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3November

Funding Unscripted Feature Films

May 31st 2024
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31May

The Reel Deal

Funding Unscripted Feature Films

May 31st 2024

Revisit this discussion about Funding Unscripted Feature Films with panelists Kristin Feeley (Director, Documentary Film Program, The Sundance Institute), Lucy Mukerjee (Documentary Lab Director, Firelight Media), and Soheil Rezayazdi (Nonfiction Programs Manager, The Gotham). Moderated by Film Fatales member Luchina Fisher (Director, The Dads).

There are many paths towards getting your next documentary feature film made. Learn from representatives from top arts organizations about the multifaceted paths available including fellowships, labs, incubators, grants, and other funding opportunities for unscripted feature filmmakers. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to navigate the myriad options available to you as you embark on the development of your next documentary film.

Details

Date:
May 31
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Details

Date:
May 31
Event Categories:
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Additional Resources

A-Doc Impact Fellowship
A-Doc Storytelling Initiative
AmDoc Film Fund
Athena Doc Pitch
AXS Film Fund
Barbara Hammer Grant
Beyond Resilience
BlackStar Pitch
Brown Girls Doc Mafia
Building Bridges Doc Fund
CAAM Fellowship
Catapult Film Fund
Chicken & Egg Pictures
Color Congress
Distribution Advocates
DOC NYC New Leaders
DOC NYC 40 Under 40
DocLands Doc Pitch
Film Independent Doc Lab
Firelight Documentary Lab
Firelight Frontline Fellowship
Firelight Groundwork Regional Lab
Firelight Impact Campaign Fund
Firelight Kindling Fund
Firelight Short Films
Firelight Research Fund
Firelight Production Fund
Ford Foundation JustFilms Grant
Ghetto Film School Resources
Gotham Branded Storytellers
Gotham Doc Development Initiative
Gotham Expanding Communities
Gotham Features in Development
Gotham Owning It
Gotham Shorts to Features
Gotham Spotlight on Docs
Gotham Series Creators
Gotham Week Project Market
IDA Grants Directory
IDA Entrprise Doc Fund
IDA Field Building Fund
IDA Logan Elevate Grant
IDA Non Fiction Access
IDA Open Call
IDA Funding Resources
ITVS Open Call
Jerome Foundation
Miller Packan Fund
Nonfiction Producing Fellowship
North Star Fellowship
NYC Women's Fund
Perspective Fund
PIC Media Fund
POV Call for Entries
POV Resources
Proof of Concept
Redford Center Grants
SFFILM Doc Film Fund
Sidney Poitier Initiative
South Arts Grants
Sundance Co//ab
Sundance Institute
Sundance Development
Sundance Documentary Film
Sundance Producers
Sundance Sandbox Fund
Sundance Screenwriters Intensive
The Film Collaborative Opportunities
Union Docs Summer Labs
WIF Financing Intensive
Wild Futures Grant
Women at Sundance

Panelists

Kristin Feeley oversees creative Labs and Fellowships at the Documentary Film Program, which include four residential artist-focused Labs. She co-programs the annual Producers Summit and programs for DFP-supported artists at Sundance Film Festival, which serves over 150 artists annually. She launched the Documentary Producers Lab and Fellowship, the Contributing Editor Fellowship, Art of Editing Fellowship as well as the Nonfiction Critics Fellowship, the first Fellowship within the DFP to support writers and cultural critics. Kristin is committed to supporting all artists who contribute to a collaborative, inclusive artistic process in independent nonfiction. She plays a staff advisory role with the Sundance Documentary Fund. Prior to Sundance, Kristin worked in social policy research and arts nonprofits before pursuing a Masters in Film at the University of Glasgow.

Lucy J. Mukerjee is a queer non-binary British-Indian community builder and cultural worker, dedicated to elevating the careers of underestimated storytellers. In 2023, Lucy became the Director of the Documentary Lab fellowship at Firelight Media, the premier destination for non-fiction cinema by and about communities of color, founded in 1998 by Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith. With 20+ years of experience producing films, programming festivals, and curating artist development programs, highlights include Director of Programming at Outfest Los Angeles, Outfest Fusion, and NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Festivals, and Senior Programmer at the Tribeca Festival, as well as Co-Curator of the immersive cinematic experience You Are Here: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture at the Museum of the City of New York. In 2019, Lucy co-founded the Programmers Of Colour Collective, a global grassroots group of BIPOC film festival programmers calling for programming inclusion on-screen, on-stage and on-staff, at film festivals around the world. Lucy is a vocal advocate for ethics and accountability across the film industry ecosystem, and believes in the power of storytelling to expand perspectives and change cultural narratives.

Soheil Rezayazdi is the Nonfiction Programs Manager at The Gotham Film & Media Institute. Soheil manages the Gotham’s core documentary programs: the Spotlight on Documentaries section of the Gotham Week Project Market and the Documentary Development Initiative, a partnership with HBO Documentary Films. Soheil has worked with emerging filmmakers since 2015, when he began a seven-year tenure at the Columbia University MFA Film Program. At Columbia he managed the Columbia University Film Festival (CUFF), the Dr. Saul and Dorothy Kit Film Noir Festival, the Carla Kuhn Memorial Speaker Series, and other events and programs designed to cultivate the work of early-career filmmakers. Soheil is also a freelance writer on film and pop culture with clips in Filmmaker Magazine, Documentary Magazine, Indiewire, Vice, McSweeney’s, and elsewhere. A native of Iran, he holds a graduate degree in journalism and a BA in film studies from the University of Iowa.

Luchina Fisher is an award-winning director, writer and producer whose work is at the intersection of race, gender and identity. Her feature directorial debut Mama Gloria was a 2022 GLAAD Media Award nominee and broadcast on PBS. Her latest film, the short documentary The Dads, about five fathers of trans kids on a weekend fishing trip, premiered at SXSW, was executive produced by Dwyane Wade, and acquired by Netflix. The film received a special recognition award from GLAAD, made DOC NYC’S 2023 Shortlist, and won Best Documentary Short at the El Paso Film Festival. Luchina’s short documentary Team Dream, executive produced by Queen Latifah, was a finalist for The Wrap’s Shortlist and has won numerous festival jury awards. Her second feature Locked Out, about the barriers to Black homeownership, won Best Documentary Feature at the American Black Film Festival. Earlier this year, Fisher was awarded the PitchBLACK Film Forum’s top prize for her new project about Black queer representation in music. She is the director of two scripted short films and has written and produced several nationally broadcast documentaries. Her work has been supported by Black Public Media, the Field Foundation, Sisters in Cinema, Brown Girl Doc Mafia, the Queen Collective, Women Make Movies, the Athena Film Festival’s Works in Progress Program, Firelight Media, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Luchina also teaches documentary filmmaking at Yale University.

Community Partners

Firelight Media is the premier destination for non-fiction cinema by and about communities of color. Firelight Media produces documentary films, supports filmmakers of color, and cultivates audiences for their work.

The Gotham celebrates and nurtures independent film and media creators, providing career-building resources, access to industry influencers, and pathways to wider recognition.

The Sundance Institute’s artist programs provide dynamic support at every step of the creative journey for individuals with distinct voices in film and episodic storytelling. Each program consists of labs, grants, intensives, sessions, and ongoing resources for artists to nurture their projects and sustain their careers.