This Monday, July 11 from 6:00-8:30pm at CIC Cambridge, join Massachusetts Production Coalition members and local filmmakers for an evening of presentations about successfully funded recent projects with discussions of trends, opportunities, and challenges in the field. Presenters include Dan Habib, Kathryn Dietz, James Rutenbeck, Sabrina Avilés, and Amy Geller, and the discussion will be moderated by Sara Archambault.

LEF is co-presenting this in-person event with the Center for Independent Documentary and Filmmakers Collaborative. Attendance is free for MPC members. The venue is ADA compliant.

The MIT & Black Public Media Visiting Artist Program aims to support Black creatives who use emerging technology as their medium for documentary and nonfiction storytelling. The joint program provides one academic year (9 months) of independent study within OpenDocLab with a purpose of researching and developing an emerging-tech, nonfiction project and moving the concept forward in substantive ways, including the creation of a package of pitch materials. Although applicants are encouraged to have at least one completed emerging technology production on their resume or filmography, previous emerging technology experience is not required to apply.

The Studios is MASS MoCA’s artist and writers residency program situated within the museum’s factory campus and operated by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists department. The residency runs year-round and hosts up to 10 artists at a time for stays of 2-8 weeks. Selected artists receive private, furnished studio space, housing, one communal meal per day, optional studio visits with curators, and access to Assets for artist Business Webinars and MASS MoCA member benefits.

The free summer Assets for Artists online workshops are ongoing and open to artists who currently live in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Connecticut.

The American Stories Documentary Fellowship supports five filmmaking teams from underrepresented backgrounds with $10,000 grants to support documentaries about modern America in production or post-production. From September 11-18, fellows will participate in a creative retreat on the coast of Maine, where they’ll workshop their stories with experienced mentors and industry leaders in the week leading up to the Camden International Film Festival. Fellows also have an opportunity to connect with dozens of funders, distributors, and creative partners via industry meetings during CIFF and a virtual market following the festival.

The Southern Documentary Fund Production Grant program seeks to bring visibility to makers and communities who are oftentimes overlooked by supporting directors who reside or have deep roots in one of twelve Southern states. Eligible projects are nonfiction documentaries (Shorts, features, docuseries, and experimental works) that are in production. An informational session will take place on Tuesday, July 12 at 4pm Eastern.

At 1pm Eastern, FWD-Doc will be hosting a Zoom meeting to roll out their Film Event Accessibility Scorecard initiative. The Film Event Accessibility Scorecard was made in partnership with Event Accessibility Working Group with the support of Film Festival Alliance. The initiative recently received a write-up in Variety. ASL and CART will be provided for the Zoom. Please email hello@fwd-doc.org to request accommodations.

Up to five creators of color who identify as having a disability will be awarded a one-time grant of up to $10,000 each to assist in advancing their documentary filmmaking or nonfiction new media projects in any stage of production. Applications open June 1.

With PBS, the William Greaves Production Fund will resource documentary productions by mid-career filmmakers from diverse communities in the United States that are intended for distribution on PBS through finishing funds or co-production funding. The William Greaves Research & Development Fund, now in its third year, is targeted toward filmmakers 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. The Research & Development Fund will comprise grants ranging up to $40,000 each to support research and development on a feature-length nonfiction film.

SheridanWorks is offering filmmaking courses to filmmakers at any level over the age of 18. Courses include workshops in Filmmaking Fundamentals (6/6),

Storytelling (6/8),

Camera and Sound (7/14), Editing (8/4), a Filmmaking Projects Group (9/21), and ongoing one-to-one mentorship.

Learn more, or send the Media Arts team a message at mediaarts[at]arts.gov.

Last month, Variety magazine included a special 15-page supplement with a Spotlight on Massachusetts. Within this special edition, the spotlight was aimed at what has led Massachusetts to join the “top tier of the list of locations for filming,” in the words of Massachusetts Production Coalition Executive Director, David Hartman, who is quoted at length in the supplement among other voices from the MA Film Office, filmmaking teams, local organizations, and crews. 

While the spotlight’s focus is on what makes Massachusetts attractive to large-scale productions that would otherwise be filming in hubs like New York or Toronto, the burgeoning popularity of the commonwealth as a regional capital for film production has generative implications that extend to the independent filmmaking community in New England through an availability of work-for-hire and opportunities to build one's resume here in our own backyard.

The primary incentive attracting productions to the commonwealth is the Massachusetts film tax credit, which began as an initiative in 2006, was improved in 2007, and was made permanent last year with the elimination of the "sunset clause." The credit offers a 25% rebate for Massachusetts-based spending provided 75% of production costs are spent in-state, and includes a minimum qualified spending of only $50k-- this has meant smaller budget projects can take advantage of the tax incentives. Huge thanks are due to the independent community who contributed to this grassroots effort!