Aug 30, 2017
Artist Development
San Francisco, CA — SFFILM announced today the addition of several new fellowships, grants, and professional development opportunities to its suite of filmmaker support programs. New partnerships with the Flora Family Foundation, the Compton Foundation and the Time Warner Foundation, along with a new supporting grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will significantly strengthen the ability of SFFILM Makers, the organization’s artist development arm, to champion diverse emerging talent in its granting, fellowship, and residency programs.
Thanks to a grant from the Flora Family Foundation, SFFILM has launched the New American Producer Fellowship—the first of its kind in the US film industry—which will include a residency and a cash grant for independent producers who have recently immigrated to the United States. Support from the Compton Foundation has enabled SFFILM to launch the Women, Peace, and Security Fellowship, open to both documentary and narrative filmmakers who are telling stories of women’s efforts to end conflict and advance peace.
The SFFILM Makers team was also awarded a grant from the Time Warner Foundation to reach and support a greater number of filmmakers of color through its existing grants, fellowships, and residency programs. Finally, a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was awarded to SFFILM Makers to produce a series of workshops at FilmHouse, the organization’s innovative collaborative workspace, providing documentary storytellers with an opportunity to develop their artistic voices and practical filmmaking skills.
“We are proud that this remarkable group of national funders has responded to our work in discovering and promoting artists,” said Noah Cowan, SFFILM Executive Director. “These partnerships address new immigrant producers, women championing peace, a lasting commitment to filmmakers of color and training for documentary makers to make even better films. The new programs are direct reflections of the values championed by our institution and the San Francisco Bay Area and respond to the current challenging socio-political climate for filmmakers from underrepresented communities. Film is a force of social investigation and political change; the artists assisted by these programs will challenge us all with exceptional work and strengthen our community through their unique stories.”
“SFFILM Makers is committed to fostering a more inclusive community of filmmakers by supporting recent immigrant producers, providing additional resources to a growing number filmmakers of color, and by elevating the perspectives of women leaders,” added Caroline von Kuhn, Director of Artist Development. “The creation of these programs is just the first step in a long process of better representing the wide range of artistic voices that exist in the Bay Area and beyond.”
NEW ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
New American Producer Fellowship
Applications open now through October 10, 2017
Thanks to a grant from the Flora Family Foundation, SFFILM has developed a one-of-a-kind program, through which it will award a $25,000 cash grant and a FilmHouse artist residency in San Francisco to an independent producer who has recently immigrated to the United States.
Envisioned to provide a stage for the perspectives of underrepresented filmmakers and to enrich the understanding, empathy, and curiosity of the general public, the New American Producer Fellowship seeks to support the work of new American artists while bolstering the diversity of the SFFILM Makers community and, ultimately, providing meaningful and challenging experiences to public audiences.
Women, Peace, and Security Fellowship
Applications open now through October 3, 2017.
SFFILM was awarded a grant from the Compton Foundation to launch the Women, Peace, and Security Fellowship, open to both documentary and narrative filmmakers who are telling stories of women’s efforts to end conflict and advance peace. Two $25,000 grants will be allocated through consecutive fellowships in the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018.
Created with the goal of inspiring filmmakers to tell stories of courageous women leaders, generate conversation across public audiences, and encourage policymakers to invest in women as essential actors in effective peace-building and violence prevention, the Women, Peace, and Security Fellowship will support a filmmaker dedicated to elevating women’s efforts to end conflict and advance peace. In addition to financial support, SFFILM will provide fellows with connections to advisors with expertise in the subject matter of their film, networking opportunities, and active support from SFFILM staff and from mentors within the Bay Area creative community.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAM SUPPORT
Time Warner Foundation Grant
The SFFILM Makers team was awarded a two-year, $50,000 grant from the Time Warner Foundation to reach and support a greater number of filmmakers of color through the organization’s existing grants, fellowships, and residencies by implementing outreach strategies designed to promote these opportunities and expand the related applicant pools. In 2017, support will focus on engaging underserved local filmmakers, with the goal of reaching the communities that are so essential to the Bay Area’s creative vibrancy. In 2018, the program will expand its geographical scope.
Support from the Time Warner Foundation will allow SFFILM to provide a diverse group of exceptional filmmakers with opportunities to participate in its extensive array of programs which provide artists with the mentorship, skills, and community they need to complete their projects and further develop their creative voices.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences FilmWatch Grant
SFFILM received a $10,000 FilmWatch grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to produce a series of workshops that will provide documentary filmmakers with opportunities to develop practical filmmaking skills. Through six Doc Talk workshops to be scheduled between the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018 at SFFILM’s FilmHouse residency space, aspiring and emerging filmmakers will have the opportunity to learn from veteran documentary makers in an intimate setting. Workshops will be designed for a wide range of artists, including FilmHouse residents, filmmakers fiscally sponsored by SFFILM, student filmmakers attending local colleges and universities, and additional members of the Bay Area documentary community.
Uniquely positioned to support one of the largest and most esteemed documentary filmmaking communities in the country, SFFILM seeks to expand its outreach to emerging nonfiction storytellers by offering a greater number of opportunities to gain technical and creative skills that are essential to the completion of their projects and to the foundation of sustainable careers.
For more information and to apply to the New American Producer or Women, Peace and Security Fellowship, please visit sffilm.org/makers. Finalists will be announced in November 2017; winners in December 2017.
These programs are a part of SFFILM Makers, SFFILM’s suite of artist development services, which provides significant financial and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, fiscal sponsorship, and other professional development opportunities. SFFILM Makers has become one the largest nonprofit supporters of independent film, having disbursed more than $5 million to more than 150 film projects since its inception in 2009. For more information about SFFILM’s film exhibition, media education, and filmmaker services programs, visit sffilm.org.
SFFILM Makers
SFFILM Makers (formerly “Filmmaker360”), the organization’s artist development program, provides significant financial and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, fiscal sponsorship, and more. Since 2009, nearly $5 million has been disbursed to more than 150 film projects in various stages of production. Highlights include the SFFILM / Rainin Filmmaking Grant; a joint effort with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to cultivate stories rooted in science and technology; and the Documentary Film Fund, a partnership with the Jenerosity Foundation. For more information, visit sffilm.org/makers.
SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization with a mission to champion the world’s finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round organization delivering screenings and events to more than 100,000 film lovers and media education programs to more than 10,000 students and teachers annually. In addition to its public programs, SFFILM supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services. For more information visit sffilm.org.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Grant
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 8,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which is under construction in Los Angeles.
Compton Foundation
Established in 1946, the Compton Foundation is a private family foundation that invests in transformative leadership and courageous storytelling, galvanizing movements for progressive and democratic social change and inspiring action toward a peaceful, just, and sustainable future. In particular, the Foundation supports work in climate change, peace and progressive national security, and reproductive rights and justice. The Compton Foundation is currently in the last year of a three-year special initiative to integrate women’s voices and an inclusive policy lens into the US foreign policy and national security space. For more information, visit www.comptonfoundation.org.
Flora Family Foundation
Established in 1998 by the family of William R. Hewlett (co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Company) and his late wife, Flora Lamson Hewlett, the Flora Family Foundation supports public benefit organizations working throughout the world in education, health, arts and culture, the environment, global security, civic engagement, and the advancement of women.
Time Warner Foundation
The Time Warner Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation that is wholly supported by Time Warner Inc. and its subsidiary companies: Home Box Office, Inc., Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Its mission is to seek innovative and powerful ways to discover, nurture and celebrate the next generation of storytellers. The Foundation strives to build impactful partnerships with best-in-class nonprofit organizations that push the boundaries of artist development and support underrepresented storytellers. The Foundation’s ultimate goal is the cultivation of an artistic community that is rich, vibrant, and relevant to audiences of today and tomorrow.
This press release is available online at sffilm.org/press
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