Motion Picture Production

Criteria for Student Film Grants

1. Eligibility

Except in exceptional circumstances, the only students eligible are juniors working on their 16mm junior film projects and seniors working on senior thesis projects. Junior films qualify for funds only after initial shooting is virtually completed and at least a rough cut has been assembled. Seniors may apply for funds before the beginning of filming, but faculty are more inclined to grant dollar amounts to films in progress, after screening a cut. Students may apply every quarter and should feel free to re-apply in subsequent quarters, particularly if significant progress has been made or application deficiencies from a previous cycle have been corrected.

2. Application Procedure for Films-in-Progress

Each student must make formal application. Copies should be submitted directly to every faculty and staff member in the Motion Pictures Area, comprising the Film Grant Committee. This application should include:

  1. a cover letter,
  2. a script or treatment for the project in as much detail as possible,
  3. a proposed, detailed budget,
  4. a production schedule,
  5. a statement from the filmmaker on why the funds are necessary and why the particular project should get area support.
  6. Any other supporting material should be included in an appendix to the application.

The very first page of the application should be the cover letter, which should include the following sentence:

    "For the project entitled ________, the total estimated budget is $________. So far, $_______ has been already spent. We are asking for ________, which we intend to use in the following way: __________. As of now, our estimated mix date is/was ______. The check should be made out to ______. My social security # is ______, my current mailing address is __________, my current telephone is _________."
Your application should be professionally typed and totally presentable.

3. Screening Procedure

It is the responsibility of the student applicant to arrange for all members of the committee to see the work in progress, preferably at least one week prior to the established application deadlines. The applicant may be able to arrange one larger screening, but more likely will have to arrange many smaller screenings or to provide DVD copies of the work in progress for all faculty/staff. Please note: if even one faculty member is unable tosee your work, your application may be postponed consideration until the next grant cycle.

4. Application Procedure for Film Festival Grants

Aside from the grants for films-in-progress, we also award funds to help students who have completed films enter those films in festivals. To apply for these funds, the application may be simpler. We want a typed Cover Letter, which lists each film festival already entered and the amount of the entrance fee; the cover letter should be stapled to Xerox copies of the completed application to each festival, along with a Xerox of your check showing payment of the registration fee. Normally, we try to fund up to $25 per each festival entered, and often not more than 50% of the total fee. More rarely, we may try to provide funds for special kinds of opportunities: airfare, for instance, to a festival where a student's film has been invited; or an emergency request for funds for an additional release print to accommodate a festival berth. In these cases, your specific request must be explicitly described in your cover letter, along with a detailed cost breakdown.

5. Evaluation of Proposals

Grant cycles take place approximately once a quarter. Faculty will attempt to announce results, within a week of the evaluation meeting, via a posted announcement on the Curriculum Bulletin Board. Application materials will be destroyed after each meeting. Criteria that the faculty will take into account include: the quality of student's past work, the viability of the new project, the quality of the work already completed on the project, the student's need, and the student's contribution to the department.

6. Notes on Expectations

The department does not feel obligated to fund all students or to fund all projects at the same level. We feel no responsibility to pay the cost of student filmmaking. We are encouraging excellence and making it easier for the higher quality films to be completed. The amount of support given to any specific project may vary from year to year; as well, projects may be given a large sum of money all in one quarter, or smaller sums of money in subsequent quarters. Grants to a particular project may vary from a little as a hundred dollars to as much as $1500 over the life of a film. The latter, however, would be considered an unusually high grant; and all figures indicated here are only general guidelines. It is not uncommon for funds to dry up and for money to be less available from time to time. Note too that all students who accept money in either grant program may be asked by the faculty to secure a print for the department. After a film premieres, the grant committee will determine whether the quality is high enough to be in Wright State's permanent film collection. If so, the committee will expect the filmmaker to secure a print, and we will pay the student, at the lower release print cost. All students are expected to provide the department DVD/video copies of their work at no charge.

7. Student Responsibilities: Notification of Screenings, Giving Credit, and Taxes

Students who receive money in the student films-in-progress program or in the film festival program, have the responsibility to keep the faculty informed of any screenings, awards, or prizes that their film has received. Written copies of this information must be given both to the Motion Pictures Coordinator in a timely manner, printed out carefully in press release form, giving as much of the pertinent information as possible. Students who fail to keep the department informed of their progress in this fashion may forfeit the right to participate in any subsequent student film grant program. As well, students who receive funds in the film grant program are expected to give funding credit within the credits of their finished films. Finally, students should note that receiving film grant funds carries with it a tax liability in many cases. The article "Tax Free Grants"- available from the Coordinator-- may prove helpful to the student who wishes to understand whether taxes may be avoided. In some cases, grant funds can both be added to your 1040 as income, but then also deducted on the 1040 as a negative number, to avoid the IRS computer automatically kicking out your form and demanding taxes on your grant amount.

Last updated June 12, 2007