Programs
FACES recognizes and applauds the other incredible organizations working vigorously to fight for equal treatment and opportunity of women from the entertainment powers that be.
However, we believe this “top-down” approach will only be effective when combined with our “bottom-up” approach of providing women with the tools necessary to be as competitive in the industry as they can.
By arming current and future generations of entertainment professionals with both confidence and critical business skills, we are creating a community of Female ACEs, fully capable of managing their own careers. While realizing not everything may be within their control, Female ACEs do whatever they can to enhance and improve the things that are.
All-Female Productions
A frustrating catch 22 that those trying to break into the entertainment industry often encounter is that they can’t get a job without experience, and they can’t get experience without a job. FACES aims to alleviate at least some of that dilemma by providing multiple opportunities for women of all experience levels to receive training and/or boost their resumes and reels through real world development, on-set, and editorial experience.
In addition, FACES recognizes the prominent role that content creation, no matter how big or small the intended audience, plays in cultivating and promoting authentic female voices. With this in mind, FACES produces and showcases different levels of content, from individual iPhone videos to professional studio productions, all created, shot, and edited by Female ACEs.
"I wanted to see what it would feel like if a community of women exclusively created a piece of art together."
- Zoe Lister-Jones on set of Band-Aid
Job Placement Assistance
It is no secret that job openings in the entertainment industry are almost exclusively advertised through word-of-mouth. Similarly, those openings are most often filled through colleague recommendations alone. Through connections we have fostered through our collective years of varied industry experience, FACES receives information on job openings regularly. We can then pass on these opportunities to the Female ACEs we feel are the strongest candidates.
What’s more, it is only through the continued success of the organization’s other programs that this initiative can be successful. Instead of making general announcements in the (wo)manhunt for the most applicants to apply for each job, FACES takes the time to consider the personal relationship formed with each Female ACE, combining what we know about her career goals and aspirations through personal mentorship and also the strengths and weaknesses showcased through her participation in our training workshops and on-set apprenticeships. In this way, we are able to provide the best candidates to potential employers, which not only fulfills our mission of placing more women in entertainment jobs, but also ensures we’ll remain a trusted source for each potential employer’s employment needs for years to come.
– Meghan Dineen (Project Manager, SyFy)
Personal Mentorship
A top priority for FACES is to create a genuine support community for young women as they begin and develop their careers. We believe the most effective way to do this is get to know each and every Female ACE who is interested in becoming a part of this community. In our few months of operation, our Founder and Executive Director, Brittany Rostron, has participated in over 35 in-person meetings and answered hundreds of emails (dozens per week), offering young women support and guidance on issues ranging from networking, job opportunity decisions, work/life balance, crises of confidence, and much more.
"I'm going to work on being more vocal about my goals. I would get frustrated easily by how many times they've changed since I started out - but now I'm realizing that’s OK. It was really nice knowing and feeling we're all in this together. Thank you so much for providing support for women in this industry."
- Lizette Gesuden
Practical Seminars & Workshops
The focus of FACES workshops and seminars is not on the development of creative talents, but on the oft-forgotten business acumen that should work in tandem with any creative endeavor if one is intent on success. Attendees are taught practical skills in areas such as networking, marketing, budgeting, and resume development. Q&A panels provide guidance offered by industry professionals for getting entry-level jobs such as Set PAs and Location Assistants.
While FACES realizes that there are some creative artists who have achieved immense success by focusing their energies solely on their craft, we have chosen to support the vast majority of other aspiring entertainers who need to avail themselves of every tool in their arsenal to make the slow crawl up the ladder of triumph.
"I learned so much from everybody that spoke and left with so much more clarity and reassurance about what my next steps toward my career should be. Everybody's different stories and advice were so motivating and authentic."
– Kylie Whitehouse