Sundance Institute has initiated a Request for Proposals for STORIES OF CHANGE: SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN FOCUS THROUGH DOCUMENTARY. The one-time funding initiative will provide $1.2 million in film project grants to enable the development and/or production of new feature-length independent documentary films that frame, examine and amplify social entrepreneurship as an innovative approach to the central questions of our time.
STORIES OF CHANGE is part of a $3 million, three-year partnership with the Skoll Foundation designed to explore the role of film in advancing knowledge about social entrepreneurship. The initiative builds on earlier work between the Skoll Foundation and Sundance Institute to combine the art of storytelling with the impact of social entrepreneurship. This partnership will help create new opportunities for leading social entrepreneurs and outstanding documentary filmmakers to collaborate and to create new projects that advance the innovative approaches found in both fields. The initiative anticipates funding up to 8 films in the range of $30,000-$150,000 per project, with editorial control being retained by the filmmaker(s).
“Documentary filmmakers and social entrepreneurs have much to contribute to the challenges we currently face as a global society,†said Cara Mertes, Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. “This initiative is the first of its kind to bring the two fields together to seek inspiration, innovation, and creative experimentation around our most urgent social concerns.”
Those with proposals for documentary films on topics in social entrepreneurship, including the work of specific social entrepreneurs, are encouraged to apply directly to Sundance online.
Deadline for Submissions: August 15, 2008
Awards Announced: December, 2008
This is a fantastic idea! Jeff Skoll already has a foot in both the world of advancing social entrepreneurship and supporting groundbreaking documentaries, so this makes perfect sense. Part of effecting change is to create examples of successful trailblazers for others to follow and this is a great step in that direction.