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Grant Home Accessibility Grant Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions ARRAY Alliance News Google Grant In the News Select Page ARRAY PARTNERS WITH GOOGLE TO CREATE FEATURE FILM GRANT FOR UNDERREPRESENTED CREATIVES Scroll Down HAWAIIAN FILMMAKER ALIKA MAIKAU NAMED RECIPIENT OF FIRST FEATURE FILM GRANT FROM GOOGLE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ARRAY, ESTABLISHED TO SUPPORT UNDERREPRESENTED CREATIVES Maikau’s Production to Be Powered by ARRAY Crew , the Inclusive Hiring Database for Below-the-Line Crew Members LOS ANGELES, CA (October 11, 2021) — Today, Hawaiian filmmaker Alika Maikau has been announced as the recipient of the first ever Feature Film Grant from Google in partnership with ARRAY , a program established to support emerging creatives from historically underrepresented communities. The career-changing $500,000 grant provided by Google will fund Maikau’s full-length feature. The film will be distributed by ARRAY, the distribution, arts and advocacy collective founded by filmmaker Ava DuVernay . Maikau grew up in Kaneohe and has always been inspired to tell stories that showcase Hawaii’s unique language and culture. His short film, Moloka’i Bound” won the award for best live-action short film at the well-respected imagiNATIVE film festival and will now be made into his feature film. The story follows Kainoa, a rootless Native Hawaiian recently released from prison who is looking forward to reconnecting with his son and heritage. He struggles to reconcile with his ex and must resist the lure of his old ways. In order to save his relationship with his son, he takes drastic measures that will force him to face himself and his family’s history of loss and trauma. Additional finalists who submitted scripts for consideration include Suzannah Mirghani (Qatar), Ryan RedCorn (Oklahoma), Philiane Phang (New York City), Mary Evangelista (New York City by way of Bay Area), David Liu (Los Angeles), Cristina Ibarra (New York City). These emerging filmmakers will each receive $5,000 to continue the development of their projects. Google has always valued a diversity of communities and culture and view this as a unique opportunity to partner to drive broader change needed within the entertainment industry, in front and or behind the camera,” said Jeffrey Whipps, VP of Marketing at Google . This film grant in partnership with ARRAY, allows us to jointly celebrate and showcase the talent of creators like Alika’s, whose work addresses issues that need to be brought to the forefront urgently. We’re excited to continue to help amplify more voices from underrepresented communities to tell their authentic, timely and important stories.” ARRAY was founded with the mission of amplifying storytelling by filmmakers of color more than a decade ago. We are so proud to be announcing Indigenous/Native Hawaiian filmmaker Alika Maikau as the recipient of the first-ever Feature Film Grant from Google in partnership with ARRAY,” said ARRAY President Tilane Jones. The entire ARRAY team, along with our colleagues at Google, instantly connected to Alika’s beautifully written narrative that is set in Hawaii and tells the story of indigenous family traditions, struggles and triumphs. We look forward to working with Alika to bring his vision from script to screen, and to audiences all over the world through our distribution arm ARRAY Releasing.” Maikau will also have the opportunity to be mentored by the esteemed advisory committee who deliberated and selected him as the grant recipient. These established members of the independent film community include Gabrielle Glore (Urbanworld, Festival Director & Head of Programming), Francis Cullado (Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Executive Director for Visual Communications Media), Crystal Echo Hawk (IllumiNative, Founder and Executive Director), María Raquel Bozzi (Senior Director of Education & International Initiatives at Film Independent), and Smriti Kiran (Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival). Maikau’s production will be powered by ARRAY Crew, the database created by DuVernay as a way for hiring managers in search of below-the-line hires to easily access underrepresented film and television professionals, including but not limited to women and BIPOC individuals of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island decent. The platform currently boasts thousands of qualified members and more than 600 productions across 450 departments. Our intention in creating the Feature Film Grant, in partnership with ARRAY, is for it to be part of the broader change needed within the entertainment industry, both on and behind the scenes,said Elle Roth-Brunet, Google’s lead and producer on the project . Alika’s work is rooted in the local, lived experience that deserves to be seen by a wide audience, and we are excited to help bring it to life. Congrats to all of the finalists who shared such beautiful stories that represent their communities.” The grant was developed in partnership with Google because of their ongoing commitment to amplifying marginalized voices and highlighting diverse perspectives. Earlier this year Google partnered with The Black List to launch a storytelling fellowship that provides financial and creative support to writers from underrepresented communities, as a means to develop their feature film script or TV pilot. GRANT RECIPIENT GRANT RECIPIENT Alika Maikau LOCATION: Honolulu, Hawai’i TITLE: Filmmaker Alika Maikau is a Hapa Hawaiian/Asian filmmaker based out of Honolulu, Hawai’i. In 2017 he earned a mentorship under Joe Robert Cole (Black Panther), who oversaw the development of what would become his short, Mauka To Makai , which premiered at the end of 2018 and was awarded Best Made In Hawai’i Short at the Hawai’i International Film Festival. Filmmaker Magazine published an article in 2019 entitled Made Visible, where they went on to say about Mauka Bringing to the screen a world little seen even in Hawaiian films, it wove a universal tale of economic struggle and longtime friendship into a proudly local, indigenous setting.” Alika followed up Mauka with Moloka’i Bound , which premiered at ImagineNative 2019 and won the award for Best Short Work,” granting them Oscar Consideration for the 2021 Academy Awards. In December 2021 the feature-length script for Moloka’i Bound was selected for the inaugural Indigenous Black List. Alika Maikau LOCATION: Honolulu, Hawai’i TITLE: Filmmaker Alika Maikau is a Hapa Hawaiian/Asian filmmaker based out of Honolulu, Hawai’i. In 2017 he earned a mentorship under Joe Robert Cole (Black Panther), who oversaw the development of what would become his short, Mauka To Makai , which premiered at the end of 2018 and was awarded Best Made In Hawai’i Short at the Hawai’i International Film Festival. Filmmaker Magazine published an article in 2019 entitled Made Visible, where they went on to say about Mauka Bringing to the screen a world little seen even in Hawaiian films, it wove a universal tale of economic struggle and longtime friendship into a proudly local, indigenous setting.” Alika followed up Mauka with Moloka’i Bound , which premiered at ImagineNative 2019 and won the award for Best Short Work,” granting them Oscar Consideration for the 2021 Academy Awards. In December 2021 the feature-length script for Moloka’i Bound was selected for the inaugural Indigenous Black List. GRANT FINALISTS Click image for bio Mary Evangelista Writer, Director & Producer Cristina Ibarra Independent Filmmaker David Liu Writer & Director Ryan RedCorn Writer Suzannah Mirghani Writer, Researcher & Independent Filmmaker Philiane Phang Writer & Director Mary Evangelista LOCATION: Philippines & Bay Area TITLE: Writer, Director & Producer Mary Evangelista is a writer, director, and producer from the Philippines and the Bay Area. Mary received an MFA from NYU Tisch for Writing and Directing. Their short film, Fran This Summer , is an LGBTQ summer love story that...