In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Ava DuVernay explained the inner mechanisms of her production company, Array. Besides acting as a creative hub for projects such as Netflix’s Emmy-Award winning series, When They Us and OWN’s Queen Sugar, it also serves as a distribution company for foreign films and a non-profit aimed at helping women filmmakers and others creatives of color.
The three components of Array are broken into these separate entities: Array 360, which is hosting an inaugural series of film screenings that feature films made by people of color of women.
“Array 360 is the opening of the door and the first invitation for people in the community to come in,” DuVernay said. “It is the entry for films to be shown from other community stakeholders, where you don’t have to beg, borrow, plead or have a big studio to show your work.”
Then there’s Array Alliance, which is the non-profit division of the company that’s designed to create social programs and resources for women and nonwhite filmmakers as well. DuVernay hopes this initiative will give creatives more educational tools and knowledge on the power of social impact. Array’s goal is to raise $2 million in funding for different workshops, events, and screenings.
Lastly, is Array Releasing, which is a for-profit distribution company that gives global independent films mainstream exposure. In 2018, The Burial of Kojo, which was made in Ghana was shown in select theaters in the U.S. and on Netflix.
With these initiatives, the 47-year-old filmmaker hopes to dismantle Hollywood’s historically oppressive system.
“The idea was to be disruptive in every system within which artists, especially artists of color and women, have to work in this industry,” she said. “Every system has roadblocks for people like us, whether it is in the acquisition, production, distribution, exhibition, marketing, crewing up…. So what we were looking to do was disrupt those systems so that we create normalcy and momentum.”
Array is a beacon of creativity for people of color and it’s especially a creative haven for black women. DuVernay explains what inspired all the color that Array has all over its walls and décor.
“You walk in and the color hits you,” she said. “We wanted to be a little rebellious. Look, we’re black ladies. This is our screening room. We want hot pink chairs? We’re going to have them.”