Documentary Lab Fellowship

The Firelight Media is seeking applications for its Documentary Lab to provide holistic support for fellows’ projects and careers through professional development retreats, customized mentorship, and a $25K project grant. Donor Name: Firelight Media State: All States County: All Counties Type of Grant: Fellowship Deadline: 05/13/2024 Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000 Grant Duration: 2 Years Details: The Firelight Media Documentary Lab is an 18-month fellowship program that supports filmmakers in the United States from racially and ethnically underrepresented communities directing their first or second feature-length documentary film. The Documentary Lab provides filmmakers with a $25,000 grant toward their projects as well as customized mentorship from prominent leaders in the documentary world, professional development retreats, and networking opportunities. The Firelight Documentary Lab supports filmmakers from underrepresented communities in the United States who make artful and innovative documentary films that take risks, and provide new narratives about the most pressing issues of our time. Firelight will consider all types of documentary projects – historical, investigative, personal, vérité, and experimental.  Requirements Only the director of the film is eligible to apply and enter the program. They can accept co-directors if they meet all eligibility requirements. If you’re applying with your co-director, please indicate that in your application. They cannot accept more than 2 directors per project. Filmmaker must be from an underrepresented community and reside in the United States or U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Samoa, Guam/Northern Mariana Islands). The project must be a long-form/feature-length documentary; the Lab does not accept short documentaries, series, or fiction projects of any kind. The film must be a work in progress. They accept films from early production through production or post-production. They do not accept films in development or pre-production, or completed films. Filmmaker must be an emerging documentary filmmaker (working on their first or second feature-length documentary). Filmmakers are not eligible to receive support through one or any of Firelight Media’s artist programs if: The filmmaker is applying with a project that is a student film or related to ongoing coursework. The filmmaker is re-applying to a program they previously received support from. The filmmaker is contracted with another Firelight Media artist program and has not completed the final deliverables by the time they are selected for this program. The filmmaker is employed by Firelight Media, Firelight Films, or PBS as an officer, full-time employee, or is a member of the board of directors. The filmmaker does not hold the majority of the intellectual property of the film. For more information, visit Firelight Media.