Female filmmakers get a boost

HOLLYWOOD, March 28 (UPI) -- A series of initiatives honoring slain Hollywood actress-director Adrienne Shelly has been launched to help give the careers of female filmmakers a boost.

The American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women in Los Angeles will begin giving out an Adrienne Shelly Foundation production grant this spring, The Hollywood Reporter said Wednesday. The foundation will underwrite a master class in directing as part of the program.

Shelly was killed at her New York apartment last November.

The Columbia University School of the Arts Film Division is starting an annual award in Shelly's name for best female director -- given to new filmmakers -- while the Women in Film & Television organization in New York also is initiating an annual grant this spring.

This fall, the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television division of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts will begin an annual ASF scholarship.

No dollar amounts were revealed for the various awards.

Shelly's final directorial effort, "Waitress," was acquired by Fox Searchlight after its January premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It is scheduled to be released in theaters in May.