Cate Blanchett is featured on the cover of the Summer 2025 Issue of Family Style. She was photographed by Coco Capitán and interviewed by Ottessa Moshfegh. You can pre-order a copy here.

Films that were selected for the Proof of Concept film accelerator program debuted last week. Cate Blanchett is one of the founder of the program which champions filmmakers whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and non-binary people.

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Proof of Concept films

On April 29, filmmakers from the inaugural Proof of Concept film accelerator debuted their short films at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Los Angeles. Proof of Concept was founded by Cate Blanchett, Coco Francini and Dr. Stacy L. Smith through their Dirty Film and USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative banners, and supported by Netflix. 

The showcase featured short films—both narrative and documentary — focused on the perspectives of women, trans, or non-binary people. Each film serves as a “proof of concept” for longer-form content, either a feature film or episodic series. The filmmakers and films were selected from more than 1,200 applicants and in partnership with a committee that included Chloé Zhao, Emma Corrin, Eva Longoria, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion, Janicza Bravo, Lily Gladstone and Lilly Wachowski. Each filmmaker received $50,000 to support the creation of their short film alongside mentorship support.

The showcase opened with remarks from Cate Blanchett, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Coco Francini and Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria. 

“The showcase is a celebration of a cornucopia of new, wonderful points of view and, importantly, it’s a celebration of this vital step for these filmmakers,” said Blanchett. “From here, we know that these helmers can start shaping and remaking the industry.”

“When we launched Proof of Concept, the goal was to support filmmakers ready to enter the industry,” said Smith. “We knew these stories would widen the aperture for stories focused on women, trans, and non-binary perspectives and accelerate the careers of these directors. The films that resulted from this program demonstrate the immense talent of the next generation.” 

“Proof of Concept has done exactly what we hoped — yielded bold, inspiring filmmaking and filmmakers that proves these filmmakers are ready to take the next step with their projects,” said Francini. “Now it’s time for the industry to take notice as these gifted storytellers share the execution of their ideas and imagination and seek partners to bring their further work to life.  I am excited to see what the future holds for each of these directors.”

“When we heard that Stacy was creating a new program with Coco Francini and Cate Blanchett to support filmmakers who often get overlooked, we jumped right in,” said Bajaria in her opening remarks. “We’re thrilled to support this initiative.”

The list of selected short films:

• Faithful Defenders (Barbara Hall)
• The Sisters of Scott County (Courtney Hoffman)
• Afufu (Ellie Foumbi)
• Skrrrt! (Gabriela Garcia Medina)
• The Search for Magic (Gilly Barnes)
• 11:11 (Mahnoor Euceph)
• Queerbait (Nate Gualtieri)
• Ella (Nikki Taylor-Roberts)
• My Bird Is Sick! (Rebecca Halfon)
• A Man Who Takes Pictures of Flowers (Yoo Lee)

More info about the selections here.