Applying for grants and scholarships as an independent filmmaker can feel a lot like senior year of high school. The stress that comes from sorting through thousands of application guidelines can be demoralizing and overwhelming. While there are many opportunities available to the early-career filmmaker, directors of all kinds can benefit from the six exciting grant and scholarship opportunities detailed below. Got a story to tell? Keep reading!
Cinereach Grants
Cinereach is a company that finances and co-finances feature-length films across multiple genres. Each year, the company awards 20 to 30 grants, worth between $5,000 and $50,000, to both new and established filmmakers. However, your film doesn’t have to be finished in order to be considered. Projects can be submitted at any stage in the filmmaking process, from research and development to postproduction. Better yet, applications are accepted on a rolling basis at cinereach.org. Writer-director Joe Talbot’s acclaimed feature-length debut, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” was a recipient of a Cinereach grant.
Filmmakers Without Borders Grants
Filmmakers Without Borders offers grants for narrative, documentary, experimental, and new media projects that deal with social justice issues. Independent filmmakers 18 or older are eligible to submit films that revolve around the themes of social justice, youth and women’s voices, identity, cultural exchange, and climate change. Grants are awarded three times a year, and the deadline for the fall cycle is Aug. 1. Interested filmmakers can visit filmmakerswithoutborders.org for the full list of requirements and regulations.
The Fledgling Fund’s Outreach + Engagement Fund
Struggling with how you can get your documentary to be seen by audiences? The Fledgling Fund offers audience outreach and engagement grants to documentary filmmakers whose work has the potential to make positive social change for those in vulnerable communities. Grants range between $10,000 and $25,000 and are awarded only to projects with a clear vision and timeline. More information can be found at thefledglingfund.org.
Frameline Completion Fund
This grant provides up to $5,000 in assistance to new and veteran filmmakers whose projects represent what life is like for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Filmmakers from all underrepresented communities are strongly encouraged to apply for the next cycle, which will begin in the fall. Updates on the application deadline can be found at frameline.org.
Roy W. Dean Film Grants
Three times a year, From the Heart Productions awards independent filmmakers with the Roy W. Dean grant. This award is open to films in a variety of formats, including feature films, short films, documentaries, and web series. In order to be eligible for the grant, the film must have a budget of $500,000 or less and must make a contribution to society. The recipient of the fall grant will be awarded $3,000 cash and will receive a number of free and discounted services from across the film industry. Submissions for the fall grant close on Sept. 30. Each applicant is also given a complimentary 15-minute consultation about their submission. More information can be found at fromtheheartproductions.com.
Sundance Institute Launch Grant Fund
Working with the Sundance Institute is an opportunity many independent filmmakers dream of. Luckily, this dream can become a reality with the submission of an application for the institute’s Launch Grant Fund. With it, first-time feature filmmakers from underrepresented communities have a shot at up to $10,000 in funding; grants are given to between three and five creators per year. Applicants are expected to have previous credits in independent short film or episodic television and web series to offer a reel and proof of concept for their feature debut. Listed underrepresented groups for eligibility include women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, and people with disabilities. The deadline for 2019 applicants is July 15. For more information on this prestigious grant, visit apply.sundance.org.
This story originally appeared in the July 11 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
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