January 2011 Archives

Kayla Kearney is a senior at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, California. This year, at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Assembly, she told her peers that she is a lesbian, a secret she had been keeping her whole life. Watch her bravery and be inspired to tell your own story.

The Fledgling Fund congratulates all of the 2011 Academy Award Nominees in the documentary categories.  We are especially excited about the nominations of two of our grantees.  Gasland has been nominated for best documentary and Warriors of Qiugang for best Documentary Short.  We are rooting you both on as the world takes a new look at your stories.  You can see all of the nominees here.  Both of these films, like others on the nominations list, have already made a real social impact, and this nomination will only support them in their quest to change hearts and minds.  

The True Life Fund returns for a fifth year to demonstrate that documentaries create change. The 2011 selection is The Interrupters (dir. Steve James), a real-life Midwestern superhero movie. All funds raised will be targeted to help the three main characters in the film -- Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams and Eddie Bocanegra -- who work with the anti-violence group CeaseFire. Their mission is to interrupt the next retribution-seeking shooting on the Chicago streets. The interrupters go about their work with a combination of bravado, humility and even humor, and yet their work is fraught with moral quandaries, as they walk a precipitous line: stepping between adversaries (sometimes people they know), figuring out their relationship with the police and resisting the lure of the very streets which gave them their reputations. As they venture into their communities, they confront the importance of family, the noxious nature of poverty, and the place of race. And they do it with incredible candor and directness.

From acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), The Interrupters is an unusually intimate and provocative journey into the debilitating effects of the thousands of shootings each year in our urban centers. This is a film that goes to the center of "the madness," in an attempt to grapple with the causes of the violence, and more importantly with how we might best defuse it.

For a peak into how we work and some of the success stories from our grantees, check out this 4-minute video here:



Ever wonder what the difference between "distribution", "outreach" and "audience engagement" is?  Find some answers in our new 2-minute video:

Today PUMA.Creative and Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation announced the launch of the PUMA.Creative Impact Award, a major new annual award to honor the documentary film creating the most significant impact in the world. This 50,000 Euro award acknowledges the film's makers and will help the continuation of the film's campaign work.

The PUMA.Creative Impact Award will be selected by a jury which includes Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award-nominated Director of Super Size Me; Orlando Bagwell, Director of the Ford Foundation Social Justice Media Initiative; and Emmanuel Jal, musician and activist.

The call for the PUMA.Creative Impact Award opens on January 21 during the Sundance Film Festival. Anyone can put a film forward from any country - filmmakers, distributors, film festivals, partner organizations including NGOs and Foundations, film critics and journalists. Each filmmaking team must submit data demonstrating evidence of the film's social impact and if shortlisted additional data and verifications will be requested. Films can be put forward any time up to three years after release (where the release is defined as first film festival screening, TV broadcast, cinema release or internet release).

Submissions close on April 1, 2011 when Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation will assess applications and produce a shortlist to be assessed by an international Peer Review Committee including: Carol Cone, Executive Vice President of Cone@Edelman; Diana Barrett, President and Founder of Fledgling Fund; Yvette Alberdingkthijm, Executive Director of WITNESS; Pat Aufderheide, Director of Center for Social Media, American University; Isabelle Schwarz, Head of Strategic Programmes at European Cultural Foundation; and Sarah Hunter, Head of UK Public Policy at Google.

Five final nominated films will then be put forward to the Jury for consideration. The PUMA.Creative Impact Award will be given in London in October at the annual PUMA.Creative and Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation Gala and Awards Ceremony.

Filmmakers interested in applying for the PUMA.Creative Impact Award should go to www.britdoc.org/impactaward.

The Fledgling Fund is pleased to announce our newest grantees. The winter application round was incredibly competitive with over 350 Letters of Inquiry submitted, of which 71 were invited to submit full applications.  We appreciate the effort that all applicants put into completing the process and wish each project tremendous and sustained success. We believe that each of the following 24 projects holds enormous potential for changing hearts and minds that will lead to social change. We congratulate them all on their grants! Please come back and check our website as we continue to add more information about each of these projects to our Creative Media page.

Funded Projects:

Made in India
Empty Handed: Responding to the Demand for Contraceptives
Cotton Road
Deep Down
Girl Model
Give Up Tomorrow
Inocente
Marmato
Media that Matters
Mothers of Bedford
Speaking in Tongues
Split Estate
Up in Smoke
Chess Movie
ioby
The Bully Project
The Line
A Small Act
AXSmap
Crime After Crime
Rooftop Films
Shakespeare High
To Be Heard
Untitled Drug War Film

For further descriptions of these films and our involvement with each one, please click here.

For those of you that have been eagerly checking our website for our letter of inquiry to go live...check again!  It's up, it's live!  Please take the time to read through the description of our grants here.  In addition, we strongly recommend that all applicants read through our two white papers on our website here.  Best of luck!

Thanks to BAVC for another inspiring Producers Institute yesterday at 92Y Tribeca. Congrats to all of the participating films for their incredible dedication and work so far. I was inspired by your commitment and wisdom not only about your craft, but about the sensitive and complex issues you champion with that craft.  The ideas you have embody true creative audience engagement and they will surely make strides toward the social change that we all are seeking.  We wish you all good luck as you take these new ideas out into the world and we look forward to watching your progress!

Spread the word - Channel 4 BRITDOC and Sundance have opened the call for Good Pitch NY 2011 - to be held in May 2011 in New York City at the headquarters of the Ford Foundation. Submissions will be accepted through February 18th 2011 at http://britdoc.org/goodpitch.

This is an excellent opportunity for filmmakers with a commitment to social change to bring their ideas to potential stakeholders.  We have seen the results of this  magical experience come to life with many of our grantees.  We are pleased to support Good Pitch and look forward to Good Pitch 2011!

From The Fledgling Fund

All snowed in and looking for a great way to spend your afternoon? If you have HBO, check out Monica and David on HBO on Demand. This Fledgling grantee film highlights the heart-warming marriage between two adults living with Down Syndrome. After watching the film, get involved with the film's campaign to support those living with disabilities.

From The Fledgling Fund

Long awaited and much anticipated, the Creative Capital open submissions process begins on February 1st, 2011. Find the application guidelines here. Good luck applicants!

Check out Students First's newly released agenda to fix America's broken education system here.  The Fledgling Fund has recently added "Education Experiences" to our priority issue areas in response to the growing outcry for reform.  We are excited to continue being a part of creative media projects that highlight the challenges in our system, but more importantly suggest real solutions.