Deadline: 12-Jan-22
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Public Programs is accepting applications for the Media Projects program to support collaboration between media producers and scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare documentary films, radio, and podcasts that engage public audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways.
Projects must be grounded in humanities scholarship and demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical; proposals must demonstrate the potential to attract a broad general audience.
The Division of Public Programs encourages media projects that promote a deeper understanding of American history and culture as well as those that examine international themes and subjects in the humanities.
Funding Levels
Media Projects offers two levels of funding: Development and Production.
- Development
- Development awards (up to $75,000) enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content along with other program elements. Awards should result in a script (for documentary films and television programs) or detailed treatment(s) (for radio programs and podcasts). Awards may also be used to plan for outreach and public engagement in collaboration with a partner organization or organizations.
- To be ready to apply for a Development award, you must already have settled on a subject, an approach, and a project team. In particular, you should have:
- assessed the major humanities scholarship related to the subject
- assembled a group of humanities advisers including scholars and other experts
- consulted with the humanities advisers to clarify the project’s interpretive ideas
- formed a media team to see the project through its development period
- considered how your content will appeal to public audiences and will convey what they should learn from the project
- chosen the format (s)
- identified resources (such as archival materials and potential interviewees)
- Development awards may support activities such as:
- meetings with scholars
- research and preliminary interviews (including scholarly research and development of humanities themes)
- preparation of program treatments and / or scripts
- production of a work-in-progress or trailer
- creation of partnerships for outreach activities and public engagement
- Production
- Production awards (up to $ 700,000) should result in the production and distribution of radio, podcast, television, and long-form documentary film projects.
- To be ready to apply for a Production award, you should have:
- conducted extensive research on your subject, including archival work, preliminary interviews
- identified humanities themes
- involved humanities scholars in creating and interpreting the project’s content
- drafted the script (for film or television projects) or detailed treatment (s) (for radio or podcast projects)
- designed your plans for distribution, outreach, and partnerships
- Production awards may support activities such as:
- archival research and rights clearances
- meetings with scholars
- script refinement
- production and distribution of films, television programs, radio programs, and podcasts
- development of resources related to the proposed media project, such as websites, that explore the humanities content and themes central to the project
- outreach and public engagement
Funding Information
- NEH expects to have approximately $ 3,500,000 to fund an estimated 12-15 recipients
- You may request up to $ 75,000 for Development projects and up to $ 700,000 for Production projects.
- The earliest period of performance start date is October 1, 2022 and the latest is April 1, 2023.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include US nonprofit organizations with 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status, public and 501 (c) (3) accredited institutions of higher education, state and local governmental agencies, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments.
- Eligible organizations are encouraged to partner with independent producers and other skilled professionals to carry out programmatic activities. Under this arrangement, the lead applicant submits the application on behalf of the partnership (s).
- Lead applicants must not function solely as fiscal agents or fiscal sponsors, but should make substantive contributions to the success of the project. If the application is funded, the applicant is considered the recipient of record and assumes all programmatic, financial, and legal responsibilities associated with the award, including adherence to, and compliance with, federal regulations and the terms and conditions of the award.
- Individuals, foreign and for-profit entities are not eligible to apply.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336695