| For Immediate Release Contact: Sarah Rubin, (773) 293-1447
Email: [email protected] www.chicagofilmmakers.org The Chicago Digital Media Production Fund Awards $100,000 in Grants to Local Productions in 2015 June 23, 2015 - Chicago, IL Voqal Fund and Chicago Filmmakers are pleased to announce that in its fourth year of funding, the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund has awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to eight Chicago-area digital media artists' projects in amounts ranging from $3,500 to $19,000. Grants from the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund support independent film and video projects intended to raise awareness about current social issues. These projects are scheduled to be available for free online viewing by May 15, 2016. "The Production Fund allows us to support artists who are creating work with the intention of sparking meaningful conversations around social change," said Brenda Webb, Chicago Filmmakers' Executive Director. "The projects of the eight media artists receiving grants exhibit a range of compelling ideas. They include a narrative web series that tells unapologetically authentic stories through characters who are as diverse as they are genuine; a documentary web series that examines the historical to present day occurrences of police violence in Chicago; a four-part docu-series that explores the consequences of industrialization and urbanization on the environment and community of Wolf Lake, IL; an experimental documentary portrait piece highlighting real working women in Chicago and their ability to "make things move"; a video-based online instructional tool that helps sighted students gain a more nuanced understanding of people with visual impairments; a docu-series that asks key questions revolving around civil liberties in the United States; the second season of a previously funded cartoon web series that cleverly tackles issues like racism, gender, religion, feminism, and LGBTQ equality via humanoid food characters; and a narrative short that uses a non-linear style to tell the story of a young teen who will do anything to get his hands on the latest must-have pair of basketball shoes, despite dangerous, or even fatal, consequences." The Chicago Digital Media Production Fund is a project of Voqal Fund and is administered by Chicago Filmmakers. The Production Fund is intended to support digital media works that encourage social change and requires that all works funded are available for free online viewing upon completion in order to reach the widest possible audience. The fund supports artists with varying levels of experience, both to recognize accomplished individuals, as well as to provide opportunities for young and emerging artists. 2015 PROJECTS SELECTED FOR FUNDING:
| You're So Talented: Season 2 |
by Sam Bailey |
($19,000) |
| War on Chicagoans: People's History of Chicago Police Violence |
by Jacob Klippenstein, Women's All Points Bulletin |
($16,000) |
| Wolf Lake |
by Andy Resek |
($14,500) |
| Moving |
by Lori Felker |
($14,500) |
| Beyond Blind: A Guide for the Sighted |
by Matt Lauterbach |
($14,000) |
| Rights Lab |
by Yana Kunichoff |
($9,500)
|
McTucky Fried High: Season 2
|
by Robert Carnilius |
($9,000) |
| Laces |
by Darrell Judon |
($3,500) |
For more information about this funding opportunity including guidelines and contacts, please visit: www.chicagofilmmakers.org. You can also find more information here regarding the projects funded in the 2015 grant cycle, as well as all of our other previous grantees and their projects.
About Voqal Fund Voqal is the collaboration of five non-profit organizations that got their start transmitting educational video programs to schools in the mid-80s using frequencies regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Today, these five organizations continue to provide services to schools and nonprofits nationwide, engage in philanthropic programs centered on social equality, and participate in other entrepreneurial endeavors using their combined spectrum expertise. In 2013, these five companies adopted the single brand Voqal to better convey what they do and believe. Voqal Fund has been making an impact in education, nonprofit and progressive media for three decades. Voqal Fund remains committed to positive change in the Chicago community through such efforts as the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund and support of programs aimed at engaging underserved or at-risk youth in the production of digital media. About Chicago Filmmakers Chicago Filmmakers is a not-for-profit media arts organization that has been serving independent filmmakers and audiences since 1973. CF is dedicated to providing alternative options in media education, production, and exhibition by offering classes, low cost equipment rentals, filmmaker services, weekly public screenings, and film festivals, including Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival and the Onion City Experimental Film + Video Festival. |
