SHORT FILM

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS 20

2018 Recipient: PAHOKEE 2019 Recipient: MISS JUNETEENTH THE 2020 AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY GRANT The AFS Grant makes annual grants to film and video artists in the state of Texas. Awards are provided to artists whose work shows promise, skill, and creativity. AFS is committed to fostering diverse and underrepresented voices in independent film. 2020 AFS Grant Applications Special attention is paid to provide support to women filmmakers and those who must be made through our website at www.austinfilm.org. identify with communities of color. Funded through revenues from the Texas Film For more information, call 512-322-0145 or email Awards, the Texas Commission on the Arts and private and corporate donations, the [email protected]. grant serves to redress the loss of public funds for filmmakers by disbursing funds for production and distribution and offering travel stipends to Texas filmmakers.

Since 1996, AFS has awarded over $2M in cash and $340,000 in-kind goods and services to 425 artists. AFS Grant recipients have shown their films at renowned festivals like Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Venice, Tribeca, Rotterdam and SXSW, and have won Independent Spirit Awards and Student Academy Awards.

The Austin Film Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization. Established in 1985, the Austin Film Society makes great film and independent filmmaking accessible in Texas. The grant was started in 1996 as the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund, and was renamed the AFS Grant in 2013.

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

2017 Recipient: RENEEPOPTOSIS 2018 Recipient: 1985

Fall Application: The fall call for entries will • If you have only received one AFS grant, you will not exceed $10,000. However, applicants accept applications for short film projects only can reapply for the same project as long as can receive in-kind support valued in excess (under 40 minutes). you are in good standing on your contract of the $10,000 cash grant (in other words, with us. You must include a written progress applicants can apply to receive in-kind grants The application for short films will open in report that shows your project’s status has on top of $10,000 cash). September. The deadline for short projects advanced significantly since the last time it is Thursday, October 8, 2020. Applications was awarded funding. (Listed in the Required The Harrison McClure Endowed Film Fund - Cash must be submitted by 5pm CST. In November, Attachments section). Grant an independent panel of professionals from the The Harrison McClure Endowed Film Fund, national film community will convene III. Applicant Responsibilities $2,500, goes to an undergraduate student to review applications and administer awards. All applicants are required to do the following for the making of a short or feature film Awards are announced in December. after submitting their grant application: that will complete a course or degree • You must notify AFS immediately of any requirement. Students eligible to receive I. Applicant and Project Eligibility significant changes to your project that the grant must be rising juniors or seniors In order to be eligible to submit to the grant, occur after you submit your project. and must be enrolled as full-time students you must meet the following requirements: • If you are awarded an AFS grant, you in a four-year college or university located • This is a grant for filmmakers currently are required to carry out a project that is in Texas. The selected film must agree to residing in the state of Texas. consistent with the proposal you submitted. include a credit or thanks to the "Harrison • You must be the director or co-director of • If your project changes significantly from McClure Endowed Film Fund" in addition the project in order to apply. your proposal, you must write us a written to the crediting requirements of the AFS • You must be a Texas resident since request before expenditure of grant funds. Grant. Additionally, the selected filmmaker is September 1, 2019. Approval isn’t guaranteed. required to supply a copy of the finished film • You cannot apply if you are attending school • AFS will send you a post-grant period to the Endowment donors and the parents full time outside the state of Texas. questionnaire which serves as your report on of Harrison McClure, a promising Texas film • AFS staff and Board members may not be your grant. student whose life and passion for filmmaking the project applicant. are memorialized by this fund. • All genres of film and video are eligible to IV. AFS Grant Awards: What You Can Apply For apply, except industrial or promotional Fall Deadline –Shorts (Narrative and MPS Camera and Lighting Austin - In-Kind Grant pieces, music videos and “works-for-hire.” Documentary, Experimental Animation) The MPS Camera and Lighting Austin Grant is a credit from Austin-based MPS Camera Projects must meet the following requirements: Applicants can apply for any and all of the for up to $10,000 in production services. • All projects must be stand-alone single following cash and in-kind awards offered as This includes camera, lenses, lighting/grip works. TV or Web series are not eligible at part of the 2020 AFS Grant, noting that cash and electrical, among other services. The this time. grants will be awarded up to but not exceed grant does not apply to post-production • Project must be in pre-production, $10,000 per project. Please note that some services. This grant comes in the form of production, post production or distribution cash grants and in-kind grants have their own a certificate from MPS Camera Austin. An stages. eligibility requirements, so please read over the awarded certificate must be used on the requirements for each grant carefully. applying project and cannot be sold. Any II. Eligibility for Previous Recipients unused certificate must be returned to the If you have already received an AFS Grant the AFS Grant - Cash Grant Austin Film Society. Please visit the MPS following applies to you: • Projects may apply for up to $10,000 cash for Camera Austin website for more details • If you received two previous AFS grants for production or post-production through the about what they offer. Grantees must meet the same project, you cannot apply for a AFS Grant fund. Projects may apply for up to MPS’ minimum insurance requirements, and third AFS Grant. This does not include AFS $3000 for distribution support. rentals are subject to availability. MPS must travel grants. • Total cash support from the AFS Grant fund be credited in the project credits. sWebinar Shedule • The video sample is the most important part and anticipated dates. Webinars will take place via the web-based of your application as this is a film grant. It • Timeline should cover the project from pre- Zoom application. These webinars will provide must showcase your best work. production all the way through distribution. a general overview of the AFS Grant for short • The sample can include: a scene from the • Project timeline should not exceed 1 page. projects and all application areas. Advance proposed project or prior work. Do not registration is required to receive the Zoom link submit trailers for your required sample. For PROJECT PERSONNEL (Required, Submit Online) and instructions. more information, check out the Grant • Write up to 1 page detailing the bios of your Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:30pm CST Writing Tipsheet. key creative team. Friday, October 2, 2020 at 12 noon CST • For applicants requesting distribution funds: Footage from the submitted project must be TREATMENT OR SCRIPT (Required, Submit Online) Application Preparation part of the video sample. • Write a treatment (1-10 pages) that focuses Applying for the grant is an online process. • Online video links must not be replaced or entirely on the story and the characters. Applications and all supporting materials must changed during the application review period • For narrative projects, a full script is be submitted online at https://www.austinfilm. (October-December) preferred to a treatment. This is not a org/afs-grants-applications/ (including screenplay competition and so early drafts video sample submissions). Please refer to Required Attachments: are fine. You can indicate how many rewrites the application form instructions for more Upload each of the attachments as PDFs with you plan to do in your project description or information on the required materials. For your application. timeline. advice on how to best approach each of these sections, you can refer to our Grant Writing PROJECT DESCRIPTION (Required, Submit Online) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT MATERIAL Tipsheet. Project Description should not exceed 2 pages (Required, Submit Online) and should include: • Additional video samples, such as a link to a Application Form Instructions • Description of the story of the film with full feature or full short, are encouraged. Go to the grant section of our website: https:// details about stylistic approach, visual • In digital format, reviews, articles, images or elements, story structure, and thematic www.austinfilm.org/AFS-Grants-Applications/ letters of support that show your project in threads. (Recommend 2- 3 paragraphs). (AFS Grant info is under the "Filmmaker a favorable light. • Description of your production plan, creative Support" section if you don't find it on the home • Letters of support are encouraged but not team, and information about project status required. You may submit up to two letters page). You will be able to save and return to to date. (Recommend 1 paragraph). of support with your application. See “Grant your application. • Information about your target audience and Writing Tips” for advice about letters of distribution plans. (Recommend 1 paragraph). support. General Information: • Details regarding your fundraising strategy • All materials must be uploaded to your online • Fill out this section in its entirety. and how AFS Grant funds will be used. application as a single PDF, video samples • Use the 2nd name field if you are working (Recommend 1 paragraph). must be submitted as links in the designated with a co-director. space on the application. • Provide an email and mailing address that will BUDGET SUMMARY FORM (Required, Submit • Additional support material must not be valid as of December 2020. Online) exceed 5 pages. • You must use AFS’ Budget Summary form • Do not send: any hard copy material, actor Project Information: (note that this is NOT the same as your headshots or DVDs. • Fill out a running time, even if it is an estimate. project budget), available for download on the PROOF OF RESIDENCY (Required, Submit Online) Remember, to be eligible for the AFS Grant AFS Grant home page. • You must have been a resident of Texas since for Shorts, the running time must be under • For "EXPENSES," summarize your October 1, 2019. 40 minutes. expenses by production phase • Acceptable forms of proof of current Texas • Please check all boxes for funds that you (preproduction, production, etc.) from your residency include: are eligible for detailed budget o A Texas voter registration card • Your total cash cost should only include • For "RESOURCES", list out all of the income o A recent utility bill or receipt in your name cash costs, not in-kind totals. sources including your own contribution, with your Texas address • Your AFS Grant cash request should not in-kind donations, grants, individual and o Current student registration at a Texas exceed $10,000 or $3,000 for distribution corporate donations, sponsors or investors, college or university (in-kind request can exceed this cap) and fundraising. • Total Resources should equal Total Expenses. • Project Summary: Write a short synopsis Note: A Texas drivers license is no longer (1-2 sentences) that best describes your accepted as proof of residency. film’s story/content. DETAILED BUDGET (Required, Submit Online) • Provide a detailed budget that includes pre- STATUS REPORT production, production and post-production VIDEO SAMPLE (Required, submit links in application) (Only for projects previously funded by AFS, Submit Online) costs. You may use your own budget sheet or • A 6-minute or less sample is required. An For those applicants seeking a second round download our form from the site. additional work sample (with no set time of funding for a project already awarded an limit) is highly encouraged. This should be AFS grant (not an AFS travel grant), or seeking PROJECT TIMELINE (Required, Submit Online) a rough cut of the proposed film if one exists. funding for a different project while you are This is submitted on the application form in • In bullet points, list the key stages of your still in production on one that you received a the additional supporting material section. production, with the time allotted to each grant for previously, we require a 1-page status report. This report should detail how the previous grant was used and where the project is on its road to completion. This will be filed with your previous application.

SUBMITING YOUR APPLICATION Once you submit your online application and supporting materials, you'll receive a confirmation email from us. If you do not receive a confirmation email within the hour after submitting, it is possible that we did not receive your application, OR your email preferences need to be adjusted. Please contact Sara Tynan at [email protected] so that we can correct the problem.

Please note that AFS staffwill NOT contact you for replacement materials if: • You fill out your budget coversheet or budget incorrectly. We will use what you submitted as-is. • Your project descriptions seems incomplete.

Staff will contact you if: • There is any piece of your application missing • Your proof of residency is invalid • Your sample link doesn’t work Questions? Contact [email protected]

Questions regarding the application will be answered during regular business hours, Mon- Fri, 10am - 6pm at filmmakersupport@ austinfilm.org. No phone calls please. If you'd like to speak with us by phone, please send an email request with the best number to reach you and times that you are available. Award Announcements will be posted on our website at the conclusion of the panel session by mid- December. Follow-up letters are emailed to all applicants. Applicants whose projects are not selected for a grant may request written feedback on their application by emailing filmmakersupport@austinfilm. org. Notifications will go out by September 1, 2020. GRANT WRITING TIP SHEET

PROOF OF RESIDENCY detail on what you’ve laid out in your 1-2 page that came to be. Especially if your story or You must have been a resident of Texas project description. Make sure your project subject is rather heady or abstract, putting a since September 1, 2019. A “resident” means description does ALL of these things: little bit of yourself into your proposal helps the someone who has lived in the state of Texas for panel see the person behind the project. one full year at the time of application to the • Describes the STORY or the CONTENT AFS grant. If you are a permanent resident of of the film, with details on the stylistic The “Look” Texas but are attending a college or university approach, visual elements, story Let the panel know how you’re going to outside of the state for the past year or more, structure, characters, and thematic translate this story into visual language. you would not be eligible. The Grant is intended threads. Clearly state the format, If your project is a documentary about a to support the artist community in Texas and including whether it is a short or historical event, you can explain it perfectly keep it thriving. As such, we are not able to feature, documentary or narrative, or a with statistics, anecdotal evidence and pleas award grants to previous Texans or Texas- specific genre, early in your description for justice, but the panel wants to know what based projects where the director is residing so that reviewers don’t have to cross- they will actually see in the finished film. out of state. reference your application form while Expert interview “talking heads”? Or have reading your narrative. you uncovered an incredible wealth of archival CASH REQUEST AND BUDGET INFORMATION • Describes the production plan and material that is going to bring a 75-year-old The Total Cash Cost will come out of your provides information on the project story to 21st Century life? Likewise, if you’re completed budget and should only include your status to-date, as well as your unique making a narrative, describe your visual out-of-pocket (Cash) costs, not your in-kind approach to the material. strategy with your film. Feel free to namecheck totals. Note: While you can apply for multiple • Provides information about your goals, your influences here if you can avoid sounding grants for which you are eligible, the total target audience and distribution plan. overly derivative of work that already exists. of the cash award allotment will not exceed What films inspire you when you think about • Details your fundraising strategy and $10,000 in total ($3,000 for distribution). Be how you want your film to look? specific about how cash funds requested would how AFS funds would be used.

be used towards your project. Fill this in after The Story you've completed your full budget. This will The Production Plan help to show that you've thought through your Of these four elements, the first one is the Now that you’ve laid out your story, its themes project. Regardless of what phase of funding most important. The story or contents of and its visual style, describe how you’re going you are applying for, include budget amounts your film is what will make it interesting to pull all this off. Chances are you have more for preproduction through distribution. Not all and unique. Do your best to describe the ambition than you have cash in the bank, so line items will apply to your project. Be sure story in clear but evocative language. Don’t what specific resources do you have to bring to to double-check your math and balance your be afraid to give away the ending. Your bear that the average filmmaker doesn’t? Are budget. “In-kind” refers to anything that is “audience” (the panel) needs to know what you attending a well-funded film school where donated outright. For example, if a friend is story they’re funding. In describing the story, you can get all the lights, dolly tracks and free loaning you a camera for the shoot, you would take the advice of Strunk and White - “omit student labor you need? For your documentary place a value on the use of the camera and list needless words,” and “use the active voice.” about Irish mine workers, do you have a kindly it in the in-kind column--likewise with donated Identify who in your story (whether it’s a aunt in Dublin who will let your entire crew stay time on the part of your cast and crew. Be documentary or a narrative) is active and is with you for 3 months? striving for something and describe in clear sure that the rates you list are in scale with Also, be sure to let us know where you’re at in terms what they’re doing and how and why your budget. For example, if your actual out-of- this process. Have you raised $45,000 of your they’re doing it. Describe their obstacles and pocket costs are $8,000 and you are not paying $50,000 budget and secured all your cast and how they overcome them (or don’t!). Then, your actors or crew, list their services “in-kind” crew and are ready to go once you get that tie this story to the themes you’re hoping not at SAG or full union rates, but at a rate in last chunk of funds in? Are you fourteen weeks to explore or what ideas or issues you’re scale with your budget (say $50/ day). into your post-production schedule but need hoping to illustrate or critique by making to shoot for one more week with the subject of this film. Avoid getting bogged down in Note: While there are no hard budget your documentary to finalize the ending of your superfluous detail that will lose your reader. limitations, remember that we are looking to story? fund projects where the AFS grant will make a If you have a complex plot with many twists difference. If your budget is over $500,000, it is and turns, don’t try to explain it all – submit Target Audience and Distribution Plan important to make the case about why the AFS a treatment or screenplay to tell the whole You need to make it clear that you’ve given Grant is important for your project to meet its story. Get a friend who doesn’t know the some thought to how you’re going to get your goals. story to read your description and see if they can follow it. film out into the world, including your back-up plan if the best-case scenario of premiering it PROJECT DESCRIPTION at Sundance and selling it for $1 million doesn’t In the first round of review, the project The “Why” work out. Think about the communities that description is the most significant written Recognize that the panel may want to know you engage with who would have an interest part of your application. Think of it this way - why you, in particular, want to tell this story, in the project. Are there any specific niche you’ve got two pages to make a summation of or why you are the best person to do so. If audiences that would be predisposed to like or your entire proposal. The other materials (the it’s based on a personal experience, let them identify with your project? How are you going to budget, the timeline, the personnel page, the know, or if the subject matter is something reach them? Say you’re making a documentary video sample, etc.) are there to expand in more you have some familiarity with, describe how about drag racing, perhaps you’ve come from that world yourself and you know that if you The Video Sample advertise it on drag racing websites you could In the final round of review, the video sample sell a few thousand downloads? Maybe you’ve is the most important part of your application made several short films that have done so think carefully about what it will be! AFS well on the festival circuit, and you’ve made requires a 6-minute or less video sample friends with programmers who will look at submitted via online link (No DVDs). We your first feature with some heavy interest. strongly encourage submitting an additional Or, you know of certain film focused websites video sample as “Additional Supporting who love to discover new artists. Which Material” with the full length of a film: a communities will get behind this film? rough cut of the project being proposed, if 2019 Recipient: THE PAINT WIZZARD one exists, or a previous project. We suggest using a password protected Vimeo link but will Fundraising Strategy accept links from other platforms as long as You also need to make it clear that you’ve got they work—be sure to test your link before a plan to pay for all this stuff. Describe how submitting. much money you’ve raised and from what You want the 6-minute video sample to give the sources. Describe the sources of funding, panel a sense of what the completed proposed which you are going to go after in addition to project will be like. In descending order of the AFS grant. Plausibility is important! If you preference, the best way to do that is: are a first-time filmmaker and you haven’t raised a dime yet for your $50,000 budget, you’ll need to make a convincing case that 1. Submit material from the proposed project you have another source to supplement the 2. Submit a previous project you directed 2019 Recipient: HURDLE $10,000 you’re asking for from AFS. 3. Submit a project from someone on It is important to be realistic about your your production team (if you have never crowdfunding goals. While crowdfunding is directed something yourself, consider now essential to almost every independent submitting several examples of work project at some phase of production, it from members of your production team; is not a given that every project will be we recommend samples from your DP, successful. Our juries tend to be critical of creative producer or writer) overly ambitious crowdfunding aspirations particularly when they are unarticulated in this section of the application. You must Material from the proposed project demonstrate that you have a thoughtful and Ideally you can submit a polished scene or two researched approach to your campaign: in the that will give the panel a good sense of what 2019 Recipient: CALL HER GANDA amount of money you plan to raise, the team this project will be like. Even if you just have assembled, and the timeline. raw footage, choose some select moments approach to the new project. If your previous that highlight your best stuff. DO NOT send in work is distant from the current project, it Project Description vs. Other Materials a trailer for your film. While trailers can show should show that you have a special vision As stated above, make sure that your project off your production value and the scope of and approach to the material. The jury will description and the rest of the application your project, they won’t necessarily convey the be creative enough to see how that will apply materials (budget, timeline, personnel page, real substance, the pacing or the character to your next project, but only if you make a etc.) are all working together to make it clear development of your piece. Some of the most great case for this transition in your project that you have thought this project through successful work samples have included a few description. If your best previous work is a in full. You don’t want to lay out a proposal selected scenes followed by the rough cut in very far cry from what you are doing now, but in the project description that your other its entirety (as additional supporting material). you also have a short sample of something materials do not support. If you describe a Just make sure you use the written description closer in form or genre, you can submit several Stanley Kubrick-like cinematic vision, with of your sample to explain and give context for select scenes in that 6-minute timeline to make lots of dolly shots & crane shots & Steadicam what you are showing. Feel free to also use your case, or include as additional supporting moves all over the place, but the budget has brief title cards between segments to explain material. Do not randomly select the first 6 none of those items priced out, it will look like what you are showing. minutes of your feature film unless that is you don’t know what you’re talking about. And definitely your strongest work. We recommend vice-versa – don’t reference things in your preselecting the strongest scenes for your Previous projects supplemental materials that aren’t addressed 6-minute sample. It is always best to submit your very best in your project description. For example, if previous work as your sample in order to you identify in your project timeline that you demonstrate your filmmaking ability. Most First time filmmakers & the video sample will be traveling to Australia for six weeks, the successful projects will have an older piece travel plans should appear in your production If this is your first film ever, and you haven’t that has some rapport in style and/or subject plan and budget as well. shot anything yet, you still need to submit a matter to the proposed project, which work sample. You can submit a previous work makes it easier for the jury to envision the from one of the key players on your production team. Again, any resemblance to the proposed project makes it easier for the panelists to assess. Use the description of the video sample area to indicate anything that is incomplete about your work sample - if the sound levels haven’t been mixed, if you’re using temp music or a temp narrator or uncleared music, if the image is low-resolution, whatever the issues may be. You might know that the Rolling Stones song you’re using is a temporary placeholder, but if you don’t tell the panelists that and your budget doesn’t reflect the costs for copyright clearance, they may question the thoroughness of your application.

GOOD LUCK! ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Following is a sampling of organizations that can assist you in the grantwriting and planning process: Arts Management And Technology Lab amt-lab.org Chicken & Egg Pictures www.chickeneggspics.org Cinereach www.cinereach.org Creative Capital www.creative-capital.org Film Independent

2015 Recipient: SOUTHWEST OF SALEM www.filmindependent.org Ford Foundation There is no right way to seek funding—your The Independent Film and Videomakers Guide www.fordfoundation.org approach will be dictated by your material. A comprehensive line of publications on And there is no magic list of sources of funds. practical issues of indie production is available The Foundation Center Here are some of the resources that we find from Michael Wiese Productions. Check out www.foundationcenter.org ourselves recommending over and over: Film and Video budgets and www.mwp.com The Funding Exchange Shaking the Money Tree: How to Get Grants and The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide www.fex.org/memberfoundations Donations for Film and Video Chris Gore The Grantsmanship Center Morrie Warshawski FILMMAKER MAGAZINE www.tgci.com www.warshawski.com www.filmmakermagazine.com Hatchfund 43 Ways To Finance Your Feature Film: A IFP www.hatchfund.org Comprehensive Analysis Of Film Finance IFP's Guide to Granting Organizations Humanities Texas IFP.org/resources/IFPs-Guide-to-Granting- John W. Cones www.humanitiestexas.org Organizations/ Spike Mike Reloaded: A Guided Tour Across A Independent Television Service (ITVS) INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION Decade Of American Independent Cinema www.itvs.org www.documentary.org John Pierson Independent Feature Project Rebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old www.ifp.org Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood National Endowment For The Arts Player www.arts.gov Robert Rodriguez National Endowment For The Humanities www.neh.gov P.O.V. www.pbs.org/pov/ Roy W. Dean Film and Video Grants www.fromtheheartproductions.com Sundance Institute www.sundance.org Texas Commision On The Arts (TCA) www.arts.state.tx.us Texas Film Commission www.governor.state.tx.us/film Tribeca Film Institute www.tribecafilminstitute.org PREVIOUS GRANT RECIPIENTS

2019 GRANT RECIPIENTS and Design New Texas Voices live there and the complexity of veterans transcend traumatic Grant is a $10,000 cash grant a Native woman traveling alone pasts. FEATURES for a filmmaker identifying with in the current cultural climate. a community of color who is HURDLE making his or her first feature MEN WHO TALK length film. Documentary Feature in WE REAL COOL Documentary Short in distribution Narrative Feature in production production Director: Michael Rowley NAMES IN THE PAVEMENT Director and co-writer: Ryan Director: Cristin Stephens Hurdle is the story of a new Documentary Feature in Darbonne At 18, Vinicius Dias began to see generation of Palestinians production Told over the course of one day, himself as a Black man. At 38, using creativity as a form of Director: Jim Hickcox Austin’s first POC punk festival Dias helps other men in Brazil resistance. Where walls were provides the backdrop for three understand what blackness built to contain and control, Names in the Pavement is an intersecting stories featuring means in a racially fluid society. Hurdle’s characters lack unconventional documentary a failed musician searching for Men Who Talk follows black men freedom of movement. Through about infrastructure and the his lost van, two strangers on who tell stories of their past to the sport of parkour and the history of Austin, Texas. an awkward road trip, and a understand their present. documentation of daily life, the Mexican punk band on the verge characters tell an untold story of a complete breakdown. of what it means to strive for NAN MICHELLE freedom in the modern era. Documentary Feature in post- Narrative Short in distribution production WHEN WE WERE LIVE Director: Kenya Gillespie Director: Zuqiang Peng Documentary Feature in post- INBETWEEN GIRL production A shy 10-year-old Asian Narrative Feature in post- Nan follows the last two years American girl fights off her production of a living situation in which the Director: John Moore bullies with a little help from filmmaker’s uncle Nan shares Director and writer: Mei Makino When We Were Live is a feature her idol: decorated US Olympic an apartment with his parents, documentary about the heyday figure skater Michelle Kwan. Teenager Angie Chen finds before the family of three of Public Access Television in herself in a cultural and separate and live in different the 1980’s and 90’s, and how personal identity crisis following homes. A reflection on time, it shaped the culture of a pre- THE PAINT WIZZARD her parents’ recent divorce. aging, and the economies of internet America. care in contemporary China. Documentary Short in Caught between her equal- production parts Chinese and American upbringing, life is only further SHORTS Director: Jessica Wolfson and complicated when she begins a PRAIRIE DOGS Jessie Auritt romance with Liam, a popular Narrative Feature in production BIRDS “The Paint Wizzard” is a jock who wants to keep their transgender housepainter relationship a secret. As Angie Director and writer: Dex Decker Narrative Short in post- distribution who lives in a bright yellow contends with her burgeoning Two wayfaring strangers meet motorhome in Austin, Texas. A sexuality, she must face a in a rest stop bathroom and Director: Katherine Propper few years ago, at the age of 58, troubled home life, a confusing learn over French fries that Birds is a hybrid narrative short she gained the courage to leave romantic relationship, and a they have more in common “Michael” behind and embrace growing sense of isolation as she than the road and need each film featuring five moments in the lives of teenagers during the her authentic self, cat ears and is left alone to determine the other more than they’ll ever all. ultimate question: Who is the understand. Sometimes it’s the Texas summer. real Angie Chen? kindness of a complete stranger that changes the course of one’s CONTRAST THIS WORLD IS NOT MY life. HOME MARTINEZ Narrative Short in production Documentary Short in Narrative Feature in production Director: Tramaine Townsend RAISING ANIYA production Director and writer: Maria The story of a young black boy Director: Jonathan Caouette Padilla Documentary Feature in who is obsessed with cowboy production culture. The film takes on the Experimental filmmaker Martinez, a cranky and lonely Jonathan Caouette reflects bureaucrat resisting retirement, Director: John Fiege journey of him growing up with this secret obsession and the on his relationship with his receives a surprise gift from a A teenage African-American grandfather Adolph. deceased neighbor. He finally dancer in Houston must draw cultural differences of blacks begins to enjoy life through a on her community and her own and whites he encounters. love affair with her through her resilience when she sets out UNTITLED CAT BACKPACK old belongings. to choreograph a performance SHORT about her experience with GREEN WATER Hurricane Harvey and Narrative Short in production Narrative Short in production MISS JUNETEENTH environmental justice. Director: Carlos Estrada Director: Katie Graham and Narrative Feature in post- Andrew Matthews Once their undocumented production An existential horror/comedy THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY mother goes missing, 18-year- Director and writer: Channing old Erik must learn to care for short from the point of view of Godfrey Peoples Narrative Feature in post- his younger sister during a hot a cat, forced by his Instagram- production influencer owners to travel Centered around the Juneteenth summer day. Director and writer: Morrisa the country with them in a holiday (commemorating the day backpack. slaves in Texas were freed – two Maltz long years after everybody else), An unexpected invitation from LOVE IS AN ACTION WORD Miss Juneteenth tells the story her estranged Lakota family Documentary Short in post- of Turquoise, a former beauty sends a young woman on a production queen turned hard working winding road trip through the Director: Liz Moskowitz and single mother, as she prepares Midwest all the way down to the Riley Engemoen her rebellious teenage daughter Texas-Mexico border. A doc- for the pageant, hoping to keep drama observational film that A compassionate and effective her from repeating her same takes a look at one less-traveled female leader uses equine mistakes. The Warbach Lighting part of America, the people who therapy to help military PREVIOUS GRANT RECIPIENTS

HARRISON MCCLURE Katherine Propper, STREET ENDOWED GRANT FLAME Tribeca Film Festival FLYING IN THE DARK Documentary Short in PJ Raval, CALL HER GANDA production IDA Getting Real Director: Annika Horne Why are we still surprised to PJ Raval, see a woman pilot? Hear the COME & TAKE IT stories of female pilots – their New Orleans Film Festival highs and lows – and see how they refused to be shut out of the skies, from World War II to Annie Silverstein, BULL the present. Cannes Film Festival

WHISTLE Yen Tan, 1985 Narrative Short in production Hamptons Film Festival Director: Rachael Acosta In the midst of 8th grade band Tim Tsai, SEADRIFT practice a girl is harassed by her peers and forced to give up Berkeley IRP Workshop & IDA her instrument to one of her Getting Real perpetrators. Renee Zhan, RENEEPOPTOSIS TRAVEL GRANT RECIPIENTS Sundance Film Festival Patrick Bresnan & Ivete Lucas, PAHOKEE Visions du Réel PANELISTS Our 2019 Panelists for feature projects included: Patrick Bresnan & Ivete Lucas, SKIP DAY International Documentary • Laura Mehlhaff Festival • Bernardo Ruiz • Ingrid Veninger Bob Byington, FRANCES FERGUSON Our 2019 Panelists for short San Francisco International Film projects included: Festival • Ina Pira Andrew Edwards, FRIDAY’S • Christopher Radcliff CHILD • Dan Schoenbrun Deauville American Film Festival

Kenya Gillespie, JEREMIAH Cannes Film Festival

Shelby Hadden, TIGHTLY WOUND New Orleans Film Festival

Daniel Laabs, JULES OF LIGHT AND DARK American Film Festival (Wrocław, Poland) & New Orleans Film Festival

Paloma Martinez, ENFORCEMENT HOURS Slamdance Film Festival & San Francisco International Film Festival