PBS has committed $3.6 million over the course of three years to support mid-career nonfiction filmmakers through the PBS/Firelight William Greaves Production Fund, which resources talented storytellers from diverse communities in the United States. The Fund is designed to address the persistent structural challenges many filmmakers face after producing their first films, so that they can remain in the field and continue to create vital stories focused on underrepresented people and topics.

The open call for the PBS/Firelight William Greaves Production Fund began on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 and closed on Monday, August 8, 2022.

(Firelight Media simultaneously opened the call for the William Greaves Research and Development Fund, which resources talented, mid-career nonfiction storytellers from racially and ethnically underrepresented communities based in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Colombia, with a particular interest in those who identify as being of Indigenous and/or of African descent. For details about that Fund, please click here.)

In order to quality for the PBS/Firelight William Greaves Production Fund, applicants must:

• Identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color 
• Be a mid-career filmmaker
• For the purposes of this fund, mid-career is defined as having a minimum of 7 years of filmmaking experience, and with a Producer, Director, and/or Co-Director credit on a minimum of 2 hours of distributed films of any genre via national broadcast, major streaming or VOD service, and/or an Academy Award qualifying festival. ‍
• Be a resident of the United States or U.S. territory (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Samoa, Guam/Northern Mariana Islands)
• Have secured a minimum of 20% of their total Production budget
• Hold at least 50% of the Copyright to the project
• Applicants must be 18 years or older as of July 5, 2022
• Student documentary and productions that are part of a degree-granting program are not eligible.
• Applicants cannot be engaged in Firelight Media or PBS as an officer, full-time employee, or member of the board of directors

Applications will be reviewed according to the following criteria:

• An eligibility check to ensure applicants and projects meet requirements.
• The first phase of review will engage Readers to review and evaluate all submissions for the PBS/Firelight William Greaves Production Fund to determine which submissions should advance to a Panel review.
• The second phase will consist of a Panel review where panelists will review and evaluate projects, and convene to recommend a slate of potential projects to Firelight Media and PBS.
• The final slate of projects will be reviewed and approved by PBS and Firelight Media for intended distribution by PBS.

View frequently asked questions here

View a recording of an Info Session here:
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Please direct any questions to grants@firelightmedia.org.