Santa Monica-based production company Area 51 has announced the launch of a new feature films division, to be lead by company head of production Rachel Griffin.

The venture is designed to help further the careers of existing directors, bring new work into the company, and attract new directors from the feature world looking to develop a commercial directing career.

"I think in this marketplace, a company diversifying itself is an important thing," says Griffins. "In order to stay competitive, attract and keep the best talent, in order to just be a more effective company all around and serve our directors better, we need to have access to things other than commercials."

She also stresses that by working on developing the careers of its directors, Area 51 is better positioning itself to keep its talent. "Our directors have a very strong interest in pursuing long form projects," she says of the roster, which includes John Adams, Scotty Bergstein, Toby Phillips and James Dalthrop.

"The goal is to give them a reason not to leave. The best way to do that is to work on continuing to grow them so they are satisfied. I think a lot of people move around a lot, because they're not in a place that is tailoring an approach to them," she continues. "We're targeting goals that are specific to the director and their talents, where they want to go in terms of agencies and clients, and really making choices along that path with a very specific goal in mind. [Feature film experience] will only make them better commercial directors and it will satisfy them creatively as well as furthering our company."