RESOURCES
INDUSTRY RESOURCES
Disney Dreamers Academy
Let Your Dream Change Your Life. Each spring, 100 exceptional young people arrive at the Disney Dreamers Academy with ambition, excitement and hopes for the future. The Disney Dreamers will return home with the motivation, guidance and skills to help make those dreams come true.
We Make Movies
We Make Movies is redefining what it means to be a film studio. We are a film collective with a thriving worldwide community, a service hub for all pre-pro, production, and post-production needs, a practical alternative to film school, and a digital branding and marketing agency for businesses, organizations, and indie artists alike.
Visual Communications
VC is dedicated to the honest and accurate portrayals of the Asian Pacific American peoples, communities, and heritage through the media arts. Our mission is to develop and support the voices of Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers and media artists who empower communities and challenge perspectives
Time's Up
A Foundation that enables people to seek justice through TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund™.They pioneer innovative research and solutions to address systemic inequality in the workplace through the TIME’S UP Impact Lab. And they support leaders in shifting the paradigm of workplace culture toward safety, equity, and dignity for women through TIME’S UP’s industry change initiatives.
Veterans in Media & Entertainment
VME is a professional association of U.S. military veterans working in, or aspiring to work in, media and entertainment. We connect veterans to jobs, internships, fellowships, and build community. We also serve as a talent pipeline of military talent for the industry.
The Takeoff Institute
The Takeoff Institute provides resources and mentorship tailored for Black undergraduate students. Our 8-week Summer Fellowship program provides students with the opportunity to develop professional and interpersonal skills, work with leaders in their desired field, and jump-start their careers.
GRANTS & FUNDS
Make Make
MakeMake Residencies are paid residencies in editorial, design and animation, visual effects, color, sound, and producing.
Diverse perspectives and inclusive teams are central to our industry’s ability to thrive. MakeMake's 9 month paid residencies focus on a specific discipline, increase visibility for vital storytelling careers and support aspiring talent in accelerating toward their potential.
Black Public Media 360 Incubator
The 360 Incubator+ is a professional development and fellowship program that builds a critical and wholistic ecosystem of support for content creators and their projects. An intensive 3-month incubator, the program helps to accelerate the production of projects in a supportive environment.
After participating in the 360 Incubator+ accelerators, projects are invited to participate in our pitching forum, PitchBLACK. Winning teams are awarded up to $150,000 in production funding
Lynn Shelton "Of a Certain Age" Grant
Established by Northwest Film Forum alongside Duplass Brothers Productions to honor Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton, the $25,000 unrestricted cash grant will be awarded each year to a woman or non-binary U.S. filmmaker, age 39 or older, who has yet to direct a narrative feature.
Mom Film Fest
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our mission at MOM Film Fest is to serve as a career development and advocacy resource for moms working in film and television.
With initiatives that create returnships for moms re-entering the workforce and supportive childcare solutions, we work to amplify the visibility of content made by moms in order to create job opportunities that will get #momsbackonset.
Find Your People Program
Find your people is a space for emerging creators to build community created by ColorCreative, founded by Issa Rae and Deniese Davis to support and develop the voices of the future while enabling women and people-of-color creators to reach their greatest potential.
Find your people is a training curriculum that provides specialized resources, mentorship and guidance for seven essential disciplines in the filmmaking process.
Academy Grants Program
The Academy Grants program directly supports the overall mission of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The program also supports the Academy’s commitment to diversity in the industry. The Academy seeks to fund proven and rising institutions that open pathways for storytellers from a wide range of backgrounds, and especially those from underserved communities.
AXS Film Fund
AXS Film fund strives to support independent documentary filmmakers and nonfiction new media creators of color living with disabilities in their endeavors to tell stories, make films, and create content.
Navigation of society is a multilayered experience made up of diverse perceptions of others around you. In terms of visibility and priority, people of color living with disabilities have lagged behind other minority groups. It is time to defeat the negative stereotypes and portrayals of disability.
Firelight Media William Graves Fund
Firelight Media launched the William Greaves Fund for mid-career nonfiction filmmakers of color.
This newly dedicated fund resources talented storytellers from racially and ethnically underrepresented communities in the US, as well as filmmakers from Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Colombia with a particular interest in those who identify as being of indigenous and/or of African descent.
ITVS Diversity Development Fund
Get seed funding to develop your single nonfiction program for broadcast on public television. We’re looking for exceptional stories by filmmakers from diverse backgrounds: stories that take creative risks, inspire dialogue, and are rarely seen on public media. We are committed to supporting producers of color and creating public media programming that is truly inclusive.
PROGRAMS
Hurston/Wright Foundation
Our mission is to discover, mentor and honor Black writers. We provide unique, impactful and memorable experiences of Black literary life that live far beyond the moment. We will strive to offer participants and supporters distinctive programs that enrich, fortify, and uplift the Black literary community.
Stage 32
Stage 32 acts as a marketplace allowing content creators to get beyond the gatekeepers to decision makers, creatives and professionals in film, television and digital content worldwide. Stage 32 provides award-winning webinars, classes and intensive labs taught by leaders in their respective fields.
NBCU LAUNCH
NBCU LAUNCH believes in the power of authentic and inclusive storytelling in building empathy and the power of seeing yourself represented on screen in evoking a feeling of empowerment.
We work to create lasting and meaningful change in the television industry by giving underrepresented voices access to substantive opportunities in front and behind the camera through our talent development programs.
EICOP
The Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program is a non-profit educational arts workforce development program, dedicated to educating, training, and recruiting the best and brightest diverse student leaders from our nation’s Historically Black Colleges, Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions
Hollywood CPR
HOLLYWOOD CPR is a non-profit organization founded by IATSE Local 44 member Kevin Considine with a 25-year history of training students to start working in key, union-recognized, entry-level positions. It offers vocational education across fifteen (15) trades and skills required for careers in the Artists, Crafts, and Technicians departments of the entertainment industry.
BRIC Foundation
BRIC Foundation aims to increase representation in Entertainment, Gaming, Media and Tech by strategically engaging with leaders across these industries. BRIC strives to Break, Reinvent, Impact and Change the foundations of businesses and create inclusive opportunities for women and underrepresented people.
FILM FESTIVALS
LA Skins Fest
The LA SKINS FEST is a Native American film festival that takes place every year as part of the City of Los Angeles Celebration of Native American Heritage Month. We offer additional programming to further encourage Native American filmmakers, including a monthly writers group, monthly directors workshop and the youth multimedia workshops.
Mom Film Fest
MOM Film Fest is an organization that serves as a career development and advocacy resource for mothers working in film and television. With initiatives that create returnships for mothers re-entering the workforce and supportive childcare solutions, we work to amplify the visibility of content made by moms in order to create job opportunities that will get #momsbackonset and back to work
Austin Asian American Film Festival
AAAFF mission is to champion Asian and Asian American stories via media arts and empowering Asian Americans to explore opportunities in cinema continues as we expand to include more collaborations with our peer film festival organizations in North America, educational programs, an AA/PI filmmaker database, and film industry resources for creatives.
American Black Film Festival
American Black Film Festival is an annual event that empowers Black artists and showcases a wide range of entertainment content made by and about people of African descent. The festival brings together Black culture enthusiasts, executives and content creators from around the world for five days of screenings, talk events, exclusive parties and high-powered networking.
EMERGENCY RESOURCES
Humanitas Fund
Humanitas honors and empowers film and television writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way.
To support feature film and television writers in our community as they stand for fair pay and protections in the workplace, recognizing that this action may result in financial hardship for writers and their families.
Humanitas is distributing grocery store gift cards to current WGA writers in need.
These will be dispersed while supplies last. Humanitas will be prioritizing writers who are early in their careers.
Submitters will need a Google account to complete a request.
Actors Fund of Canada
The AFC is the lifeline for Canada’s entertainment industry
Through compassionate support, we help Canadian entertainment professionals maintain their health, dignity, and ability to work.
Short-term financial assistance with costs of necessities to help you maintain your health, housing, or ability to work.
In case of a financial shortfall because of illness, injury, or other hardship, this program can help with immediate costs like rent or mortgage, groceries, medical and emergency dental expenses, utilities, phone and internet bills, and more.
SAG AFTRA Emergency Financial Assistance Fund
The Foundation offers several Emergency Financial Assistance Programs to eligible, dues-paying SAG-AFTRA members who are in urgent financial need
The foundation has multiple funds to help union members in emergency situations, including for those who’ve lost work because of a strike.
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund
The nonprofit is dedicated to “empowering mid-level disabled writers” is distributing grants to those in need. To apply for a grant, fill out the online application, which can also be obtained in plain text by emailing advocacy@inevitable.foundation.
The Fund will provide grants starting at $500 to disabled writers. All applicants are required to demonstrate financial need according to Inevitable Foundation's robust financial needs assessment included in the application.
WGA Strike Fund
Both the East and West branches of the WGA have strike funds, which they plan to distribute as loans or grants. Union members can find more details on the criteria for no-interest or low-interest loans on the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East websites
WGAW Good and Welfare Emergency Assistance Loans
the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF) has partnered with the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) to administer the Good and Welfare Emergency Assistance Fund. For 100 years, MPTF has provided a variety of services that provide emotional and financial relief to industry members and their families during times of need. Whether the hardship is personal or the result of an entertainment industry-wide event, MPTF has been there. MPTF’s history as a charitable organization, coupled with the expertise of the social services team, makes it keenly prepared to address the unique needs of entertainment industry members.
Will Rogers Pioneers Assistance Fund
The Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers (FMPP). The group established an assistance program (today known as the Pioneers Assistance Fund) that assisted motion picture industry members who were in need of financial aid and assistance. The stated goal of the program as drafted by its founders was as follows:
To establish a self-perpetuating fund to assist pioneers of the motion picture industry who find themselves in need; the assistance to consist of direct financial aid, medical care and temporary business subsistence during periods of unemployment to eligible applicants.
Motion Picture Television Fund
MPTF has multiple services available for support, including financial and mental health. The financial support is for immediate basic living expenses.
We provide temporary financial assistance to qualified industry members who have a demonstratable financial need due to unforeseen circumstances. This temporary assistance may help towards such basic living expenses as mortgage or rent payments, utility bills, car insurance premiums, car payments, and food.
All financial assistance services are provided in a non-judgmental and supportive environment with the goal of empowering you to better understand and manage your financial well-being.
Entertainment Community Fund
We provide human services nationally for people who work in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance. We’re here for everyone on stage, camera and behind the scenes to support a life in the arts.
Emergency financial assistance is available for people who are unable to pay their immediate basic living expenses (housing, food, utility bills or health care). If you can cover your expenses for the next few months, we ask that you wait to apply.