As storytelling and media become increasingly essential to social change efforts, creatives and funders are working even more closely. But these communities don’t necessarily share language, culture, expectations, or even a common vision. Too often, miscommunication gets in the way of great collaborations. That’s why, in 2009, we created The Prenups: What Funders and Creatives Should Talk about Before Tying the Knot.
As storytelling and media become increasingly essential to social change efforts, creatives and funders are working even more closely. But these communities don’t necessarily share language, culture, expectations, or even a common...Read more...
As storytelling and media become increasingly essential to social change efforts, creatives and funders are working even more closely. But these communities don’t necessarily share language, culture, expectations, or even a common...Read more...
As storytelling and media become increasingly essential to social change efforts, creatives and funders are working even more closely. But these communities don’t necessarily share language, culture, expectations, or even a common...Read more...
The full Prenups guide includes perspectives from filmmakers and funders on how to effectively work together. Below are some of these perspectives. Explore other perspectives on filmmaker-funder partnerships and share your own opinions.
It’s hard when foundations are interested in outreach goals and objectives but don’t want to contribute to the production of the film. This limits impact because filmmakers are always struggling, and so it can be difficult to reach long-term objectives.
We want our grantees to keep us informed, so that to the extent possible we can be a source of knowledge. This relationship can be a beautiful thing for both the funder and the creative.
Some filmmakers might be tempted to lowball their budget, especially if a funder has pushed back on an original bottom line. But that can lead to compromised quality and even stalled production.
We’re held more and more accountable by our trustees for every dollar spent, [and therefore] filmmakers must be prepared for more scrutiny than ever before.
There is value to letting a story unfold in a more nuanced, complex fashion—that is almost always a more effective way of drawing your audience in and making your point than hitting the audience over the head with it.
The filmmaker has to understand that the money the funder brings could be spent elsewhere, and it’s being spent on this project because the funder cares about this issue and wants to see something good done.
Filmmakers take a lot of risks, often don’t have health insurance and spend time in development working speculatively and without pay. When funding comes in, the filmmaker needs to make up for lost income and receive a decent wage that reflects their previous investment in the project.
CONTACT US
© 2013-2023 ACTIVE VOICE LAB
Active Voice Lab is a project of Community Initiatives
Website by Computer Courage. Maintained by RED.
Lead video © Simon Christen.
