Redford Center Grants

Application and Program Eligibility

Application (Currently Closed)

Our 2022 Open Call took place from March 24 – May 30, 2022. New and ongoing nonfiction feature films or docu-series at any stage of development, production, or postproduction were eligible to apply. Each film received a first-year (2022) $20,000 grant for production and/or impact campaign expenses, a GoPro camera package and an opportunity to present at a public film showcase with industry leaders. In year two (2023), we’ll award second-year grants to support the production, completion, and impact for up to five selected grantee projects. 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.

Projects must have these elements:

  • Must be a documentary feature film or series
  • Must have a clear impact goal or idea for an impact campaign
  • Must be about, or intersect with, an environmental issue and a proposed or activated solution

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 the environmental crises.
  • An equitable, inclusive, and diverse environmental movement that brings underrepresented and historically excluded communities and voices to the forefront.
  • 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. 

In addition to providing a financial and equipment award, The Redford Center’s support involves helping build community around these projects, advising on the design of intentional impact strategies and campaigns, and connecting filmmakers with additional opportunities, partnerships, funding, and advice that will lead them toward their ultimate impact goals. 

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 $20,000 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.
  • A GoPro camera package gifted to each team by GoPro for a Cause.
  • Exclusive participation in learning sessions and networking events with experts, industry leaders, and fellow artists. Each team builds a community around their project and is supported in refining their project narratives and impact goals.
  • Promotional support and strategic advice, from development to distribution, from The Redford Center.
  • Priority consideration and a discounted rate to be part of The Redford Center’s fiscal sponsorship program, which makes it easier to attract and accept philanthropic support. 

The call for applications was open from March 24 – May 30, 2022, and followed the format of the 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.

Awardees will be expected to participate in professional development programming, virtual or otherwise in-person if deemed safe during the grant award period. 

There are no geographic restrictions. We accept international applications. 

Questions? Please contact us at grants@redfordcenter.org