The Fabienne Colas Foundation (FCF), which puts on the Black Film Festival in multiple Canadian cities, has launched a new institute for underserved Black entrepreneurs in the film and television industry.

The Festwave Institute was created with $3 million in support from the federal government’s Ecosystem Fund for Black entrepreneurs, administered through the regional development agency Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

The national institute offers business training and skill building to help the next generation of underrepresented film and TV professionals seize new opportunities in the screen world.

The FCF is a not-for-profit cultural organization behind the Black Film Festival movement in Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver. It also created the Being Black in Canada incubation program, presented by Netflix in collaboration with the National Bank, to help emerging Black filmmakers create their first films, tour film festivals and launch their careers in the industry.

Actor, director and producer Fabienne Colas is chair, president and founder of the FCF and founder of the Festwave Institute. She is also the founding president of events including the Montreal International Black Film Festival, the Toronto Black Film Festival, the Festival Haïti en Folie (Haiti on Fire) in Montreal and New York City, the Fade to Black Festival in Montreal, the Quebecois Film Festival in Haiti and the new Halifax Black Film Festival.

“We all want to see a Canada where everybody works together side by side, where everybody gets a fair chance to be mentored and trained, to be seen, heard, promoted and supported as they deserve to be,” says Colas, in a statement. “The Festwave Institute is a long-held dream that will help bring everybody together to reflect the reality of our diverse Canadian culture on screen and behind the camera.”