Redford

Center Grants

Redford Center Grants will provide grant funds, mentorship opportunities, and networking
support to impact filmmakers who understand the power of a well-told, well-timed story to
inspire positive change in the world.

2016 is the inaugural year of The Redford Center Grants program, which is being funded by the
New York Community Trust. This inaugural grant cycle will support five early-stage, feature-
length film projects focused on increasing environmental awareness and action. We are looking
for character-driven stories that present meaningful and insightful perspective on frontline
environmental issues—stories that leave audiences with a sense of hope.

Each filmmaking team chosen to participate in the program will receive the following support:
• A $15,000 development grant to produce a written film treatment and a short proof-of-
concept film in a three-month timeframe.
• A GoPro Hero 4 Black camera to support their filmmaking.
• A travel and lodging grant to attend a story development summit at the Sundance
Mountain Resort.
• Access to issue experts and industry leaders who will help filmmaking teams refine their
project narratives and impact goals.
• Distribution of the proof-of-concept films as part of The Redford Center Grants’
Collection of Shorts.
• Consideration for Redford Center coproduction of the feature film.
• Consideration for a production grant to support the feature film.

Applications are being accepted online only, starting June 22, 2016, through August 10, 2016.
International filmmakers are welcome to apply. Click on apply above to create an account and
start your application. Inquiries can be sent to grants@redfordcenter.org



Terms & Conditions

1. To be considered for a $15,000 grant (a “Program Grant”) under the Redford Center Grants
Program (the “Program”), you must submit your application (the “Application”), along with all of
the other information and deliverables listed in the Application (collectively, the “Application
Deliverables”), by 5:00 pm PST on August 10, 2016.

2. All Application Deliverables submitted to The Redford Center (the “Redford Center”) in and
with your Application will be, in the discretion of The Redford Center, retained or discarded, and
The Redford Center will have no obligation to return the Application Deliverables to you.

3. All ideas and works contained in your Application Deliverables are your original creations,
and, at the time of submission, belong exclusively to you.

4. The Redford Center will have no obligation to reimburse you for any expenses incurred by you
in connection with preparing and submitting your Application.

5. The Redford Center will announce up to five Program Grant recipients no later than October
31, 2016, provided that The Redford Center may increase the number of Program Grant
recipients in its discretion.

6. If you are selected as one of the Program Grant recipients, then, as a condition to receiving a
Program Grant from The Redford Center, you will be required to enter into an agreement (the
“Agreement”) with The Redford Center, in the form attached here, that will cover, among other
things:

a. The requirement that your short film (your “Short”) be delivered to The Redford Center
no later than March 1, 2017.

b. The required technical specifications of your Short, including:

• 5 to 15-minute video, original full size file (via hard drive or web transfer) and
VIMEO upload version.
• Format: Apple Pro Res 422
• Frame Size & Rate: 1920 x 1080 (Progressive) 23.98
• Color Space: HD ITU-BT.709
• Sound: 5:1

c. The availability of you, or one or more members of your team satisfactory to The
Redford Center, to attend a Program Summit for all Program Grant recipients at the
Sundance Mountain Resort, Sundance, Utah from November 18-20, 2016. The Redford
Center will cover the travel, food and accommodation expenses for up to 2 (two) team
members attendance at the Summit.

 d. Your confirmation that:

• your Short will be your exclusive original creation;

• you will have the unrestricted right to submit your Short;
• your Short will not violate any third party's proprietary or other intellectual
property rights;
• your Short will not have been previously produced, exhibited published, sold,
licensed or otherwise exploited; and
• you will have the proper releases, insurance, intellectual property rights and
music rights for your Short.

e. Your release and indemnification of The Redford Center from all liability, claims and damages
resulting from the Redford Center’s use of your Short in accordance with the terms of the
Agreement.

f. Appropriate attribution and credit requirements with respect to The Redford Center and the
New York Community Trust (“NYCT”).

g. The sharing between you and The Redford Center in any profits or other economic benefits
that may be derived from your Short.

h. Your ownership rights with respect to your Short, and your agreement to maintain such
rights.

i. Your rights of exploitation with respect to your Short, subject to your obligation to license to
The Redford Center at no cost the right to show, reproduce and distribute the Short in The
Redford Center’s discretion, either alone or as part of a package with one or more films
distributed by The Redford Center, including those produced by the other Program Grant
recipients.

j. The Redford Center’s right to negotiate with you on an exclusive basis the right to co-produce
and exclusively distribute a feature length film based on your Short.

7. You must confirm your agreement with all of the above Terms and Conditions by clicking the
“I AGREE” button.


Eligibility

• All members of the applicant team must be 18 years of age or older.
• Projects must be feature-length, impact-focused documentary films (animation, VR, and
other emerging techniques are welcome).
• Projects must be focused on an environmental topic. The Redford Center broadly
defines an “environmental topic” as an issue that concerns or endangers the health of
humans, animals, communities, and/or earth ecosystems.
• International filmmakers are eligible to apply.
• All grantees must attend the Story Development Summit November 16-19, 2016. This
date is not negotiable, and cash awards will not be made to filmmaking teams who do
not attend. Therefore, if you cannot make this date, please do not apply during this
grant cycle.
• All applicants agree to allow The Redford Center to use stills, images, and quotes from
their application in promotional material (as appropriate).
• Applicants cannot be staff or board members of The Redford Center.
• Applicants cannot be full-time students.
• Only one application per project will be accepted.
• Before receiving a grant, international applicants must verify that they are filming
entirely outside of the United States. This is because any filming expenses incurred in
the US would require international filmmakers to open an LLC in the US and hire a US
based accountant in order to file withholding taxes with the IRS, which would not be
recommended for a grant of this size.






Project Info

Working Title

Intended Length

Log Line (1-2 sentences)

Primary Idea/Concept - (150 words) The Redford Center broadly defines environmental topics
as issues that concern or endanger the health of humans, animals, communities, and/or earth
ecosystems. Describe the core idea driving this project. Explain your interest in, or connection
to, the issue and what you hope this film will change and/or provoke.

Characters - (300 words) The Redford Center prioritizes hopeful films based on characters that
inspire audiences to engage in an issue. Tell us about your primary character(s). Will this film
follow an issue that includes characters, or follow a character working on an issue? Have the
main characters agreed to be a part of your project? Do you anticipate any challenges with
regard to securing access to the films’ primary subject and/or character(s). Have you shot any
initial footage?

Narrative Arc and Approach - (200 words) Explain the narrative arc of the story. Describe your
artistic approach and intended style of the film.

Why this film team? - (200 words) The film team’s perspective on and experience with the
film’s topic will guide the viewer’s understanding of the story. How did you learn about the
films’ issue and character(s)? Have you done any deep research or reading into the topic? Why is
this the best film team to tell this story? What is the team’s relationship to the topic or
characters driving the project?

Why now? - (300 words) The Redford Center values a well-timed, well-told story to make the
greatest impact. Tell us what is converging at this moment in time that will make the issue
addressed in your film something that people want to hear about, and act on? Do you know of
other films about this topic or character being produced or in production? If so, how is this film
unique?

Filmmakers working on a production constantly have to pitch their film to potential funders.
Please upload a 90-second video of yourself answering the following question: “What is this film
about, why is it important, and why you want to collaborate with The Redford Center.” Consider
this your first pitch. Completion of this video is mandatory to be considered for a Redford Center
Grant.

Work Sample - (10 min total) Show us prior work that you feel best represents your experience
and what you’re bringing to this project. Be clear about the role you played in the production. If
you are sending a sample of footage from the current project, please describe how you see it
being used in the proof-of-concept short film. Provide narrative and paste link here:

Budget - Please include a brief summary of project funding that has been secured or raised to-
date, cost to complete film production, and your plans for raising the remainder of the
production budget.

Timeline - Please include a rough outline of your production timeline – from pre-production
through post – with an anticipated completion timeframe.

Fiscal Sponsorship - Have you lined up a fiscal sponsor for the project? If so, what non profit
entity is it?