An occasional series of posts that will discuss the extensive process of putting together a grant application.

Part II:

When putting together your grant application, the two largest components are the script and the budget. However, the other supporting items can also make or break it.

The synopsis should be brief yet descriptive, and in principle, should reflect the essence of the work. This is one of your tools to encourage the reader to accept your grant proposal. Also, in terms of the biography, it should essentially be a tailored resume that includes anything relevant from college coursework to previous work experiences with film.

Your entire grant application should be a well-crafted piece of artwork in and of itself. Straddling the line between a lack of relevant information that could potentially sway the reader, and an overwhelming deluge of relevant but useless facts, is the key to receiving the grant.

Get more specific details from the following link:
http://2billiondesirables.multiply.com/journal/item/2

Contributed by Christina Chen,
UC Berkeley student

Film Grants in the State of New York:

As one of the world’s largest and most important production centers, New York City is the ultimate place to break into the media and entertainment industries. To help support the City’s rising film, theatre and broadcasting stars, numerous organizations offer fiscal sponsorship and a variety of other resources. Here’s where to go for more information on grants and sponsorship:

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting artists in New York State. NYFA Source is the organization’s online database listing thousands of grants and sponsorship opportunities available to artists in a variety of fields, including film, theatre and broadcasting. The database allows users to search by discipline, geographic area and other criteria to develop lists of grants for which they are eligible to apply. Through NYFA Source Live Assistance, the organization provides free advice via telephone and e-mail to help artists with this process.

NYFA also awards more than $11 million in grants to individual artists annually, and offers fiscal sponsorship to emerging media and artistic organizations. NYFA sponsorship provides these organizations with the legal status and 501 (c) (3) non-profit, tax exempt status required to apply for funding from many organizations. For more information, visit http://www.nyfa.org.

New York State also awards grants to non-profit arts organizations. The program is administered by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and funded by the Governor, New York State Legislature and National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on these awards and on other resources available to artists in the State, visit www.nysca.org.

Source: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/incentives/film_grants.shtml

New York City, with a population of over eight million people, is located at the mouth of the Hudson River Estuary which stretches 153 miles inland from the Atlantic ocean and includes a wide range of wetland habitats. Home to more than 200 species of fish, the Hudson River Estuary serves as a nursery ground for sturgeon, striped bass and American shad. It also supports an abundance of other river-dependent wildlife, especially birds. (Photo: Stanne/NYSDEC)

On the http://filmbiz101.com resource website we posted a page that asks:

A distribution or acquisition deal can help you recoup your investment, but how do you get the financing in the first place???

We think this is a critical question for just about every documentary filmmaker. Check out our observations on the state of funding for this genre.

Here is one tidbit:

Private donors are important and you may be able to obtain their financial contributions. In order to offer a tax benefit to donors, you must either establish a non-profit organization or your project must receive Fiscal Sponsorship.

Read the full article on funding documentaries

Posted on Sun, Sep. 10, 2006

New film funding source: The fans
`Iraq for Sale’ producer solicited donations via the Internet for movie
WILLIAM BOOTH
Washington Post

The e-mail alerted potential supporters that Greenwald was committed to making “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers.” Gilliam wrote: “To start shooting, we need money. Overall, the film will cost $750,000. We can expect about $450,000 to be offset by DVD sales, selling foreign rights, and an advance from our retail store distributor, but we still need $300,000. A generous donor just stepped up and will contribute $100,000 if we can match it with $200,000 from someone else. That someone else is you! 4000 people giving $50 each. We’ll put everyone’s name in the credits.”

They got $267,892 in 10 days.

Charlotte Observer http://tinyurl.com/z6h77

Fiscal sponsorship can allow donors to a film to receive a tax deductible write-off. Without such a financing arrangement in place, donors to a film are making a personal gift that has no tax benefit.

Organizations such as the Film Arts Foundation offer fiscal sponsorship:

http://www.filmarts.org/services.php?function=fiscal