The Center for Investigative Reporting announced today the launch of Glassbreaker Films, an ambitious initiative intended to support women in documentary filmmaking. The program is made possible by a generous grant from the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation.

In its first year, Glassbreaker Films is launching three initiatives to create and support a network of women, each at distinct stages in their development as documentary filmmakers:

Featured filmmakers – Glassbreaker Films is bringing together five accomplished filmmakers to produce a documentary series about women taking control, taking power and taking chances.

Filmmakers-in-residence – A new, full-time digital video team – led by a senior digital video producer and staffed by three early-career filmmakers, each completing a 10-month residency with Glassbreaker Films – is creating short films for web and mobile audiences.

BridgeUp: Film – This educational project will provide training and mentorship in journalism and visual storytelling to a small and diverse cohort of high school girls in the San Francisco Bay Area.