Fledgling sees storytelling as a lever to improve the lives of the most vulnerable. It knows that a strong filmmaking vision and a beautifully crafted film are essential. It looks for compelling, authentic, important and timely stories that are character driven and/or add a new perspective or new information to a critical social issue. Seeks projects that have unique power to inspire, educate and mobilize audiences.
Fledgling’s grants support outreach and engagement for social issue documentary film and other storytelling projects that have the potential to inspire positive social change around issues that affect the most vulnerable. Grants typically range from $10K – $25K.
There are two types of grants available: audience engagement planning grants or audience engagement implementation grants. Grants are NOT available to support production or post-production.
Before committing funds, Fledgling needs to understand how the story develops and whether it can carry the project’s outreach and engagement goals. Typically, film projects are at a rough cut stage and interactive projects have a prototype/work sample that we can review. All projects should have a clear timeline for completion.
Fledgling seeks stories around a range of issues, but give priority to projects that seek to improve the conditions for the most vulnerable.
It does not expect applicants to have a fully developed audience engagement strategy. In fact, applicants may request funds to do just that. However, it’s looking for proposals that demonstrate a commitment to social change, have clear and realistic goals, recognize the need for partners, and identify some ideas for how the project can contribute to social change around important issues.
It welcomes applicants and projects from both inside and outside of the United States. However, before receiving a grant, all applicants must have a fiscal sponsor based in the United States. This does NOT need to be in place for you to submit the application, but it must be in place for the funds to be disbursed.