The Institute for Family exists to elevate and prioritize family well-being. The Institute for Family is calling on US filmmakers to pitch documentaries about families who show strength and resilience in the face of adversity. Three pitches will be greenlit, and filmmakers will receive $10,000 each to make their 5-15 minute documentary. We believe family can take on many forms and compositions, and we support stories that feature any and all types of families.

Watch the filmmaker Q & A with the AudPop and Institute for Family team to learn more about this opportunity: http://aud.link/UDttTof

How it Works: Pitch a short documentary that highlights the strength and resilience of a struggling family as they overcome obstacles with the support of others. Obstacles could include but are not limited to, conditions like poverty, homelessness, racism, classism, involvement with the child welfare system, involvement with the courts system, etc. Woven into the story should be the individuals or communities that invested in the family and aided them in overcoming the obstacle. Families should not be seen as victims or perpetrators – they should be positioned as strong and resilient despite their struggles.

The pitches will be narrowed down to the top 6 selections. Interviews with the top 6 finalists will be held with Institute for Family and AudPop team. From these 6 interviews, up to 3 will be chosen as the greenlit pitches.

We will announce the three greenlit proposals on or around April 9.

What you will be asked in the application and how to apply:

Upload a video of the family that you want to feature to your AudPop profile. This video does not have to be polished. We want to see your family.
To begin the application, click “Submit Now” and upload a piece of your previous docu-style work 5-10 minutes that exemplifies your capability (.avi., .mpg, .mp4, .wmv, .webm, .mpeg, .flv, .mov, .m4v.).
You will now be taken to the actual application. Here we will ask a few simple questions about you. You will type directly into our application.
Now, pitch us your 5-10 minute documentary by typing your answers to the following questions directly into the application:

a. What is the family's story that you want to feature? What is the narrative arc of the documentary? What obstacle does the family face? How did they overcome it or are overcoming it? Who is in their life helping them?

b. Is a system involved in the family's life (education, judicial, child welfare, etc). What is it? How do they feel about it? Are you featuring professionals from the system in this documentary? If so, who are they?

c. Is the family receiving community or family support? What does that look like and how are the support systems rallying around the family?

d. Tell us about your creative vision for this documentary. How is it told: interview or cinema verite or other? How does it look? How does it sound/music? Are your characters looking back telling their story or are they currently facing their obstacle? How are you going to make a cinematic documentary versus a talking head interview? What is the tone?

e. Who are the characters in your documentary? Include details like age, relationships, location, socio/economic demographics, etc. Are there professionals or experts who will appear in the documentary? If so, who are they?

f. Is this family's story a universal story? How so? Is there a macro-level solution? A call to action?

g. Tell us about your technical vision for this documentary. How are you going to shoot this? What will it look like? What equipment will you use to shoot, light, and record sound?

h. Is anyone helping you make your documentary? Tell us about them?

i. What do you expect the run time to be of your final documentary?

5. You can upload supplemental materials like a look book, PowerPoint, etc. (optional)
6. After you accept the terms of the non-exclusive license, you will click “Submit Campaign” and your submission will be reviewed.

Things to know about your final documentary if your pitch is greenlit:

AudPop will assist you with edit notes and production needs.
You will be required to submit talent release forms for every character in your documentary.
You will be required to submit music release forms. You must have full rights to any music used in your documentary.
We may require coordination with the other two filmmakers to ensure stylistic consistency across multiple films. The AudPop content team will assist you with this.
AudPop will require check-ins and may review dailies to give production notes.
In addition to the short film, you will be required to create 6-second, 30-second, and 1-minute trailers.
You and the family may also be asked to participate in an interview for a blog or video post on instituteforfamily.org
You will share a non-exclusive right to your film with IFF

Pitches are evaluated based on the following judging criteria:

Previous work example(s)
The family: Are they engaging and compelling? Is their story powerful?
Creativity
Fresh, Diverse Perspective
Adherence to the Assignment

The three pitches will be greenlit around April 9. If you are selected, you will have 8 weeks to produce your film. Three payment installments will be made throughout the 8 weeks based on fulfilled duties in the making of your documentary.

The three completed films will be distributed across Institute for Family properties, an AudPop partner.

About the Institute for Family

Institute for Family - https://instituteforfamily.org/ - exists to elevate and prioritize family well-being, because family is the foundation for healthy children, strong communities, and vibrant society. We believe that all families are inherently strong and resilient. We convene conversations to inspire new thinking and actions that address stressful conditions facing families and advance family well-being. We put family voice at the center of these conversations and lift up their lived experiences through storytelling to foster empathy, build a shared understanding of the important role that family plays in society, and compel people to act.

About AudPop AudPop is a premium video entertainment platform that connects our network of 75,000+ diverse and talented filmmakers with brands and audiences around the world. Through creation, curation, and promotion, our mission is to facilitate collaboration and change with authentic storytelling content. We work with filmmakers to provide opportunities to tell more stories.

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