The World Needs Your Story. 

We’re at a pivotal moment in our cultural awareness of climate and environmental issues. Our movement needs stories that not only describe the issues we face, but that inspire hope and illuminate pathways for people to meaningfully engage in solutions. 

One of the few vehicles of philanthropic support available to environmental documentary filmmakers working today, Redford Center Grants employs a cohort-based model to resource filmmakers with financial support, professional development, and a global mentorship community that empowers them to develop and distribute urgently needed environmental films and docuseries that create impact across a broad spectrum of issue areas, geographies, and audiences. Since launching in 2016 with the support of the New York Community Trust, Redford Center Grants has supported 47 projects with $1.7 million in funding. 

Redford Center Grants prioritizes support for solutions-focused stories from frontline communities, especially stories that feature narratives that intersect with social, racial, economic, gender, and disability justice movements and originate from voices traditionally underrepresented in the field. We know that these types of stories — from communities most impacted by injustices — are critical to expanding the diversity and intersectionality of the environmental movement, presenting the complexity of challenges and solutions, and creating trust and shared objectives among affected communities. 

Our 2024 open call for grants applications will take place April 4 – May 10, 2024. Nonfiction feature films or docu-series at any stage of development, production, or postproduction are eligible to apply. Each film awarded will receive a first-year (2024) $25,000 grant to support production and impact campaign expenses, an opportunity to present at an intimate, invitational virtual film showcase with funders and industry leaders, and a trip to an in-person Grantee Summit for project development and advisement. In year two (2025), grantees will have the opportunity to be considered for a  second grant to support the production’s completion, and impact. In addition to financial support, we work in a grantee cohort model and provide learning sessions and opportunities, networking and promotional support, and community building to all grantees.

Project Eligibility:

• New and ongoing nonfiction feature films or docu-series at any stage of development or production. Projects that are picture locked are ineligible to apply.
• Must be a documentary feature film or episodic docu-series
• Must have a clear impact goal and developed idea for an impact campaign 
• Must be about, or intersect with, an environmental issue and a proposed or activated solution 

Applicant Eligibility:

• Must be 18+ years of age
• Application must come from Director or Producer
• Applications from anywhere in the world are eligible
• Previous filmmaking experience highly recommended
• Awardees will be expected to be available to participate in our professional development programming 

We Encourage Stories About:

• Intersectional environmental issues and solutions for people and the planet.  
• Leadership, progress, solutions, possibility, hope, and innovation that transform defeatist narratives around  environmental crises. 
• Fresh viewpoints or filmmaking artistry that challenge the conventional boundaries of what an environmental story is expected to be. 
• An equitable, inclusive, and diverse environmental movement that centers  underrepresented and historically excluded communities and voices. 
• Systemic bias, discrimination, and injustice in environmental policy and their impacts on communities, individuals, and the earth. 
• Pathways to direct action, groundbreaking achievements, or measurable impact.  
• Cultural practices that honor traditional and ancestral knowledge and wisdom. 
• Community power and civic engagement initiatives at the intersection of environmental justice and planetary health.  
• Protecting and restoring land, water, biodiversity, and natural resources.  

Reflecting the core values of our organization, we seek to ensure accountability to and representation of the intersectionality of environmental advocates and artists, which includes Black, Indigenous, People of Color; Women; people with disabilities; immigrant and refugee communities; and LGBTQ+ communities, and all people whose lives are disproportionately impacted by environmental injustices.

Grantees Receive:

• A $25,000 gift of financial support in the first year of the grants cycle. 
• An invitation to apply for second-year funding, which includes a more substantial financial investment to support ongoing production, post-production, or an impact campaign. 
• An all-expenses paid trip to Redford Center Grants Summit in Spring 2025 (US-based) with exclusive participation in learning sessions and networking events with experts, industry leaders, and fellow artists. Each team is offered support in refining their project narratives and impact goals. 
• An opportunity to present at an intimate, invitational virtual film showcase with funders and industry leaders in Fall 2024. 
• Promotional support and strategic advice, from development to distribution, from The Redford Center. 
• Invitation to join The Redford Center’s fiscal sponsorship program at discounted rate, which makes it easier to attract and accept philanthropic support. 

The call for applications is open from April 4 – May 10, 2024, and follows the format of the, and follows the format of the Nonfiction Documentary Core Application, a collaborative effort to standardize application requirements to foster greater access and a more equitable and sustainable documentary field.

Application deliverables will be reviewed for realistic progress towards short term and long term goals, and applicants will need to demonstrate measurable ways to track project impact.

Finalists will be notified in early fall. Grantees will be announced in Fall 2024.