5.4: Fellowships

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Steve Shlisky
Laney College, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, Los Angeles City College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

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Scholarships for Filmmakers

Fellowships are like scholarships for filmmakers who are well on their way to completing their college degree. Many fellowship awardees have undergraduate, graduate, or are pursuing a post-graduate degree. Fellowships differ from grants in that they may require a service aspect tied to your project or a residency. A residency means that you would live and work for a period of time as defined by the particular award. A fellowship helps with funds for creating specific works. Applicants will compete for these prestigious positions and the end results are often very meaningful and important works.

A Small Sampling of Fellowships

The following, mostly documentary offerings, are a few of the opportunities available:

Airbnb Creative Fellowship:

PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship commissions six writers—emerging or established—to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate. Proposed projects may include—but are not limited to—fictional stories; works of literary or long-form journalism; theatrical, television or film scripts; memoirs; poetry collections; or multimedia projects. Fellows will receive mentoring, an honorarium of $10,000 and may request up to $5,000 in additional funding for travel and research. Writers 21 and up are invited to apply.

American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship:

A $5,000 stipend will be paid before start of a Fellowship period. The award, to be spent at the discretion of the Fellow, is designed to cover travel to Paris, accommodation, and expenses associated with the month in Paris. In addition to the stipend, the Library will connect the fellow to resources and people in Paris that could be helpful to his or her project.

The Bill Lane Center for the American West:

This Western Journalism and Media Fellowships provide opportunities for journalists working in all kinds of media — newspapers, magazines, radio, television, online, multimedia, video, film, data visualization and mapping, and books. The fellowship enables journalists to visit Stanford and interact with researchers, scholars, and students; develop or work on a project of their own design; and spur new coverage and understanding of the American West.

Boehm Media Fellowship:

The Boehm Media Fellowships provides opportunities for communication, media, and storytelling experts who are committed to social impact and sustainable solutions to poverty and injustice to participate as delegates at Opportunity Collaboration. They seek individuals who, on their own or through their organizational roles, utilize the media in creative and innovative ways to influence culture, collaborate with communities and interface with new paradigms and ideas to catalyze change.

Brave New Fellows Program:

Offers activist storytellers from communities of color and/or economically marginalized communities a one-year, paid opportunity to work with Brave New Films and learn how to create and distribute media that makes a difference. As compensation, each fellow receives $800/week for the duration of the fellowship, medical and dental insurance, and paid time off.

Creative Capital Awards:

A long-term partnership between Creative Capital, artists, and a broader artistic community. Creative Capital supports projects in the long term, offering connections to expert advice on everything from the law to finances, and to the perspectives and expertise of other artists. The goal is not just the successful development of groundbreaking work, but more stable and sustainable practices, on which artists can build.

CBA Resident Fellowship Program:

The CBA Fellowship Program awards residencies to artists and scholars across disciplines to work on projects that expand the way we think about the history, practice, and performance of dance. Fellows are not required to be experts in ballet or dance, but must have an interest in engaging with the art. The fellowship provides space, a stipend, and time to pursue rigorous work. Fellows also gain new colleagues and a broad community of artists and scholars, two communities that do not often meet.

Fulbright/National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship:

This fellowship accepts proposals to undertake an in-depth examination of a globally relevant issue as an enhancement to their Fulbright research or arts project. The National Geographic Society’s focus areas are: Oceans, Land, Wildlife, Human History & Cultures, and Human Ingenuity. Storytellers may use a variety of storytelling tools—including, but not limited to writing, photography, video, audio/podcasts, maps, or graphic illustrations to share their stories.

SFFILM/Rainin Filmmaking Grants:

Awards are made to multiple projects once a year in the fall, for screenwriting, development, and post-production. In addition to a cash grant of up to $25,000, recipients secure a two month residency at FilmHouse and benefit from SFFILM’s comprehensive and dynamic artist development programs. The program is open to filmmakers in the US and internationally who can commit to spending time developing the film in San Francisco.

The Sundance Institute Comedy Fellowship:

Provides targeted support to the next generation of diverse, culturally relevant comedic voices. The fellowship supports one artist/project that will participate in either the January Screenwriters Lab or March Screenwriters Intensive and includes an unrestricted grant and customized mentorship from FFP staff. Writers or writer/directors developing their first or second fiction feature film are eligible for the fellowship.

Soros Justice Fellowships in Media:

The Soros Justice Media Fellowships support writers, print and broadcast journalists, bloggers, filmmakers, and other individuals with distinctive voices proposing to complete media projects that engage and inform, spur debate and conversation, and catalyze change on important U.S. criminal justice issues.

Writing for Justice Fellowship:

PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship commissions writers—emerging or established—to create written works (including screenplays) of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate.