January News

Welcome to January!

Image by FreePik

Happy 2025 WIFSFBA members! Glad you’re here. Thanks for joining us last month for our in-person mixer, despite the stormy weather that amazingly receded once we were all there and the sun shimmered through the rain clouds! Here’s another poem to get our creativity flowing in the new year.


The Snow Man


One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;


And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice,

The spruces rough in the distant glitter


Of the January sun; and not to think

Of any misery in the sound of the wind,

In the sound of a few leaves,


Which is the sound of the land

Full of the same wind

That is blowing in the same bare place


For the listener, who listens in the snow,

And, nothing himself, beholds

Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.


By Wallace Stevens


Somewhat bleak but beautiful methinks! 


Now let’s take a stroll down memory lane at what we accomplished last year at WIFSFBA:


2024 End of Year Reflection



Hoping this upcoming year is also filled with inspiring and insightful events for our community. Happy 2025!


-Nil Unerdem, WIFSFBA Secretary

Letter from the President

Dear Members,

As we reflect on the past year, I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for all that we’ve accomplished together. It has been a year of connection, empowerment, and growth, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the energy, passion, and dedication our dedicated board of directors and each of you has brought to our community.

This year, we focused on creating spaces where meaningful conversations could take place, offering opportunities for learning, collaboration, and support. Through our events, we’ve brought in powerful speakers, industry leaders, and visionaries who shared their invaluable insights, inspired us, and sparked important conversations about the future of film. These sessions have helped us grow not just professionally, but personally—reinforcing the idea that we are stronger together.

Our community has expanded, and with that growth, we’ve continued to build a space where all genders and nonbinary individuals are celebrated, valued, and supported. Our mission of inclusivity remains at the forefront of everything we do, and it’s because of each of you that we’ve been able to create a place where diverse voices and perspectives can thrive.

Looking ahead, I’m excited to announce a special moment for me personally: On January 11, my documentary The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival will be screened at the de Young Museum as part of their program. This will be an incredible opportunity to share the life and legacy of Tamara de Lempicka and to celebrate the art and resilience of women in history. I’m honored to be able to present the film with a follow up Q&A and look forward to the conversation and reflection it will inspire.

Here are the details for the screening:

🗓️ When: January 11 at 1:00 PM

📍 Where: Koret Auditorium at the de Young Museum

✨ Introduction by: Furio Rinaldi, curator of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, and Julie Rubio, the film’s director.

🎞️ Q&A to follow

Free program. Theater doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the program. Seating is limited, unassigned, and first come, first served. Admission to the theater program does not include admission to the special exhibition or other galleries in the museum.

In this season of reflection, it is also important to acknowledge the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., whose commitment to justice, equality, and service continues to inspire us all. As we move into the new year, let us honor his vision by continuing to work toward inclusivity and fairness, uplifting those whose voices have been marginalized, and fighting for a more peaceful and just world for all.

As we step into the new year, I want to take a moment to wish each of you a happy and healthy New Year. May it be filled with joy, growth, and opportunities to continue making a meaningful impact in our community and beyond.

Thank you for your continued dedication and support of Women in Film San Francisco Bay Area. You make all the difference, and I’m truly honored to be part of such a dynamic and inspiring community.

With gratitude,

Julie Rubio, President, Women in Film San Francisco Bay Area

WIFSFBA UPDATES

December In-Person Holiday Mixer Wrap Up

Thanks to everyone for joining us on a stormy afternoon at Cafenated Coffee in Berkeley! It was great to see so many new faces! We had actors, writers, producers, editors, directors, a plethora of amazing film collaborators! Many connections were made that will hopefully lead to creative collaborations.

We had a fun drawing for WIFSFBA merch (check out our store on wifsfba.org) and a White Elephant gift exchange where some people stole other people’s hard earned gifts. You know who you are!

Thanks again to everyone for joining. Hope to see you all at another in-person event soon!

Script Incubator News

Our next monthly Table Read will be on Monday January 20th from 7-9pm. Come join us and hear 1-10 page excerpts from writers’ work, read by talented actors from the Bay Area and beyond. 

No homework! Just show up! And all participants are encouraged to give feedback.

If you have any questions about the table-read or would like to reserve a spot for your script at the next meeting, feel free to contact Carol Hall at bod-admin@wifsfba.org with “Script Incubator” in the subject line. 

The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival future Screenings!

The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival will be screening at the Orinda Theatre on January 7, 6:30PM with Q&A, the de Young Museum on January 11 at 1:00PM and we are thrilled to announce our New York premiere in January at the New York Jewish Film Festival at Walter Reed theater at Lincoln Center as well as the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival in February. Please see details below.

ORINDA THEATER SCREENING

Purchase Tickets Here: The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka and the Art of Survival Showtimes & Tickets - Orinda Theater

FAMSF's DE YOUNG MUSEUM SCREENING First Come, First served

More info Here: Film Screening: The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka + the Art of Survival

NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL SCREENING

Purchase Tickets Here: The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival

SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL SCREENING

Purchase Tickets Here: The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & The Art of Survival | 2025 SDIJFF

Happy Holidays and we hope to see you at the movies! 

Warm Regards, President Julie Rubio  

WIFSFBA Merch Store!

Check out our exclusive new WIFSFBA Film Role Apparel (Producer, Director, Screenwriter, etc.)! Wear your film role with pride AND support Women in Film San Francisco Bay Area at the same time! Whether you're treating yourself or finding the ideal gift for a friend, we've got something special for everyone. Check out the online store here: WIFSFBA merch

Member Spotlight: Kristin Tieche 

Kristin Jonasson doing White-Nose Syndrome field research for Bat Conservation International. Courtesy photo by Skip Hobbie for The Invisible Mammal.

Spectators at the Bracken Cave bat emergence, Central Texas. Courtesy photo by Skip Hobbie for The Invisible Mammal.)

By Noma Faingold

Kristen Tiéche walks into Le Café du Soleil, a French bistro in the Lower Haight with unremarkable décor, clutching her little black mixed-breed dog, Zizou. She rode her bike from her Inner Richmond home. It’s mid-afternoon. As she places a glass of white wine accompanied by a glass of water at a window table, she mentions that her day is tighter than she realized, having already spent time at a volunteer garden followed by a shower. “I have people coming over to my place at 5:30 p.m.,” she said.

She seems more animated than flustered, as if packing her day with activities and to-dos is her norm. “It’s my personality. I like a mix,” Tiéche, 54, said. “I’ve always been like that.” Tiéche’s career as a filmmaker reflects a diverse set of skills, roles, and interests. The San Francisco native, who grew up in Mill Valley, excels at editing, producing, directing, writing, and teaching. “I’ll never be satisfied doing just one thing,” she said. “If I’m only directing or producing, I’ll miss just getting into that zone with editing or writing, which I’m good at. Writing is about creating something from nothing. Producing involves a lot of project managing, which I like doing too. I like putting together great teams. There’s not a lot of people who are like me.”

She has her own production company called Selvavision. For many years she has secured steady work producing, directing, and editing video content for corporate, startup, education, and non-profit clients, including Sephora, PayPal, NHK Japan and Sustainable Future Outdoor Academy. 

As a freelance editor, she has worked on a wide variety of unscripted and non-fiction programming for broadcast, cable, festival, and theatrical release. Genres include true crime, reality, lifestyle, and history. “Judgement with Ashleigh Banfield” and “Someone They Knew with Tamron Hall” for Court TV and “Eye on the Bay” for KPIX (CBS Bay Area affiliate) are among Tiéche’s credits. However, it’s environmental and nature content for such networks as National Geographic, PBS and Al Jazeera, where her work stands out most. On her website, she refers to herself as an “environmental filmmaker.”  

For nearly six years, her passion project has been a full-length documentary titled The Invisible Mammal which she wrote, directed, and co-produced. It’s about bats and women scientists who study North American bats being plagued by an infectious, deadly disease called White Nose Syndrome. The Pseudogymnoascus Destructans (PD) fungus is found in the damp caves and mines where bats hibernate. Once WNS infects a bat, it becomes an irritant around their noses and ears, repeatedly interrupting their sleep which leads to the bats burning their fat storage and starving to death. WNS has caused widespread declines of hibernating bat populations since 2006.

Tiéche has been working for free on The Invisible Mammal for nearly six years. Virtually all the production’s financing has come from crowd-funding campaigns and a few private donors. Principal photography was completed in 2022. She is still trying to raise money to finish the editing and to market the film. Hosting a few small house parties and fundraising events have drummed up support for the film, which she plans on releasing this year. Right now, she is in the thick of submitting the “work in progress” to film festivals, including SXSW and the SFFILM Festival.  

 Aside from the DC Comics “Batman” movie franchise, are audiences interested in bats? “You would be surprised. People love bats. They think bats are cool,” she said. “They’ve been waiting for a bat doc.”

Tièche’s fascination with bats started more than 25 years ago, while she was earning a Master of Arts degree in TV-Radio-Film at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. One summer evening, she was having some beers with classmates on the terrace of a campus pub. “All of a sudden, I thought I saw something fly by my head. I looked up and the sky was just filled with bats. They were everywhere,” she said. “It was the first time I’d ever seen a bat emergence. San Francisco is not a place where bats fly around at night. Being a nature lover, I thought it was so cool. It stuck with me.”

After grad school and a two-year stint with the Teach for America program in Mississippi, Tièche returned to San Francisco, which had a thriving documentary community at the time. But soon she moved to Los Angeles because she needed to make some serious money to pay off her student loan debt. “There is an industry here, but it’s not Hollywood,” she said. 

Three years later (2006), she returned to San Francisco. Between work assignments, Tièche started researching bats. She first learned about WNS from a 2009 New Yorker article by environmental journalist Elizabeth Colbert and became concerned how bats were dying in North America by the millions. “My heart broke when I read that story,” she said. “I wanted to know if somebody could find a solution to this possible extinction of a species.”

Without production money, she went ahead and shot some footage at the nearest bat colony of 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats, located on Interstate 80 near Davis. There, she met Corky Quirk, a bat tour guide and educator for the Yolo Basin Foundation and founder of NorCal Bats. Tièche gathered enough material over time to put together a 10-minute short, “The Bat Rescuer,” profiling Quirk. “I like to tell character-driven stories where audiences can really latch onto a character and go on a journey with that character,” she said. “I like to build character-driven stories like a narrative.”


“The Bat Rescuer” was released in 2016 at festivals to enthusiastic audiences and is still available to stream online.  “People loved the film. They told me that they wanted to go out and see a bat flight or to help the bats,” Tièche said. “I knew I was onto something.”

Securing some funding in 2019, she embarked on expanding the film into a 90-minute feature. She added two producers, a cinematographer, who specializes in shooting bats, and editor Heidi Zimmerman of Portland, whose style is similar to Tièche’s. She sought out Zimmerman after screening a film Zimmerman edited, Dammed to Extinction, about how four obsolete dams along the Pacific Coast are cutting off access to thousands of miles of rivers for endangered salmon and near-extinct orcas.

“I really liked the way she blended factual storytelling with nature,” Tièche said. “She brought policy and politics into the film, along with all this beautiful nature footage. That’s what I wanted to do with the bat film.”

Key sources in the The Invisible Mammal are three women scientists, including UC Santa Cruz research professor and Chief Scientist at Bat Conservation International, Winifred Frick, who (with her research team) have discovered a way to help bats combat white-nose syndrome. The project is called Operation Fat Bat. The innovative solution is to use light to lure the bats out of the caves, allowing them to feast on insects before winter hibernation. The film crew traveled to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with Frick to document the bat population and to examine the progress of the OFB mission to feed and save bats. 

Unforgettable imagery Tièche witnessed and captured while directing her first feature occurred on location at Bracken Cave on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, home of the largest known bat colony in the world (20 million Mexican free-tailed bats). “You sit outside the cave on a ridge. When they come out, they do this thing called the ‘Batnato.’ It’s this vortex,” she said. “It’s the most incredible wildlife experience I have ever seen.”

Before Tièche devoted a couple of years to “The Bat Rescuer,” and another six years to The Invisible Mammal, she wrote, produced, and directed a feminist horror short (running time: 17:45 minutes) “The Spinster” which premiered in 2014. The protagonist is described as a “cycle vixen” on the film’s website. Bicycle enthusiast/activist Tièche wanted her main character to be a bike rider cruising the streets of San Francisco, who is “loved and feared.” 

In 2020, when Covid hit, it didn’t derail the progress of The Invisible Mammal. However, bats were initially being demonized as the cause of the pandemic, which was later debunked. “The world was blaming bats. It was pretty serious,” Tièche said. “We had to pivot the story and make that part of the film.”

Once the documentary is released, Tièche plans to start new projects, while continuing her regular gig of teaching editing at Diablo Valley College. “I want to write some screenplays. I couldn’t do that while making this film. It takes so much of my time,” she said. “The majority of my ideas have something to do with women and/or the environment.” 

 

To learn more about “The Invisible Mammal” and Kristin Tièche: The Invisible Mammal

Instagram: @theinvisiblemammal @ktieche

The Spinster Movie

MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

Do you have career or event news you’d like to share with fellow members?  

We’d really like to hear about any recent career accomplishments, awards, new ventures, or a positive experience having to do with our industry.  This is one of the advantages to being part of an organization like WIFSFBA -- by letting others know what you’re doing, you can expand your creative family and even  find new collaborators for future projects.   

So…take a moment to sit down and write something you’d like to share with your WIFSFBA sisters.  Then email that blurb and any related images to bod-admin@wifsfba.org with ‘Members in the News’ in the subject line.  Do it now rather than next week -- you deserve to shine!  Submit one week before the end of the month to be included in the next newsletter.

Community Partners 

A BIG THANK YOU to our December Community Partners

"The  ALLIANCE OF WOMEN DIRECTORS is the only organization solely dedicated to education, support and advocacy for women directors in the entertainment industry. It is an inclusive collective of over 600 professional women and gender nonbinary directors and allies working together to affect positive, lasting change in the entertainment industry. Representation Matters.

AWD is committed to substantially increasing the number of working women and gender nonbinary directors in film, television, commercials and new media by:


MORE INFO:  Alliance of Women Directors    

Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival

Short Film Script Submissions Open Nov. 28!


Festival Dates: April 24-27, 2025
Deadlines: Dec 24th early, Jan 15th regular deadline for scripts

Where: Bellingham, WA

Cost: $20-$40 to enter 


WIFSFBA is proud to be a Community Partner of the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival in Bellingham, WA! 

“Short film script submissions are open November 28 through January 15 on FilmFreeway for CASCADIA's 2025 Script Studio to be Sunday, April 27 during the Festival.  Scripts must be unproduced, written by a woman and 25 pages or less in length. All genres are welcome.  Four scripts will be selected for the 2025 festival. Writers must attend in person. 

All writers selected for the festival receive a stipend fee. Selected scripts will be read live by our ensemble of actors. Afterwards, a panel of film industry professionals will discuss the script with the writer.

CASCADIA will be April 24-27, 2025 in person in Bellingham, WA. with an online version of the festival to take place May 1-11, 2025. More details can be found here on Film Freeway or on CASCADIA's website.”


MORE INFO: Cascadia Women's Film Festival

Legacy Film Festival on Aging

"The Legacy Film Festival on Aging (LFFOA), based in San Francisco, is extremely proud to present its 12th Annual/3rd Virtual Film Festival, beginning February 14-23, 2025.

Films from around the globe will be featured, both fiction and documentary, all aimed at supporting the LFFOA mission: To educate, inspire, and entertain intergenerational audiences on the issues of aging. In addition, we hope to promote new and fresh ideas for older adults to live a more productive and healthy older life, both physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Some of this year’s festival themes are Caring for Elders, Community, Dreams and Goals, End of Life Experience, Family, Food, Free Spirits, Love Always, Memories, Pioneers, Resilience, Seeking Creativity, and The Next Step."

MORE INFO: Legacy Film Festival

WIFT-US Member National Networking

When: January 16th, 2025, 7:00 PM Eastern, 4:00 PM Pacific
Where: Zoom

“Join us to meet other crew across the US! Crewing up in another area, join us and let’s put you guys together! Want to network? Join us! Must be a paid member of your local WIF chapter.”

MORE INFO:   Register for WIFTUS Networking Night 

January Networking

The Vine: The Video Industry Networking Event
When:  January 2nd, 2025, 6:00-8:00 PM
Where: Port Labs, 2044 Franklin St., Oakland, CA

“The Vine mixer promises to be another fantastic opportunity to catch up with colleagues, forge new connections, and share insights into the latest trends and innovations in our industry.

​You’ll also have the opportunity to promote yourself and what you are working on, during the last portion of the evening in a segment we call 'Voices of the Vine.'

​So whether you’re a filmmaker, DP, motion designer, producer, editor, or play ANY role in the video industry, The VINE is the place to be for networking, promotion and inspiration.”

Register here: Vine Mixer Event

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Athena Film Festival - Abortion Pipeline Project

Regular deadline: February 3rd, 2025
Cost: Free

“The Abortion Pipeline Project (APP) is an annual lab for feature film scripts to seed and source narrative film projects which center abortion. It is part of the Athena Film Festival’s Creative Development Program.

APP writers will take part in a virtual lab and other virtual sessions which will introduce writers to reproductive justice experts and writing coaches to create stories that are steeped in expertise. The participants will also be connected with writing mentors to support their creative process, and will receive a grant to continue to develop their project.

The Abortion Pipeline Project is in Collaboration with: Jess Jacobs, filmmaker/activist; Renee Bracey-Sherman, Co-Executive Director of We Testify; Dr. Gretchen Sisson, lead researcher of ANSIRH’s Abortion Onscreen; Melissa Silverstein, Artistic Director of Athena Film Festival."

MORE INFO: APP on Film Freeway

Dayton Black Women's Film Festival

Late Deadline:  January 22, 2024


The DBWFF is a platform for films that honor, discover and share the Black, African American, and African Diaspora experience. The festival also aims to strengthen the community and create opportunities for collaboration among black women filmmakers in Dayton, nearby regions, and globally. The ultimate goal is to ensure that there is always a place for black women filmmakers to be celebrated, acknowledged, and welcomed in the film industry.


To be eligible for consideration: The films must be directed by a woman (trans, non-binary) filmmaker of African descent and have a running time between 4 to 12 minutes. Additionally, the films must have been completed within the last 2 years.”

Submit here: Dayton Black Women's FF

Stowe 2025 Longform Writing Programs

Final deadline: January 27th, 2025

“Applications are now being accepted for Stowe's online feature script writing program -- Feature Campus -- and our online TV writing program -- the Writers Room. Admissions are rolling and will be capped at 12 participants for each program.”

MORE INFO: Stowe Story Labs

Film Independent Documentary Story Lab

Application Fee: FREE for Filmmaker Pro Members (limited to one waived fee per Membership year), $45 for Film Independent Members, $65 for non-Members

Documentary Story Lab 2025
Applications Open: September 30, 2024
Film Independent Member Extended Deadline: January 6, 2025


Documentary Producing Lab 2024
Applications Open: April 29, 2024
Non-Member Deadline: June 17, 2024
Film Independent Member Extended Deadline: July 1, 2024

“Through a series of meetings and workshops, the Documentary Story Lab and Documentary Producing Lab advance the careers of nonfiction filmmakers by introducing them to film professionals who provide advice and expertise on both the craft and business of documentary filmmaking.

The Documentary Story Lab only accepts projects in the final stages of production or early post-production. The Lab is for directors, although director/producers can apply. Projects in the research and/or development phase or projects that have locked their picture edit are not eligible.

The Documentary Producing Lab accepts projects in active development, production or post-production. Applicants who are also directing the project they are submitting are ineligible.”

MORE INFO: FI Documentary Lab & Applications page here: FI applications page

New Voice Awards - Amplify - Edinburgh Festival

Final deadline: January 9th, 2025

“Celebrate emerging creatives and find out what it takes to get your big break at Amplify x New Voice Awards 2025. 

Get the inside track on the moves and connections that will make your career take flight with a mix of inspiring talks, practical insights and of course the award winners’ moment in the spotlight. 

The evening will start with networking and advice from broadcasters and companies bringing new talent into the industry. Then the main event begins – with a lively mix of Awards and talks to demystify the industry while championing the most talented new voices in TV. And of course ending the night with celebratory party.”

MORE INFO: New Voice Awards - Edinburgh Festival

Brooklyn Film Festival

Regular Deadline - For shorts, January 5th, 2025.
Advanced  Deadline -  Features - January 17, 2025. For shorts, January 31st, 2025.
Late Deadline - Features - February 10th, 2025. For shorts, February 25th, 2025.

“The 28th BFF is a festival for and by independent filmmakers. Although we are a fully inclusive organization and any filmmaker can potentially participate in our competitive festival, discovering and promoting independent filmmakers at their first or second film is at the very center of our year-round efforts. Our mission is to provide a forum to advance public interest in indie film; to support every year a new generation of filmmakers with a unique vision; and to promote artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure. BFF accepts submissions in six categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Short Narrative, Short Documentary, Experimental, and Animation.”

Submit here: Brooklyn Film Festival

Austin Film Festival Screenplay & Teleplay Competition

Submissions OPEN: December 9, 2024

Competition Deadlines:

Feature Screenplay
Early Bird Deadline: 3/25/25 – $60
Regular Deadline: 4/22/25 – $70
Late Deadline: 5/27/25 – $90

Short Screenplay & Teleplay
Early Bird Deadline: 3/25/25 – $50
Regular Deadline: 4/22/25 – $60
Late Deadline: 5/27/25 – $75


“For thirty years, Austin Film Festival has been catapulting writers into life-changing careers. With one of the most noteworthy competitions among Hollywood tastemakers, AFF consistently yanks newcomers from the isolation of their desks and ushers them into the bustling world of film and televisions  Whether your dream is to sign a contract, land an agent, learn from an industry icon, or take home the coveted Bronze Typewriter Award, it’s simple: you can’t win if you don’t enter.”


Submit Here: AFF Screenplay & Teleplay Competition

The Black List 2025 Annual Labs

Deadline: June 1, 2025

“The Annual Labs offer training to six promising, non-professional writers in each of two cohorts: (1) the Writers Lab cohort, focused on feature scripts to be sold within the studio system, and (2) the Projects Lab cohort, focused on feature scripts that the writer intends to direct. The Labs will remain exclusively writing-focused programs in which each participating writer workshops the script that gets them into the Lab.”

MORE INFO:The Black List Programs

 GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS CORNER

JFI Completion Grant

Application window:  January 10 through February 14, 2025. 2025 

“The Jewish Film Institute (JFI) Completion Grants support independent film and media arts projects that probe nuanced and surprising corners of Jewish life, history, culture, and identity. Grants provide critical resources for filmmakers to accelerate the final stages of their films as the funding landscape for independent filmmakers—particularly those seeking to reflect the full spectrum of Jewish experiences—becomes more challenging. Launched in 2020 to address the growing need for Jewish film funders nationally and internationally, the Grants advocate for films that challenge stereotypes and conventions, spark impactful conversations about Jewish life, and innovate storytelling forms.”

Apply here:   JFI Completion Grant       

The Female Filmmakers in Tech & Art Fund

Submission deadline:  Now through March 18th, 2025

“The Female Filmmakers in Tech & Art Fund is a unique funding initiative aimed at empowering women filmmakers who are currently in production or post-production of a feature documentary focused on the intersection of technology and art. This fund is designed to support and amplify the voices of female creators who are exploring innovative narratives in these rapidly evolving fields. Funding Amount: Up to £8,000 will be awarded to selected filmmakers

MORE INFO: Female Filmmakers in Tech & Art

Roy W. Dean Short Film Grant (From the Heart Productions)

Applications Open: January 1, 2025

Winner receives $3,000 in Cash and Donated Services

“Many filmmakers use short films to hone their craft and as a proof of concept for later full length features. From the Heart Productions wants to support their work and encourage them to make films with stories told with passion that enlighten us about our lives and the world we live in. This grant is specifically for narrative fiction shorts, live action or animated, that are 40 minutes or less in length. Among the donations the winner could receive are:

Apply Here:  Roy Dean Short Film Grant  

12th Annual Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship

Late Deadline: January 31st, 2025
Final Deadline: February 28th, 2025

"The ScreenCraft Fellowship gets you exposure, access and validation. Over 30 professionals are ready to meet with each screenwriter selected. This is THE fellowship to introduce you to Hollywood. Our team works with you to understand you and your writing. We have developed these industry relationships and are ready to match you with your wishlist.

Selected Fellows receive:  Access to a development team, exposure to industry giants, networking opportunities, and a life-changing week of meetings.

With the support of ScreenCraft, former fellows have been hired to write film and television for Netflix, Apple TV+, ABC, The CW, Amazon, FX, NBC, Hulu, and more. Fellows expand their network through virtual industry meetings. Past fellows have met with companies like Warner Bros., Blumhouse, Bad Robot, and have landed representation with Good Fear, Gersh, Brillstein, CAA, 3 Arts, UTA, and others."

Apply here: Screencraft Fellowship

The Whickers - Film and TV Funding Award

Application Deadline:  January 31, 2025

“Awarded annually to an emerging filmmaker from anywhere in the world with the most promising pitch for a director-led documentary. With a main award worth £100K and a development award for the runner-up of £20K, The Whickers Film & TV Funding Award is one of the most significant documentary awards in the world.”

Apply here:: The Whickers

Impact Partners Development Fund

Application Deadline:  rolling deadline

“For early-stage documentary features, series, or projects that could be either. Impact Partners will invest in the development of 4-8 projects a year, with a range of $10K -$100K per project. We are now accepting applications. Filmmakers can apply to the fund for a variety of reasons as they get their projects off the ground, including development shoots, cutting a trailer or reel, conducting archival research, casting characters, etc.”

Apply here:: Impact Partners

Thanks to Newsletter Contributors:  Diane Walsh, Julie Rubio, Nil Unerdem

Newsletter designed by Lina Indeeva and edited by Nil Unerdem