The For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator, presented by Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media, is a seven month intensive that supports a cohort of local documentary filmmakers of different backgrounds who are telling personal stories from Bay Area communities not often seen in media.
From March-September 2025, the filmmakers will participate in workshops, receive mentoring, and use program stipends to strategically advance their films. The program will culminate in a works-in-progress screening.
The selected projects include thoughtful intergenerational stories and powerful portraits of local community members that can help us enrich our understanding of each other and ourselves.
Congratulations to our new fellows:
Diana Diroy, Seeds of Ancestral Memory
Jay Gash, Black High Tea
Rose Hoang, On Woody Lane
Deepa Nair, From Civil Rights to Crunch Cakes
Thanh Tran, Finding Má
We look forward to supporting these filmmakers on their journeys!
A 3-Part Series to help filmmakers develop practical business strategies to move their project forward.
Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media are presenting a three-workshop webinar series dedicated to helping emerging and mid-career filmmakers develop strategies for the producing and business side of independent films to ensure they are effectively moving their project forward.
Structured around the filmmaking process of development, production, and post-production, the workshops will cover producing strategies related to financial, legal, marketing, and other business topics required throughout the filmmaking process.
This is not a “how to” workshop series, but rather addresses the “why and what” behind developing practical strategies for integrating the business side of film to match the creative approach and goals of your project. Along with our presentation, we will provide case studies, guest speaker insights, and other resources to help you develop your strategies.
This series is ideal for emerging and mid-career filmmakers with a current film project.
Workshop 1) Development: Building the Foundation – Wed, March 20, 1:00–2:30pm PT
We are excited to announce that Re-Present Media received a California Humanities grant for our event series, For Us, By Us: Our Beloved Communities. The series is planned to take place in Spring 2024.
In partnership with Filmmakers Collaborative SF, we are presenting a film screening and discussion event series highlighting six documentary films made by a multicultural group of local filmmakers who are telling personal stories of Bay Area community heroes. The featured filmmakers were fellows in our inaugural For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator program in 2023. We look forward to continuing to amplify their work and are grateful to California Humanities for their support!
Our Director Jennifer Crystal Chien is featured in DOK Leipzig’s new podcast episode “Keep on Keeping On” from What’s Up with Docs. In this episode, host Toni Bell discusses with Jennifer the vital question of who is determining what is of interest and to whom?! They dive into the challenges faces by BIPOC filmmakers working in a dominant white supremacy culture and the need to generate new and more authentic representations and portrayals of BIPOC communities. Jennifer also talks about her commitment to advocacy and the field-building work at Re-Present Media.
We are excited to announce our For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator cohort! Seven filmmakers telling personal stories from Bay Area communities not often seen in media were selected to participate in our six month intensive. The cohort will participate in workshops, receive mentoring, and be given stipends to strategically use for their films.
With each film comes an opportunity for community members to express their points of view and provide insight into how we can better understand each other and ourselves. The six selected projects highlight intersections of race, class, and gender from across the Bay Area.
Congratulations to Caroline Julia Cabading, Megan Martinez Goltz, Chad Santo Tomas, Mauro Sifuentes, Sé Sullivan, Erika Staud, and Priyanka Suryaneni. We look forward to supporting these filmmakers on their journeys!
Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media are collaborating to present the For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator, a six month intensive to support a cohort of local documentary filmmakers of different backgrounds who are telling personal stories from Bay Area communities not often seen in media.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 22, 2023 @ 11:59PM PST
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
For Us, By Us will support a cohort of local documentary filmmakers of different backgrounds who are telling personal stories from Bay Area communities not often seen in media. The filmmakers will participate in workshops, receive mentoring, and be given stipends to strategically use for their films. The mentoring will be focused on a group setting, with additional individual mentoring with program directors as needed. The six month program will run from March-August 2023.
Our goal is to nurture stories that expand our understanding of those who live in our Bay Area communities, especially those who will benefit from seeing their perspectives realistically represented, validating their lived experiences and providing insight into how we can better understand each other and ourselves.
Filmmakers Collaborative SF is a nonprofit media organization with a mission to catalyze positive change through the power of filmmaking. Re-Present Media is an organization dedicated to advocating for personal storytelling from communities not often seen in documentary film and nonfiction media. The launch of the For Us, By Us Filmmaker Incubator marks an exciting next step in our work to support storytellers of different backgrounds and strengthen the Bay Area’s filmmaker ecosystem.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The six month program includes:
$1,750 stipend to be used in accordance with the filmmaker’s development plan that is created in the program.
Three months of workshops (twice a month) led by working filmmakers and industry professionals covering story development, creative approach, fundraising, distribution, and other elements of the filmmaking journey.
Three months of group mentoring sessions (twice a month) focused on the needs of the participants’ films, with additional individual mentoring with program directors as needed.
Work in progress screening at the end of the program.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible, applicants must:
Be an emerging to mid-career documentary filmmaker
Live or work in the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma Counties)
Be working on a documentary project that centers a personal story within a Bay Area community not often seen in media. The film can be a short or feature length documentary in pre-production with secured participants, production, or post-production.
Be available to participate in the program’s activities. See tentative schedule.
APPLICATION
Application deadline: February 22, 2023 at 11:59pm PST
