Joelle-Lyn Sarte and Randee Chang will each receive $1,250 to produce their short films, "Home Again," a live-action short, and "One Time Dis Magic Guy...," an animated short film.

ACM Assistant Professor Joel Moffett, who heads the screenwriting program, said the initiative is "a perfect example of what separates the ACM from other film schools on the Mainland — we go out of our way to nourish unique voices from underrepresented groups."

The Academy's Filmmaker Initiative is a screenwriting competition to provide essential funding for the production of two narrative or documentary media projects created by women from traditionally underrepresented ethnic groups, including Native Hawaiian, Filipino, Melanesian, Pacific Islander, Puerto Rican, Samoan, Fijian, Micronesian, Asian, Asian American, African, African American, and Hispanic. The competition is supported by a grant from the university's Diversity and Equity Initiative ( www.hawaii.edu/diversity).