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You’ve found a story and you’re committed to telling it—no matter what. Let’s do it together.

  • FUNDED FILMS
    1,575
  • PEABODY
    39
  • EMMY AWARDS
    43

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    Open Call

    Open Call provides documentary funding and co-production support so you can complete your nonfiction work in progress, then air it on public television.

    The deadline for this round was February 14, 2020 11:59 PM PST
    Learn about Open Call

    Recent Open Call Projects

    See all 550 Open Call Projects

    Diversity Development Fund

    DDF gives producers of color up to $25,000 in research and development funding so you can develop your documentary for air on public television. Pre-production nonfiction projects only.

    The deadline for this round was September 13, 2019 11:59 PM PDT
    Learn about DDF

    Recent Diversity Development Fund Projects

    See all 70 Diversity Development Fund Projects

    Short-Form Open Call

    Short-Form Open Call offers development and co-production funding to help you complete your short nonfiction film or series for distribution on public media's web-based platforms.

    Open until September 30, 2020 11:59 PM PDT
    Icon calendar 5e97048816407defc11c72129e79b9fe4a615fc1376319fb55ea4b03a265f13d 09/30/2020 23:59 PM America/Los_Angeles Short-Form Open Call Deadline Details at https://itvs.org/funding/short-form-open-call MM/DD/YYYY aKiBAUpmXzpWKCxyzmOc24221
    Apply to Short-Form OC

    Recent Short-Form Open Call Projects

    See all 20 Short-Form Open Call Projects

    Series and Special Projects

    We commission a limited number of innovative and timely projects for public media, providing development and production funding. Submissions for Series and Special Project funding are by invitation-only. This collection also encompasses documentary films funded through limited special open calls held over the years.


    Recent Series and Special Projects

    See all 189 Series and Special Projects

    Get in touch.

    Questions about what we do? We’re happy to talk.

    itvs@itvs.org

    (415) 356-8383

    ITVS in the Field

    We’d love to meet you! Join the ITVS team at an event. We want to hear about your latest projects.

    1. Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

      February 14-23, 2020
      Missoula, MT
      Content Development Manager

      Jannet Nuñez

    2. ITVS Independents Summit

      February 24-28, 2020
      San Francisco, CA
      President, CEO

      Sally Jo Fifer

      Executive Producer of Independent Lens

      Lois Vossen

      VP of Production

      Royd Chung

      VP of Content

      Noland Walker

      VP of Marketing & Communications

      Lisa Tawil

      Senior Director of Production

      David Eisenberg

    3. True/False Film Fest

      March 5-8, 2020
      Columbia, MO
      Director, Content & Initiatives

      Keri Archer Brown

    4. South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW)

      March 13-22, 2020
      Austin, TX
      Executive Producer of Independent Lens

      Lois Vossen

      Senior Manager, Short-Form Content

      Pamela Torno

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    Get Funded

    We join forces with visionaries like you from across America to bring risk-taking independent film to the public.

    Filmmaker Resources

    From our blog

    1. Jon Olshefski's Fire for QUEST

      January 23, 2020

      Jonathan Olshefski’s ITVS-supported QUEST (Open Call, 2015) follows Christopher “Quest” Rainey, Christine’a “Ma” Rainey, their daughter PJ, and Christine’a’s older son William over almost a decade in North Philadelphia. Deeply intimate, the film begins by focusing on the family’s involvement in their community—Quest’s name comes from his rap…

    2. Jenny Murray Amplifies the Untold Stories of the Women in the Sandinistas Revolution

      January 13, 2020

      The women combatants of the Sandinistas are some of the most compelling feminist leaders of all time, yet their story has mostly been erased from history. Their contributions to the revolution helped Nicaraguan women achieve equality and higher standards of living, only to see their party turn its back on women altogether. We spoke with director Jenny…

    3. New Powerful Slate of Open Call-Funded Films Announced

      December 2, 2019

      As we look forward with great anticipation to the next Open Call round (in January 2020), ITVS is excited to announce the latest Open Call-funded films.These powerful projects will take viewers from a Syrian mother fiercely determined to protect her family amidst nightmarish conditions, to a nationwide support group for mothers coming to terms with…