MicroCinema Scene

Alex Ferrari is making quite a name for himself. In 2005 he directed the $8,000 short that could: Broken. Ferrari has continued to exploit digital technology to give his projects a very impressive scope
and professional sheen. Nothing has changed with his latest offering, Red Princess Blues: The Book of Violence, an animated short, written and co-produced by Ferrari. The short serves as a prequel to his feature length debut, Red Princess Blues. Currently in pre-production, the film follows a young woman on a quest for revenge. Alex has interrupted his busy pre-production schedule to answer a few questions.
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Technology is advancing at a rapid pace. This makes it easier than ever to make movies on an ultra-low budget level. But, sometimes you really need to have money to put your vision on screen. Many independent filmmakers put together independent financing by seeking out investors or maxing out their credit cards, but there is another method of financing your film that doesn’t get much press these days - GRANTS. While it is much harder to get a grant today than it was 20 years ago, this is still an option worth exploring.

This page compiles a list of organizations that give grants on a regular basis. This list will grow and change over time as we will be continually updating it. If you would like to suggest additions or revisions, or share you personal experience with the grant application process, please use our comments form below. We would love to hear from you.

>> SCREENWRITING GRANTS >>

The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting program is an international competition open to screenwriters who have not earned more than $5,000 writing for film or television. Entry scripts must be the original work of a sole author or of exactly two collaborative authors. Entries must have been written originally in English. Adaptations and translated scripts are not eligible. Up to five $30,000 fellowships are awarded each year. Verified Feb 2008.

Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition
In addition to being an all around great festival, the AFF Screenwriting Competition is becoming increasingly prestigious. Best of all, they offer cash awards. Awards range from free festival passes to $5,000 and travel expenses. Verified Feb 2008.

>> PRODUCTION GRANTS >>

Creative Capital
This New York City-based nonprofit organization, acts as a catalyst for the development of adventurous and imaginative ideas by supporting artists who pursue innovation in form and/or content in the performing and visual arts, film and video, and in emerging fields. We are committed to working in partnership with the artists whom we fund, providing advisory services and professional development assistance along with multi-faceted financial aid and promotional support throughout the life of each Creative Capital project. Verified Feb 2008.

Film Arts Foundation Grants
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. These awards are targeted for film and videomakers in categories that are among the most difficult areas in which to raise money for media projects. Verified March 2008.

Oppenheimer New Filmmaker Grant Program
The Oppenheimer Cine Rental New Filmmaker Equipment Grant Program is a grant to support new filmmakers in producing their first serious film project. The grant awards the use of our Grant Program Arriflex 16SR2 camera package to senior and graduate thesis students and to independent filmmakers for a scheduled period of time. This specific package, which we have set aside for the grant program, should meet the needs of most 16mm projects. Proposed projects may be of any non-commercial nature: dramatic, narrative, documentary, experimental, etc. Verified Feb 2008.

Sundance Institute Documentary Fund
The Sundance Institute Documentary Fund is a key program of the Documentary Film Program, dedicated to supporting U.S. and international documentary films that focus on current human rights issues, freedom of expression, social justice, civil liberties, and exploring critical issues of our time. Documentary Fund grants are announced 2-3 times a year and between 2002-2006, the Fund has disbursed almost $5.2 million to over 175 projects in 52 countries. Verified March 2008.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Media Grants
MacArthur supports independent documentary film and video and public radio in the United States to help ensure a diversity of viewpoints and expand the availability of high-quality content. The primary focus of the Foundation’s Media grantmaking is support for independent documentary films – usually those that address subject matter close to MacArthur’s grantmaking strategies. Funding for public radio is intended to maintain and strengthen its program-production infrastructure. Verified Feb 2008.

Sarah Jacobson Film Grant
This annual film grant is intended to honor the spirit and legacy of Sarah Jacobson. Sarah, whose feature film Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore screened at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, died in 2004 after a battle with cancer. Sarah led a DIY (”Do It Yourself”) movement in the 1990s, promoting and distributing her own work with her producer and mom, Ruth Ellen Jacobson, speaking at festivals and events everywhere, and writing about film for a number of publications. A tireless, at times even shameless, promoter of her own work, Sarah was also a passionate advocate for the films of fellow filmmakers. The Free History Project, Ruth Jacobson (Sarah’s mom), and a number of Sarah’s friends have contributed money in order to give out a small annual grant to one or more female filmmakers whose work embodies some of the things that Sarah stood for: a fierce DIY approach to filmmaking, a radical social critique, and a thoroughly underground sensibility.

Texas Filmmakers Production Fund
Since 1996 the Austin Film Society has awarded $750,000 in cash and $80,000 in goods and services to 243 film and video projects. We award grants once a year to emerging film and video artists in the state of Texas through our Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund. TFPF recipients have shown their films at renowned festivals like Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Tribeca, Slamdance and SXSW and have been nominated for Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards and won Student Academy Awards. Several have been released theatrically or in the cable and home video markets. The Austin Film Society is proud to support these Texas filmmakers making their mark in the world.

Like so many of us with a desire to eventually make movies for a living, I like to view my little DV shorts (a.k.a. Microcinema) as a training ground. Even when making a five-minute camcorder short, the kind where you are the writer/ director/ producer/ cameraman/ editor, you can still prep for bigger shoots, and develop good habits. One of these habits is creating and maintaining a shot list.

A shot list is a list of all the camera angles for a shoot, including coverage and cutaways. This can be done from the script, on the fly during a shoot, or even AFTER the shoot, using the footage and just naming the shots that were obtained.

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Once upon a time “microcinema” meant the garage and basement and parking lot venues used to show underground movies; soon it grew to include the movies themselves. I began writing for the Microcinema Scene website at its inception several years ago and became involved in a film festival that grew out of Canada and blossomed in South Dakota and last year landed in the outskirts of Chicago. In the past I had judged and MCd and taught workshops, but this year I was mostly going to enjoy myself.

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Don’t miss Part One or Part Two of John Oak Dalton’s adventures in b-moviedom.

SATURDAY MAY 31, 2003:  THE AFTERGLOW

With two of the main actors, Bob and Hunter, making their way home, the Polonia Brothers, Jon McBride, and I began to watch all of the footage, seeing the scenes we had shot over the last few days unfold before our eyes.  Everything was there (a blessing, as John Polonia had an alarming tendency to leave the lens cap on), and not only that, it looked great.  Over several hours I began to see in my mind how the film would piece together, and I thought, even if it gets panned from coast to coast and in every dusty corner of the Internet, I am still proud of what we did.

That evening I was treated to a great dinner at a nice restaurant with the extended Polonia family.  There I saw a poster for the local “Rattlesnake Festival,” where denizens swarm the hills to capture and bring back rattlers to the baseball diamond in the center of town. Prizes are awarded for the biggest capture, and anti-venom and pork fritters are easily on hand.  For myself, I would then apply a well-swung axe; but the fun-loving Pennsylvanians turn the snakes loose again.  For the first time I thought I understood what in their formative years made the Polonia Brothers what they are today.

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This is a great and very in-depth analysis of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining made by Rob Ager.  Part One focuses on how Kubrick constructed the film to be scary. Part Two focuses on the subtext. The Shining is one of my 10 favorite films and this analysis really made me think about the film on several new levels. This is the kind of information you would pay good money for in film school and now you can watch it for free while you are sitting around in your underwear.



PART ONE

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(Editors Note: Don’t miss Part One of John Oak Dalton’s experiences in b-moviedom. If you haven’t read it yet, click here.)

THURSDAY MAY 29, 2003:  “SURVIVOR:  WELLSBORO”

For the first time I heard words that I wrote coming out of an actor’s mouth, and it’s a weird feeling…from my laptop in the cornfields of rural Indiana to an L.A. actresses’ mouth in a van bumping down a road in Pennsylvania.  It is basically a funny little scene where Billy D’Amato is driving to the cabin and talking about the differences between shooting documentaries and shooting porno movies.  Unfortunately the first scene I would hear of mine mouthed by a professional actor had the word “cornhole” in it.  At the end Mark Polonia turns to me as I’m crouching out of the camera line in the back seat and says, “Well, you’ve seen your first scene comes to life!” and John Polonia cheerfully chimes in with, “We haven’t even started raping the script yet!”

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If you were wondering why the front page was dead for awhile, it’s because I was in OKC at deadCENTER 2007. I’ve been involved with this fest since it’s first year and it gets more and more awesome each year. I realize it’s probably off a lot of people’s radars because it’s located in Oklahoma City - but don’t let that turn you off because it is a really fun festival to attend.

I didn’t see as many movies as I would have liked this year, because there were so many great parties to attend, filmmakers to meet and old friends to hang out with. Here are a few personal highlights of deadCENTER 2007.

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[Editors Note: In 2003, indie screenwriter (and MicroCinema Scene co-founder) John Oak Dalton watched a movie called Blood Red Planet and was introduced to the strange world of legendary cult filmmakers - The Polonia Brothers. Little did he know that this low-budget space epic would lead to a collaboration that continues to this day. He has since gone on to write several movies for the Brothers and in 2003, travelled to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania for the production of Among Us - a movie about Bigfoot!]
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[Editors Note: This is another article from the Vault. Back in the old days, when people still made printed “zines,” Tim Shrum was putting out a D.I.Y. filmmaking publication titled NEXT TUESDAY.  One of his frequent subjects was filmmaker Rock Savage. In this interview, Tim interviews Rock about a documentary called Assignment: Ghosthunt. I find this project extremely interesting, because back in 2003, Rock was covering the type of subjects that have now completely entered the mainstream. You can flip around cable stations on any given night and find a reality series about people investigating “haunted” buildings and having encounters with “real” ghosts. It’s just another example of big mainstream media gradually absorbing fringe subjects were independent filmmakers used to thrive.]

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