ITVS Announces Five-Year Investment from Ford Foundation’s JustFilms Program

Posted on February 22, 2011

Program will bring $1 million a year to independent producers

ITVS is delighted to announce it will continue to find and fund the highest-quality international documentaries and bring them to millions of U.S. television and online viewers with a new five-year investment from Ford Foundation’s JustFilms program. The funding will provide $1 million a year to support the work and expand the reach independent producers from around the world. “With JustFilms, the Ford Foundation is mapping out new ways to connect the dots between storytelling, technology, and change," said Sally Jo Fifer, president and CEO of ITVS. "We look forward to continuing our work with Ford and independent filmmakers to inspire and connect people through television, new media, and innovative outreach.”

A new foundation initiative, JustFilms outlined in January 2011 its plan to invest $10 million a year over the next five years to support and expand the community of filmmakers and mediamakers focused on creating documentaries with passion and purpose, but who often lack funding to realize their visions or reach audiences. Other JustFilms partners include the Sundance Institute and the Tribeca Film Institute. Ford Foundation is a founding partner, along with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, of ITVS International’s Global Perspectives Project. In its first five years, this initiative has brought more than 100 documentaries from 82 countries to American audiences.

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