NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre opens 3rd round of grant applications

The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) announced on July 26 that applications are open for the third round of grants as part of The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre.

Qualified applicants can apply for finishing grants through Nov. 1, 2021, at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund. The $5.5 million grant program, launched in 2018, has awarded $3.5 million to 157 film, theatre and music projects to date, with NYFA acting as the grant administrator.

The NYC Women’s Fund is a signature initiative launched to address the underrepresentation of all who identify as women in the entertainment industries. The fund has opened doors of opportunity for many female and female-identified creatives, employed more than 300 artists to date, and served as a model for how local government can promote creative projects by, for or about women.

Recent successes for program participants demonstrate the appetite for entertainment projects with a strong female voice. Film projects from the 2020 Women’s Fund grant recipients were collectively screened at 30 national and international film festivals, including Slamdance, Ann Arbor, SF IndieFest and CONQuest. Various projects from previous NYC Women’s Fund grant recipients have been acquired by The New Yorker, Brooklyn’s BRIC TV and international distribution platforms Kino Lorber, Mubi and No Budge. In addition, eight theatre projects pivoted during the shutdown and premiered to audiences online or with hybrid online performances, while funded musical artists have released seven albums and four music videos.

“Since its creation, the NYC Women’s Fund has fostered the completion of more than a hundred projects by, for or about women, and provided enhanced visibility for female-identified creatives in film, digital media, music and theatre,” said the Anne del Castillo, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “By supporting these works, we are helping to create a more robust canon of creative work that represents the rich diversity of American culture.”

“We are excited to offer this third cycle of the NYC Women’s Fund in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, recognizing how significantly the creative community contributes to the vibrancy of this great city,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. “We look forward to supporting and celebrating the perspectives of all who identify as women through this program, helping them to realize dynamic works that speak to the human experience.”

A series of online informational sessions will be available to all those interested in applying at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund:

Wednesday, 2 p.m.: Aug. 4 – Overview video of NYC Women’s Fund
Wednesday, 2 p.m.: Aug. 18 – LIVE online info session for Music category
Wednesday, 2 p.m.: Sept. 8 – LIVE online info session for Media category
Wednesday, 2 p.m.: Sept. 29 – LIVE online info session for Theatre category
Wednesday, 7 p.m.: Oct. 20 – LIVE online info session for application budgets and timeline

Film, theatre, music and web productions are eligible for finishing funds in the following categories (amounts listed are the maximum potential grant):

Fiction Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) – $50,000
Fiction Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) – $25,000
Fiction Webisode/Webseries (all forms) – $20,000
Documentary Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) – 50,000
Documentary Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) – $25,000
Documentary Webisodes/Webseries (all lengths and forms) – $20,000
Classical/Experimental/Jazz/New Music – $20,000
Music General – $20,000
Theatre Production – grant amounts up to $50,000

Projects are eligible if they feature a strong female or female-identified perspective; and/or include a female or female-identified director; and/or include a meaningful female or female-identified producer credit; and/or include a meaningful female or female-identified writing credit; and/or include a female or female-identified protagonist(s). Eligible projects for music grants will include new EPs, albums and videos for yet-to-be released works from all genres. Projects must have a significant female writing credit, producer credit, engineering credit and/or musical lead. NYC-based producers, composers, engineers, solo musicians, ensemble bands and orchestras that are not currently signed to a major label can apply. Applicants must also show evidence of a growing fan base and have played multiple live shows.

All recipients must be NYC residents. Anyone can apply and be awarded a grant regardless of actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, partnership status, marital status, disability, race, color, national origin, alienage, citizenship status, military status or any other class protected by city, state or federal law.

Applications and eligibility requirements are available at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund. To sign up for updates on the Fund, please visit MOME’s website. You can use hashtag #NYCWomensFund to participate in the conversation.