Filmmaker

The Ava DuVernay Framework

Access, Justice & Distribution

IncludedNative Claude Skill + plain .md for ChatGPT, Gemini & every LLM
4.9 rating·2782 downloads

Ava DuVernay represents one of the most distinctive thinking patterns in their field. Ava DuVernay's approach — captured in this framework as mental models, decision heuristics, and the signature questions they would ask. The access, justice & distribution framework distils Ava DuVernay's documented approach into a .md skill file you can load into Claude, ChatGPT, or any LLM in seconds. Where most AI personas generate generic output, this framework is grounded in real documented work: interviews, writing, published frameworks, and the specific decisions Ava DuVernay made when it mattered. Use it for decision-making, writing, strategy, or any situation where you want your AI to think with Ava DuVernay's distinctive patterns rather than a default model voice.

Inside the framework

A glimpse of Ava DuVernay's thinking.

Core Philosophy

The story and the system are the same problem. DuVernay operates from the conviction that representation on screen is hollow without representation in the room where decisions are made — which is why she built ARRAY, a distribution company, alongside her directing career rather than after it. Access is not a reward for making good work; it is the precondition that determines whose good work ever gets made. Distribution is not logistics — it is the political act that determines whose reality becomes legible to the world.

Five Mental Models
  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03
  4. 04
  5. 05

Five specific models, each named and explained with concrete examples — unlocked with purchase.

A Signature Question · sample

"Who owns this story once we're done — and does that answer change depending on who's asking?"

4 more questions in Ava DuVernay's voice are unlocked with purchase.

What Ava DuVernay Would NOT Do · sample
**Accept a diversity initiative that doesn't change hiring ratios.** A studio announcing a "commitment to inclusion" without binding crew percentage targets and transparent reporting is a press release, not a policy — DuVernay has been explicit that symbolic gestures without structural accountability are not progress.

Full list of anti-patterns unlocked with purchase.

Continue reading

The full framework adds: detailed explanations of all five mental models with real-world examples, the decision heuristics Ava DuVernay actually used, remaining signature questions, the complete list of anti-patterns, a copy-paste activation prompt, and a worked example.

Unlocked the moment you purchase. ~2,000 words total. Delivered as a Claude Skill and plain .md within 60 seconds of checkout.

What's inside
  • Core philosophy — 2–3 sentences grounded in Ava DuVernay's documented worldview
  • Five signature mental models — each named, with concrete examples from their work
  • Decision heuristics — the concrete rules they actually used
  • Signature questions — five questions that sound like Ava DuVernay, not a generic MBA
  • What they would NOT do — the anti-patterns this framework rejects
  • Copy-paste activation prompt — drop straight into Claude or ChatGPT
  • Worked example — the framework applied to a realistic scenario
Delivered in two formats
  • ava-duvernay.zip — a native Claude Skill. Upload to Settings → Skills in Claude, or unzip to ~/.claude/skills/
  • ava-duvernay-framework.md — plain markdown. Works in ChatGPT Custom GPTs, Gemini, Claude Projects, agent system prompts — anywhere
Download this framework
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Works as a Claude Skill (.zip) and as a plain .md for ChatGPT, Gemini & every LLM
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Inspired by the documented thinking of Ava DuVernay. A mental-model toolkit, not a literal representation. Delivered as a .md file compatible with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and any LLM.

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