For a documentary film to make a difference, a solid strategy for audience engagement and strong partnerships are key. Filmmakers often lack time to do this work themselves or the expertise and the funds to pay for it. Emerging filmmakers, creators of color, and underrepresented artists can face the biggest hurdles, despite the potential of their projects. Working Films’ response to this challenge is Impact Kickstart, a program offering in-kind partnership and strategy development to underrepresented documentary directors with feature films in progress that hold great promise to catalyze action to address critical issues of our time.
Now in its fourth year, the Impact Kickstart program has helped underrepresented filmmakers create strategic goals for impact and specific plans to engage future partners, funders, and audiences in meaningful ways. Impact Kickstart was created to fill a gap in support for the impact campaigns of underrepresented filmmakers, including directors who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC), undocumented, LGBQ+, nonbinary, disabled, and female directors with a majority female and/or underrepresented film team.
Two films will be selected for Impact Kickstart in 2021. Each selected filmmaker will receive an Impact Kickstart from Working Films this year. This includes the planning, facilitation and reporting out from a day-long strategy summit with potential partners and funders. This summit will leave filmmakers well positioned to carry out an impact campaign with a clear strategy, goals, partners and a report that can be used for engaging supporters. Impact Kickstart recipients will also receive impact campaign funding of at least $25,000.
The deadline for Impact Kickstart 2021 is Monday, March 22 at 11:59pm EST. To apply, complete our online application using Submittable. You’ll create a quick login so that you can work on your application and have your information saved. Applicants will be notified as to the outcome of the selection process in mid-May 2021. Before you get started you can find a preview of the application questions in this PDF. Please also check out this document of frequently asked questions. If you have any additional questions, join us for a webinar Q&A on Tuesday, February 23, 2 – 3 pm ET. Register for that here! If you can’t attend, we will be recording it and posting it to this page. If you have any additional questions in the meantime, please email Gerry Leonard at [email protected]
Working Films strives to make all of our events and programs accessible, including our application processes. To request an accessibility accommodation or adjustment, please email [email protected], or call us at 910-342-9000.