We created the Fledgling Engagement Lab to extend and deepen our support for documentary filmmakers interested in maximizing the social impact of their projects and building collaborative relationships with their peers. You can learn about the past labs below. We are not planning to run another Engagement Lab.
The 2018 Lab launched in May 2018 and ran through May 2019. Each of these six films had significant potential to make impact, a dedicated team and a commitment to collaboration.
The Fledgling Engagement Lab brout together a small number of social issue documentary film teams along with experts and mentors to design and implement effective outreach and engagement strategies. It was designed to support each project team and maximize the film’s social impact. Participants became Fledgling Fellows.
The Lab was open to documentary film projects that were in the early stages of planning and executing outreach and engagement and met Fledgling’s grant criteria. Film teams were invited to the Lab based on their commitment to outreach and engagement, stage of project and their collaborative spirit.
The Lab included a series of focused residencies and online and in-person gatherings, in which these Fledgling Fellows worked with one another and with experts to craft their social impact goals and strategies for achieving and documenting them.
We launched the first Engagement Lab in 2014 with financial support from the Ford Foundation and the Dobkin Family Foundation and thank them for their support. We were thrilled to have the support of the Dobkin Family Foundation and the Union Square Fund for the 2016 Engagement Lab. We also are grateful to the advisors and experts who contributed their expertise and knowledge along the way.
“From Born into Brothels to Who Is Dayani Cristal? and projects in between, The Fledgling Fund has been instrumental in the success of projects I and my teams have worked on. As funders and partners, the Fund provides a source of support that allows our teams to build dynamic, innovative projects that have demonstrable community-level impact. And beyond individual project support, the organization has a unique understanding of and vision for the growth of the media impact field. I couldn’t have done my past work without Fledgling’s support, and our growing, evolving field is richer for their guidance.”
– Lina Srivastava, Social Impact Strategist