday, August 1, 2019 - 3:03pm

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Malakai Made In Her Image
Malakai Creative
The nonprofit Made In Her Image was founded by filmmaker Malakai to get more women of color into the film industry.

Picture this: A group of young women of color gathered at the Phoenix Art Museum — all wearing yellow t-shirts that say, "This is what a director looks like" — ready to get behind the camera.

That’s what you’d find over the weekend at the Phoenix Art Museum, when Arizona nonprofit Made In Her Image launched its second annual camp for young women and non binary youth of color. Their goal is to change statistics that show women — let alone women of color — are rarely in the director’s chair.

According to the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California, just five of the 1,000 top grossing films of the last decade were directed by women of color. Made In Her Image founder and Arizona-born filmmaker Malakai wants to change that.

The Show spoke with her more about it and asked what in her own life led her to start the nonprofit.

Malakai Catalyst Summit
Deanna Reid/The Social Photog
Filmmaker and director Malakai runs the Catalyst Summit, a camp that provides girls of color with behind the camera experience.

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