Sitemap | Contact Us | Login | Register

Explore Our Work

access, activism, archives, community, copyright, democracy, digital-media, distribution, documentary, environment, fair-use, film, film festival, filmmaker, filmmakers, funding, human-rights, journalism, law, mapping, new-media, online video, outreach, policy, public-media, public_media, social-justice, storytelling, video, web_2.0, youth-media

Newsletter

Subscribe to our free mailing list for event announcements, CSM news and our latest reports.

Feeds

Funding Social Media

Social documentaries are funded by individuals with creative strategies including partnering, and by organizations and foundations that know the power of media. They also depend on public resources including public television and arts and humanities council funds. Below you can find some approaches to the struggle to fund social documentary and links to get you started.

Publications

Documentaries on a Mission: How Nonprofits Are Making Movies for Public Engagement[PDF]

Read about how the Sierra Club, The American Civil Liberties Union and local environmental groups use documentaries for high-impact and action

In the Battle for Reality: Social Documentaries in the U.S.[PDF]

What difference can a documentary make? This fact-filled report by Center co-director Pat Aufderheide, with many case studies of successful strategic use of social documentaries, answers that question. Funded by the Ford Foundation.

Articles

Collaborative strategies for social action filmmakers

By Pat Aufderheide

Far from hindering a filmmaker, collaboration with groups with similar agendas may be the best bet for filmmakers looking to make a project happen.

The Current State of the International Marketplace for Documentary Films[PDF]

By Diana Holtzberg and Jan Rofekamp

“This report focuses on the international marketplace for documentaries from the perspective of who buys and who sells them.”

Media For Social Change: Partnerships[PDF]

By Pat Aufderheide

An in-depth look at the benefits to filmmakers and funders who form collaborative partnerships in pursuit of their goals.

Related Links

  • Human Rights Tools E-Library
    This website offers a library of resources on human rights issues, from monitoring and fact-finding tools, advocacy tools and other essential resources for human rights work, to the top online databases for resources on human rights law, refugee law and humanitarian law. The page offers career resources and the latest headlines on human rights issues.
  • Producing Films With Nonprofit Organisations

    By Chris Palmer, Director of American University’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking, and President of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation. This article gives filmmakers advice on forging collaborations with non-profit organizations to help achieve greater success and influence through documentaries.

  • Why Fund Media
    This essay collection edited by Karen Hirsch, targeted at grantmakers, is fascinating for anyone interested in creative strategies to use media for social change. It includes chapters on activist video, radio documentaries, documentaries designed for social engagement, and outreach strategies.
  • Morrie Warchawski’s Fundraising Bibliography
    Looking for books on fundraising? Warchawski has compiled an extensive list of books on why to fund media to proposal writing to successful strategies.
  • Sundance Documentary Fund
    The Sundance Documentary Fund is dedicated to supporting U.S. and international documentary films and videos focused on current and significant issues and movements in contemporary human rights, freedom of expression, social justice, and civil liberties.
  • IDFA Forum
    The FORUM is Europe’s largest gathering of television commissioning editors and independent documentary producers. Its aim is to stimulate co-financing and co-production of new documentaries by enabling producers to pitch their project concepts to the assembled commissioning editors and other professionals.
  • Creative Capital
    Creative Capital supports artists and work with the potential for significant artistic and cultural impact, including Film & Video arts.
  • Film Arts Foundation Grants
    Created in 1984, the goal of the Film Arts Foundation Grants Program is to encourage new and diverse works by film and video artists who have little likelihood of being supported through traditional funding sources. FAF also offers training, equipment access and fiscal sponsorship.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities
    The Media Log contains descriptions of over eight hundred NEH-supported radio, television and film productions, and links to applying for NEH support.
  • New York Foundation for the Arts
    Provides grants and fellowships to the New York art community, as well as maintaining a national database of arts funding sources for public access. The site also has an extensive list of links sorted by area and information on the arts business.
  • Women Make Movies: Production Assistance Program
    Offers a variety of distribution and financial assistance programs for women media creators.
  • Cultural Policy & the Arts
    A national data archive on artists, funding for the arts, organizations, and audiences for research and statistical analysis.
  • ITVS: Producer Resources
    In this section of the UTVS website, you can get an inside look at producing for ITVS and learn about the funding process with informative articles and helpful tips.
  • Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers: Resources for Indies
    Getting started on your film can be a daunting process. Professional organizations such as AIVF offer answers to frequently asked questions, like how to begin the search for funding.