For Lauren Ludwig, it’s a dream come true.

The 30-year-old Fayetteville native is one of only eight women who were selected to participate in the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. The Los Angeles-based program works to improve the number of female directors nationally, a fairly low statistic.

The program works like this: selected applicants take classes, free of charge, at the American Film Institute for three weeks. After that, the women will prepare and shoot a film for which they have written the script; this process lasts six months. Then, the applicants will work on finishing their films, and will screen them six months later. Altogether, it’s a one-year program that requires a lot of energy and dedication.

Ludwig just recently finished up her third and final week of classes, which included both art and business classes.

“They really give you a crash-course on every aspect of filmmaking,” Ludwig said.

The program trains students to enter the professional world of filmmaking, Ludwig said. To do this, she took classes in editing, digital story-telling and learning how to read a visual image.

“Some of it’s very artistic, and some of it’s very statistical,” she said. Ludwig said one business-related class she took was on how to pitch a film or script idea to potential employers.

The three weeks of classes culminates in a day where students film a scene from their written script in four hours, and then edit it in four hours, a process Ludwig described as being incredibly quick.

“It’s a learning experience,” Ludwig said. She said this short day of both filming and editing was an eye-opener that allowed her to learn what she likes and what she doesn’t like, and how she will approach things in the future while filming her movie.

Ludwig’s film is titled “Burn Brightly” and is about a 15-year-old boy, Andy Shaw, who has a genetic condition where he is allergic to the sun, that is, his body can’t repair UV light damage done to it. Shaw falls in love with a much older woman who jogs by his window every day.

Ludwig said the story is about pursuing something, or someone, you love, even when people think you are crazy. She said she finds the story inspiring.

“I just really care about the main character,” she said. “He feels very real to me.”

Ludwig didn’t always plan on writing and directing.

A Fayetteville-Manlius High School graduate, Ludwig said she was more interested in acting during her middle school and high school years. She performed in musicals through both F-M High School and the Town of Manlius.

It wasn’t until she attended Northwestern University that she considered directing. She said one of her acting professors actually convinced her to consider it.

“That was really a turning point,” Ludwig said. “I didn’t recognize myself as a director until later in life.”

Ludwig said she likes story-telling in general, which made the transition to writer/director natural. “I’m really pretty split 50/50 between writing and directing,” she said.

Right now, Ludwig is busy fundraising for her film, which will cost around $20,000. She said her goal is to fundraise $12,000 through indiegogo.com. Ludwig has already raised around $5,000 and has less than 20 days to raise an additional $7,000.

The money will go toward camera, lighting and sound equipment, make-up, costumes, props, insurance, location fees and more. To donate to Ludwig’s campaign, visit the website here.

Ludwig said she is having an amazing time working in the program. She said it’s “really thrilling” to be back in school, taking classes and working with such knowledgeable professors. But ultimately, Ludwig is just happy to be telling stories.

“It really is a dream experience in a lot of ways,” she said.

Stephanie Bouvia is an editorial intern with the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].