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Announcing Documentary Grant Writing Service
September 7, 2020
I’m excited to officially announce our new Grant Writing service! My talented staff writer and I can help you develop a boilerplate grant proposal as well as tailor one for specific proposals, such as the ITVS Diversity Development Fund (deadline is September 11th). Our elegantly written pitch sections can be inserted into the Core Documentary Application, which was developed by the Sundance Institute and the Independent Documentary Association to streamline the process of applying to multiple grants. During this summer’s ITVS Open Call, we helped several filmmakers perfect their proposals, including Isara Krieger, who gave this testimonial: “Karen is a…
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Deadline for Diversity Fund Is Sept 11
September 3, 2020
Important reminder: the deadline for ITVS’s Diversity Development Fund is September 11th. If you’re an experienced filmmaker who identifies as a person of color, and you’re in pre-production, you can apply for up to $25,000. If you’re interested in our new Grant Writing Service, please email me today because we have capacity to help two more filmmakers. As director Brenda Hayes says, we can help you take the frustration out of writing proposals: “After a myriad of ‘Thank you for applying, but…’ rejection letters, I accepted Karen’s help with the ITVS proposal. While the proverbial jury is still out, her…
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Three Upcoming Grant Opportunities
August 31, 2020
First this: my colleague Carole Dean is offering her Intentional Filmmaking Class this fall, beginning September 21st. This is a phenomenal class which focuses on how to raise funds while wearing all the hats that independent filmmakers must don. Early enrollment is $630 through September 9th for 8 classes and 4 personal consultations. What a deal! Lately we’ve been helping a number of producers apply for funding with our newgrant preparation service. Here are three upcoming grant opportunities: ITVS’s Diversity Development Fund is just around the corner! It gives up to $25,000 to producers of color who are in pre-production.…
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Finding Justice on PBS
August 25, 2020
Quick newsflash: we have a talented editor currently available. During a week with plenty in the news about the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, I was thrilled to learn that a documentary we edited is being featured at the prestigious National Women’s History Museum virtual celebration of the centennial on August 26th at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET. The film will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Amanda Owen, and Rosa Rios, the 43rd Treasurer of the United States. It’s free, but you have to register. Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finding-justice-the-untold-story-of-womens-fight-for-the-vote-tickets-115879571919 Edited by my nephew (and latest hire), this historical…
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The Genius In Michelle Obama Documentary
August 21, 2020
Michelle Obama’s opening appearance this week at the U.S. Democratic National Convention called to mind the genius in the 2020 Netflix biography Becoming, which yesterday received four Emmy nominations. In the documentary Becoming, (same title as her 2018 memoir), Obama’s physicality comes through the screen in a way it can’t through print: she spontaneously dances, chats up students in her down-home locution, and pounds out a popular jazz tune on the piano. Interestingly, Indiewire labelled the film “bland”, in the sense that director Nadia Hallgren’s interviews and verite footage of book signings didn’t reveal the deep inner workings of a…
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Film Grant for US Producers of Color
August 11, 2020
ITVS has just opened applications for its Diversity Development Fund. If you’re a film producer of color and need seed money to develop your non-fiction film for television, you can apply for $25,000. What are your chances? Five percent of applicants are funded. My staff writer and I are here to help you make the best impression with an exceptional story that inspires dialogue about a topic rarely seen on television. Many thanks to director Stacey Fitzpatrick for the testimonial below about our grant consulting services. Email me if you are interested in learning more! “I am profoundly grateful for…
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Biggest Mistake Documentary Filmmakers Make
August 5, 2020
We’ve been helping several filmmakers in pre-production, and I expect they will all avoid the biggest mistake that filmmakers make. What’s that? “Using the camera like a fire hose,” is how PBS producer Jon Else put it. In other words, overshooting. I fell into this nasty habit myself with two of my early documentaries, shooting more than 200 hours of footage for each. I spent months logging. By the time I was ready to edit, I’d lost perspective and passion. Years later, I have a few suggestions to help you avoid this creative morass. Use the attached DOVES exercise to…
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ITVS Deadline is July 24th
July 20, 2020
Quick announcement: The ITVS Open Call deadline is July 24th. We currently have capacity to help two more filmmakers before then, so please email me if you’d like to know more about our grant consulting services. (It’s new and not on our website).
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Get Help With ITVS Application
July 12, 2020
The ITVS Open Call deadline is July 24th at midnight Pacific time. And we’re available to help with your application, including the budget. I have a brilliant staff writer who has already helped several directors create a boilerplate proposal. “Her writing is simply beautiful,” said director Lonnie Frazier, who full testimonial is below: “I contacted Karen when I was struggling to write a better grant application. Her insight and advice were invaluable. I also learned so much working her staff grant writer. Her writing is simply beautiful. She took my confused scribbles and the ideas I shared in our phone call,…
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Inside Bill’s Brain: A Hagiography?
July 7, 2020
I recently watched Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, a 2019 Netflix release. Critics panned it as a hagiography. Some knocked director Davis Guggenheim for not pressing Gates “toward true openness or self-examination.” Initially, I gave Oscar-winning Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) the benefit of the doubt for his fast-fire questions that yielded one-word answers. We learn that some of Gates’s favorite things are “dogs”, “hamburgers,” and “coffee”. Maybe the famous director was just warming up the former child nerd? Ultimately, Guggenheim doesn’t ask hard questions, for example, about Microsoft being busted as a monopoly. But he does reveal what social…
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