IFP’s Guide to Granting Organizations
by Website Update on February 9, 2012 in Financing
Do you know of a granting opportunity that isn’t listed on this page? Let us know by emailing [email protected].
Chicken and Egg
A film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers passionate about the craft of storytelling, as well as social justice, environmental and human rights issues. Funding opportunities available through partnerships with Working Films, The Fledgling Fund, Impact Partners, and Good Pitch.
Cinereach
Cinereach is a not-for-profit film production company and foundation that champions vital stories, artfully told. Created and led by young philanthropists, entrepreneurs and filmmakers, Cinereach empowers fiction and nonfiction filmmakers from all over the world through Grants & Awards, The Reach Film Fellowship, an internal Productions department, and through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and other organizations. Since 2006, Cinereach has disbursed close to $5 million in grant funds to more than 100 projects at the intersection of engaging storytelling, visual artistry and vital subject matter.
Film Independent
Each year, Film Independent awards a number of annual grants and fellowships to filmmakers and Felliows.
JAMESON FIND YOUR AUDIENCE GRANT
New in 2011. Awards $40,000 to a FIND associated feature film for marketing and distribution.
SPIRIT AWARDS GRANTS
Every year at the Spirit Awards, Film Independent gives out three Filmmaker Grants of $25,000. The three awards are:
Acura Someone to Watch Award: recognizes an under-appreciated filmmaker. Past winners include Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop), Marc Forster (Everything Put Together), Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha), and Larry Fessenden (Habit).
Truer Than Fiction Award: presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention. Past winners include Bill and Turner Ross, Adele Horne (The Tailenders), Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski (Born into Brothels), and Errol Morris (Fast, Cheap & Out of Control).
Producers Award: honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, produce quality independent films. Past winners include Karin Chien (The Exploding Girl), Gina Kwon (Me and You and Everyone We Know), Caroline Baron (Capote), and Effie Brown (Real Women Have Curves).
Sloan Producers Grant
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awards $25,000 to one science/math-centric project from Film Independent’s Producers Lab. Past films that received this grant include Future Weather, The Man Who Knew Infinity, and Basmati Blues.
Sloan Fast Track Grant
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awards $15,000 to one science/math-centric project from Film Independent’s Fast Track financing market. The first film to receive this grant was 2010’s Future Weather.
Ellie/Garnier Directing Fellowship
Film Independent awards a $10,000 production grant to one filmmaker from its Directors Lab. Former fellows include Jennifer Arnold (A Small Act), and Bridget Bedard (Operation June Black). Funded by ELLE and Garnier.
Elizabeth Pena Fellowship
A $10,000 production grant to a Latino filmmaker participating in Film Independent’s Project:Involve program. The 2010 fellow was George Reyes (La Muñeca Fea (The Ugly Doll). Funded by Target.
Kodak Film Grants
Each year, Film Independent awards a limited number of grants of Kodak film stock to filmmakers in production on their feature films. These grants are only open to alumnus of FIND’s programs. Former recipients include Amreeka, Circumstance, Dear Lemon Lima, Jack and Diane, Mississippi Damned, and Pariah.
Rooftop Films
Offers production, post-production, and short film grants. Open only to Rooftop Film screening alumni.
San Francisco Film Society
Offers documentary, screenwriting, and production grants to US-based filmmakers. Over $700,000 awarded in 2011.
Sundance Institute
Grants offered by the Sundance Institute can be divided into three categories – those with open applications, those offered only to Feature Film Program participants, and the Documentary Fund grants.
Grants with open applications:
Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant
-Established in 2005 to support the development of screenplays with science or technology themes. The annual grant includes:
*A cash grant of up to $20,000 to provide support during the writing period
*A stipend of up to $5,000 for a science advisor
*Creative support during the writing process from a select group of Creative Advisors
*The possibility of a Fellowship to a Screenwriters Lab
*Strategic and practical support from the Feature Film Program staff
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
-Awarded annually to an emerging screenwriter to support the ongoing development of a narrative, feature-length screenplay with science or technology themes.
-The fellowship includes:
*Attendance at a Screenwriters Lab, Directors Lab, Creative Producing Lab, Creative Producing Summit, or Sundance Film Festival as a Fellow
*A stipend of up to $5,000 for a science advisor
*Creative and strategic support from the Feature Film Program staff
Grants offered only to Feature Film Program participants:
Sundance Institute Indian Paintbrush Fellowship
-Five or more filmmakers each year receive a grant to support the development, pre-production, post-production, distribution and/or marketing of their work.
-In addition, Indian Paintbrush underwrites a Producer’s Award with accompanying $10,000 grant to a producer whose film premieres at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Honda Power of Dreams Lab Fellowship
-An annual stipend awarded to participant in the Feature Film Director’s Lab.
Sundance Institute/Annenberg Feature Film Fellows Program
-An annual $5 million grant that provides financial support and ongoing creative and strategic support for selected participants in Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program toward the realization of their projects.
The Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute
-Started in 2010, a $1.5 million, three-year initiative, the Sundance Institute Cinereach Feature Film Fellowship awards grants to Lab alumni whose projects push the boundaries of conventional storytelling.
NOTE: This grant is also open to Documentary Program projects.
Time Warner Storytelling Grant
-A $5,000 grant given to select Lab Alumni. Fellows are chosen for the uniqueness and diversity of the project’s voice and narrative, and the particular timeliness of the story and its perspective. Fellows include Dee Rees (Pariah), Andrew MacLean (On the Ice), Elgin James (Little Birds), and Cherien Dabis (May In The Summer).
Lynn Auerbach Memorial Screenwriting Fellowship
-Provides concentrated support to one screenwriter being supported by the Feature Film Program.
-The Auerbach Fellow receives a cash stipend, dedicated yearlong mentorship from two Screenwriting Advisors, and a produced reading of her or his screenplay.
Maryland Film Fellowship
– Presented in partnership with the Maryland Film Office, the Maryland Film Fellowship provides a Directors Lab Fellow with a $10,000 bridge grant as a means to move his or her project forward during advanced development and preproduction.
Adrienne Shelly Women Filmmakers Grant
-Provides $5,000 to be awarded annually by the Sundance Institute to a female filmmaker from the June Directors Lab.
-Previous recipients have included Maryam Heshavarz, Dee Rees, and Liza Johnson.
Zygmunt and Audrey Wilf Foundation Award
-Provides a $15,000 annual grant to a Directors Lab Fellow. Past recipients include Fellipe Barbosa and Maryam Keshavarz.
Documentary Fund Grants
-Grants $1-2 million per year.
-Established in 2002 with a gift from the Open Society Institute, and is currently supported by grants from the Ford Foundation and Open Society Institute, among others.
-More than 500 awards have supported documentary filmmakers in 61 countries globally.
-This is an international program.
– A committee of human rights experts and film professionals make recommendations from projects submitted by filmmakers from around the world. The Fund reviews between 1,400 and 2,000 proposals annually, choosing 35-50 for support each year.
-Applications are accepted in two funding categories:
Research/Development funding is provided to projects that are between development and preproduction. Grant amounts for this category are up to $20,000.
Production/Postproduction grants provide funds to filmmakers in various stages of the production and postproduction stages.
Tribeca Film Institute
The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund
The Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund provides finishing funds to feature-length documentaries which highlight and humanize issues of social importance from around the world. Funded films are driven by thoughtful and in depth storytelling, bolstered by a compelling visual approach.
-Grants range from $10,000 – $25,000. This grant must be used as finishing funds for production (and not for marketing, outreach or distribution).
-Applicants must submit a proposal/treatment, an artistic statement, and either a 7 minute trailer or rough cut of the project.
TFI Documentary Fund
-Starting in 2011, the TFI Documentary Fund will provide over $100,000 in fellowships and grants to “engaging, character-driven documentaries.”
-Three fellowships will be awarded to documentaries in development, production, or post-production:
1. The TFI/HBO “Documentary Screen Test” Fellowship – $50,000 awarded to an emerging filmmaker in production on his or her first feature-length documentary.
2. The TFI/HBO “House I Live In” Fellowship – $25,000 awarded towards the completion of a documentary focused on a filmmaker’s personal story.
3. The TFI/HBO “Outside Looking In” Fellowship – $25,000 awarded to a character-driven documentary.
-Additional grants of 10,000 will be given out to four other documentary filmmakers. These grants are sponsored by Insurgent Media (owned by Andrew Karsh, Erik Gordon, and Fischer Stevens.)
-The Fund will also arrange one-on-one meetings with key HBO Documentary film executives for recipients.
TFI Sloan Filmmaking Fund
-Provides grants of $10,000 – $40,000 in support of narrative feature film projects that explore scientific, mathematical, or technological themes in their storylines, or that feature a leading character who is a scientist, engineer, innovator or mathematician.
-In addition to funding, TFI provides guidance, introductions and industry exposure to help move the selected projects closer to completion.
TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund
-The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund supports independent film and video artists who are living or working in Mexico, Central and South America.
-The Fund will administer $20,000 in grants to a minimum of two artists working in documentary or hybrid forms in 2011.
-In addition to funding, each grantee will receive a U.S. based advisor and guidance from the Tribeca Film Institute.
The following annual grants are open to TFI program alumni only:
Tribeca All Access Grant
-All projects selected for Tribeca All Access receive a $10,000 grant.
Tribeca All Access Ontrack Grant
-Two $5,000 grants to assist alumni with the completion of their TAA project or further development of a new work in progress.
-Recipients are accredited to the Tribeca Film Festival to take part in additional Tribeca All Access activities
Tribeca All Access Trans Media Award
-Two $3,000 grants to assist alumni in the completion a short media project that has the potential to activate audiences across multiple platforms.
-Grantees work closely with TAA staff and its partner organizations to explore new ideas for the marketing and sustainable distribution of short form content.
The TAA Adrienne Shelly Foundation Filmmaker Grant
-A $5,000 grant to a female alumnus to further her narrative project towards completion or distribution.
-Eligible projects can be at any stage.
The Games for Change Fellowship for TAA Alumni
-Games for Change (G4C) collaborates with TAA to provide one alumnus with strategic services to help refine their thinking around the creation of a game as part of their filmmaking process.
-Fellowship includes a preliminary consultation session with G4C’s Co-President, Asi Burak, as well as an introduction to one of G4C’s Advisory Board members.
Audience Activation Grant
-One filmmaking team works closely with the TAA staff and Push Creative, a full service-branding agency, to encourage audience development, fund raising, marketing, and/or distribution of their project through a media-ready newly designed website.
-Projects can be at any stage of development/production.