From an Under-Represented Community? Here are Three Summer Funding Opps for You

The following three opportunities focus on filmmaking voices we just don't hear from enough. If you come from an underrepresented community and could benefit from getting a leg up on your next documentary, screenplay, or career, then check these out.

Firelight Media Documentary Lab

If you could benefit from support on your project while being connected to a network of talented storytellers, check out Firelight Media, which has been mentoring documentary filmmakers with one-on-one support, funding, and professional development in its Documentary Lab since 2008. From Firelight:

The Firelight Documentary Lab supports filmmakers from racially and ethnically under-represented communities that make artful and innovative documentary films that take risks, push the boundaries of the form, and provide new narratives about the most pressing issues of our time. Firelight will consider all types of documentary projects - historical, investigative, personal, verité, and experimental.

Deadline: July 14

Here's a look at different films that have come out of the program:

North Star Scholarship in Partnership with Kickstarter

If you're looking to develop a stronger relationship with the nonfiction storytelling community, and think you could benefit from one-on-one meetings with industry decision makers in the intimate environment of the Camden International Film Festival and Forum, check out this brand new initiative. From Points North Institute:

The North Star Scholarship is a collaboration between the Points North Institute and Kickstarter supporting three U.S.-based filmmakers of color with mentorship, travel and passes to attend the 2017 Camden International Film Festival and Points North Forum. The program is intended for filmmakers aged 21-29 who are just beginning to develop their careers and artistic voices, but haven’t yet completed their first feature-length documentary.

Extended Deadline: July 21

Middle East Film Initiative Call for Screenplays on Little Syria

If you're an American media maker of Middle Eastern descent or looking to tackle topics of importance to local Middle Eastern communities, check out the Middle East Film Initiative (MEFI). The organization promotes diversity and the creation of equal employment opportunities in United States media, and if you can come up with a short script for a screenplay centered on Manhattan's Little Syria, MEFI just might produce it. From MEFI:

The Middle East Film Initiative (MEFI) is soliciting narrative webisode screenplays on the subject of Manhattan’s Little Syria and its inhabitants. MEFI will select one webisode to be produced as the pilot of an episodic web series. Additional screenplays will be considered for the following episodes.

Deadline: July 20

If these apply to you, go ahead and apply to them! Best of luck.

For more summer opportunities for filmmakers and screenwriters, also check out our latest Summer Grants list and our Grants, Contests & Awards section where we will be sharing new opportunities that come up throughout the season.

Headline image of graduates from the Firelight Media Documentary Lab courtesy Firelight Media.