A few additional resources and connections gathered while at Hot Docs:
HotDocs Library
A wealth of Canadian documentaries you can watch online. In the youth zone be sure to check out the top shorts made by youth. Plus special sections for educators (including downloadable resource packages) and an industry corner where you can see the industry sessions held at HotDocs Film Festival.
Shooting People
An international network for independent filmmakers.
Arts Engine
Connects media makers and active audiences in order to spur critical consideration of pressing social issues.
Ideas from Cinereach
An assortment of articles, panels, case studies, useful links and more.
DocAgora
An open sapce to consider new forms, new platforms, new tools and new ways of financing creative and socially engaged documentary media.
Showing posts with label funding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funding. Show all posts
25 May 2010
Social Issue Doc Funders
An inside look at what a few of the foundations and funders are looking for (straight from the people who run the programs). Cinereach looked particularly interesting to us because of their interest in more subtle storytelling versus in-your-face advocacy.
Ford Foundation
Orlando Bagwell, Director, Freedom of Expression—Education, Creativity and Free Expression Program
• We want good narratives. We want films that can have impact.
• The filmmakers are the storytellers. We link you with others to help do other parts like the web part or the social issue action. We build a connected community.
• How do you want to move people? Ford Foundation wants to know and to be active in how you do that, finding strategic partners.
• Interested in using narrative to try to move people to take action about things they care deeply about.
• Interested in how media and documentary can become a critical part of the Foundation’s vision for social change.
• We’re trying to provide a connected community of all our grantees, not just the media ones, but the social justice grantees also. The media work is the one area in our foundation that is underlying all other parts of the foundation.
• We want filmmakers to be filmmakers. We fund Sundance, ITVS, Active Voice, Witness. We bring them to the community of all the people we work with. The idea is that we want to bring you, the filmmaker, to a connected community that is going to serve what you do. We don’t expect you to do it all yourself.
Cinereach
Philipp Engelhorn, Executive Director and Co-Founder
• We are a grant-making organization that funds social issue documentaries done in an artful way. Less advocacy-based, more subtle storytelling. Often allows both sides of the issue to embrace the film. Did Jesus Camp.
• We tend to get involved early on in projects.
• The questions we ask when considering a project: What is the filmmaking craft? Is the story being artfully told? Is there a real passion from the filmmaker? Is it going to be entertaining? Is it a great piece of filmmaking? That’s our top criteria. And then we look at the issue being addressed. We favor story over message, character over agenda, complexity over duality.
• One of our projects, FilmAid, was working with refugees to help them make their own films. We did not mandate what the films were about. We just provided some training and let them create. Then we had a film festival in refugee camps, and the films also travelled.
Sundance Institute
Patricia Finneran, Managing Producer, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
• We look for quality of storytelling, potential for social impact, the creative vision of the filmmaker, track record. We don’t look at distribution strategies.
• Sundance’s mandate is still to support feature-length cinematic storytelling. They we partner with other foundations and organizations to work on other aspects. The inter-connections with the foundation community are very strong. Starting to get in with one entity leads you to introductions and relationships with others.
For more funders, check the helpful lists at Cinereach and at DocAgora.
Also check the Foundation Center, Arts Engine and Grantmakers in Film & Electronic Media.
Ford Foundation
Orlando Bagwell, Director, Freedom of Expression—Education, Creativity and Free Expression Program
• We want good narratives. We want films that can have impact.
• The filmmakers are the storytellers. We link you with others to help do other parts like the web part or the social issue action. We build a connected community.
• How do you want to move people? Ford Foundation wants to know and to be active in how you do that, finding strategic partners.
• Interested in using narrative to try to move people to take action about things they care deeply about.
• Interested in how media and documentary can become a critical part of the Foundation’s vision for social change.
• We’re trying to provide a connected community of all our grantees, not just the media ones, but the social justice grantees also. The media work is the one area in our foundation that is underlying all other parts of the foundation.
• We want filmmakers to be filmmakers. We fund Sundance, ITVS, Active Voice, Witness. We bring them to the community of all the people we work with. The idea is that we want to bring you, the filmmaker, to a connected community that is going to serve what you do. We don’t expect you to do it all yourself.
Cinereach
Philipp Engelhorn, Executive Director and Co-Founder
• We are a grant-making organization that funds social issue documentaries done in an artful way. Less advocacy-based, more subtle storytelling. Often allows both sides of the issue to embrace the film. Did Jesus Camp.
• We tend to get involved early on in projects.
• The questions we ask when considering a project: What is the filmmaking craft? Is the story being artfully told? Is there a real passion from the filmmaker? Is it going to be entertaining? Is it a great piece of filmmaking? That’s our top criteria. And then we look at the issue being addressed. We favor story over message, character over agenda, complexity over duality.
• One of our projects, FilmAid, was working with refugees to help them make their own films. We did not mandate what the films were about. We just provided some training and let them create. Then we had a film festival in refugee camps, and the films also travelled.
Sundance Institute
Patricia Finneran, Managing Producer, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
• We look for quality of storytelling, potential for social impact, the creative vision of the filmmaker, track record. We don’t look at distribution strategies.
• Sundance’s mandate is still to support feature-length cinematic storytelling. They we partner with other foundations and organizations to work on other aspects. The inter-connections with the foundation community are very strong. Starting to get in with one entity leads you to introductions and relationships with others.
They fund, present and promote documentaries and dramas on public television and cable and innovative new media projects on the web. Their tagline: Diverse stories. Independent filmmakers. Award-winning documentaries. On TV, online and in communities.
Also check the Foundation Center, Arts Engine and Grantmakers in Film & Electronic Media.
18 May 2010
Finding Funding Partners
Notes from the Hot Docs industry session Engage My Film about finding and working with foundations, organizations and third sector business to fund your film. Especially for social issue documentaries. Watch the session.
Know the rules of engagement up front when partnering with funders and distributors — particularly who has creative control and who owns it. Filmmakers should not give up their storytelling expertise when partnering. Remember you’re there because you’re storytellers and you know how to do that. Don’t give that up. That’s what they want you for. (Orlando)
The trend is moving away from getting public television funding or finding another broadcasting partner but to instead finding partners like foundations or social sector groups. (Patricia)
I don’t think that equity investment works — people investing in a single film for the purpose of making money. A single film is just always going to be too risky versus investing in several films and spreading the risk around. (Michael)
As you build up funders, you are building up an audience for your film ahead of time. This can also be a good selling point to potential distributors. (Julia)
It may not make sense for you to go directly to Ford Foundation for funding, but look at what foundations and organizations they work with. The best place to start may be small. Make connections. Build it slowly. Most foundation people know each other and once you get one funder, the connection can lead to other funders. (Patricia)
Look at other similar films and see who funded them. Before you call the funder, call the filmmaker and find out how things worked for them. (Patricia)
Also look to organizations that are about the issue your film is about. For example, Global Fund for Children advances children’s issues and it offers a media grant.
Your job as a filmmaker when going to possible funders is to articulate clearly what your film is going to do, perhaps what it’s not going to do and to negotiate that space in between. You can also offer to partners, short-form content not used in your feature that they can use on their website. (Patricia)
I started a non-profit justvision.org around an issue to fund my film projects. (Julia)
Fiscal sponsorship — some foundations require it if they only fund non-profits. Ford Foundation funds both for-profit and non-profit projects. They would rather put more money directly into the pocket of the filmmaker to make the film than have it go to the fiscal sponsor. Sundance grants are also to the artist directly. Cinereach currently can only fund non-profits, so they have a list of organizations that can provide fiscal sponsorship. (These orgs usually take 5–6%.)
Patricia Finneran (moderator), Managing Producer, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (USA)
Julia Bacha, Filmmaker, Budrus (USA)
Orlando Bagwell, Director, Freedom of Expression—Education, Creativity and Free Expression Program, Ford Foundation (USA), also former independent producer
Dan Cogan, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Impact Partners (USA)
Philipp Engelhorn, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Cinereach (USA)
Michael MacMillan, Co-Founder and Chair, Samara (Canada)
Andy Whittaker, CEO, Dogwoof (UK)
Know the rules of engagement up front when partnering with funders and distributors — particularly who has creative control and who owns it. Filmmakers should not give up their storytelling expertise when partnering. Remember you’re there because you’re storytellers and you know how to do that. Don’t give that up. That’s what they want you for. (Orlando)
The trend is moving away from getting public television funding or finding another broadcasting partner but to instead finding partners like foundations or social sector groups. (Patricia)
I don’t think that equity investment works — people investing in a single film for the purpose of making money. A single film is just always going to be too risky versus investing in several films and spreading the risk around. (Michael)
As you build up funders, you are building up an audience for your film ahead of time. This can also be a good selling point to potential distributors. (Julia)
It may not make sense for you to go directly to Ford Foundation for funding, but look at what foundations and organizations they work with. The best place to start may be small. Make connections. Build it slowly. Most foundation people know each other and once you get one funder, the connection can lead to other funders. (Patricia)
Look at other similar films and see who funded them. Before you call the funder, call the filmmaker and find out how things worked for them. (Patricia)
Also look to organizations that are about the issue your film is about. For example, Global Fund for Children advances children’s issues and it offers a media grant.
Your job as a filmmaker when going to possible funders is to articulate clearly what your film is going to do, perhaps what it’s not going to do and to negotiate that space in between. You can also offer to partners, short-form content not used in your feature that they can use on their website. (Patricia)
I started a non-profit justvision.org around an issue to fund my film projects. (Julia)
Fiscal sponsorship — some foundations require it if they only fund non-profits. Ford Foundation funds both for-profit and non-profit projects. They would rather put more money directly into the pocket of the filmmaker to make the film than have it go to the fiscal sponsor. Sundance grants are also to the artist directly. Cinereach currently can only fund non-profits, so they have a list of organizations that can provide fiscal sponsorship. (These orgs usually take 5–6%.)
Patricia Finneran (moderator), Managing Producer, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (USA)
Julia Bacha, Filmmaker, Budrus (USA)
Orlando Bagwell, Director, Freedom of Expression—Education, Creativity and Free Expression Program, Ford Foundation (USA), also former independent producer
Dan Cogan, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Impact Partners (USA)
Philipp Engelhorn, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Cinereach (USA)
Michael MacMillan, Co-Founder and Chair, Samara (Canada)
Andy Whittaker, CEO, Dogwoof (UK)
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