Minnesota Film Production Grant

Minnesota Film Production Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Jerome Foundation Inc
Amount: Up to US $30,000
Last Updated: February 20, 2026

Summary

The Minnesota Film Production Grant supports early career film directors based in Minnesota who are willing to take creative risks. Offering production grants of up to $30,000, the grant aims to nurture filmmakers who innovate, maintain a clear vision for storytelling, and actively engage with their creative community. The Foundation prioritizes projects that expand and re-imagine the filmmaking process, ultimately enhancing the local artistic landscape.

Overview

Minnesota Film Production Grant This grant supports eligible Minnesota-based early career film directors whose work takes creative risks in expanding, questioning, experimenting with, or re-imagining filmmaking with production grants of up to $30,000. The Foundation seeks to fund filmmakers who take creative risks, seek innovative approaches, have a clarity of purpose and vision for imaginative storytelling, are engaged directly with those involved in their filmmaking, and work to build relationships with and impact their creative community and the field.

Eligibility

We've imported the main document for this grant to give you an overview. You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.

Application Details

2025 Minnesota Film Production Grant
Program and Application Information
Table of Contents
PROGRAM INFORMATION ........................................................................................ 2
About the Grant Program .................................................................................................. 2
Eligibility Requirement ..................................................................................................... 4
Review Process .............................................................................................................. 10
Review Criteria ............................................................................................................... 10
About Jerome Foundation ............................................................................................... 13
Additional Grant Requirements ....................................................................................... 14
Help and Resources ........................................................................................................ 15
APPLICATION INFORMATION .................................................................................. 16
Eligibility Quiz ................................................................................................................. 16
Application Questions .................................................................................................... 18
Work Samples ................................................................................................................ 19
CV .................................................................................................................................. 22
The application is available beginning January 6, 2025, with a deadline of Thursday, April 3,
2025, before 4 pm Central time. Start/continue your application in Submittable.
A Note on Accessibility
Jerome Foundation is committed to making this application process accessible. If this
section does not address your access needs, please contact Andrea Brown at Jerome
Foundation (abrown@jeromefdn.org). Documents related to the program are accessible
PDFs. Information sessions will use Zoom live captioning, not a live interpreter or
captioner. Recordings (posted to the Foundation’s website and on YouTube) will be fully
captioned.
Applications are accepted via Submittable, following standards outlined in the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. Applicants may invite collaborators to
Submittable to assist with their application (though only the applicant may submit the
application). Applicants with access requests related to Submittable should contact
Andrea by March 20, 2025, to discuss alternative options.
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PROGRAM INFORMATION
About the Grant Program
OWered every two years, Jerome Foundation’s MN Film Production Grant provides
Minnesota-based early career film directors production grants of up to $30,000 for short
or long-form film projects in the ever-expanding creative genres of experimental, narrative,
animation, or documentary genres or in any hybrid combination of these forms.
The Foundation seeks to fund filmmakers who take creative risks, seek innovative
approaches, have a clarity of purpose and vision for imaginative storytelling, are engaged
directly with those involved in their filmmaking, and work to build relationships with and
impact their creative community and the field.
We intentionally embrace risk-taking and curiosity as emergent strategies for discovering
and developing new ideas, methods, or approaches that may generate innovative or
transformative outcomes. We recognize that not every risk-taking experience results in
success and fully support trying and failing as part of the creative process. We consider risk
broadly through the ways artists are expanding, questioning, experimenting with, or
imagining film forms, practices, and approaches in unique ways.
Jerome does not have a singular definition of risk, but the context for this value is framed by
our commitments to intersectional racial equity and our values of risk, innovation, and
humility. The Foundation acknowledges that definitions of risk related to resources tend to
focus on risk avoidance, framing people as risks through the lens of racism and other forms
of oppression. We center our grantmaking around intersectional racial equity, focusing on
those whose cultural narratives and practices have been historically and presently are
excluded. Learn more about our approach.
The Foundation encourages and supports artists to test, push, question, and experiment—
welcoming artists to share the ways they are exploring creative risk. We recognize that
inviting risk requires a respectful and nurturing environment built on trusting relationships.
The uncertainty of risk generates many reactions, from exhilaration to discomfort to anxiety
and fear. We strive to sustain these responses within a culture of care and belonging. We
celebrate curiosity, learning, empowerment, and healing over punishment, hierarchy,
extraction, and exclusion.
Please read the “review criteria” for more detailed explanations of the criteria and
examples of the ways Jerome-funded filmmakers are expressing risk, innovation, and
engagement in their work.
Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements outlined in the following pages.
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Production grants are awarded to either individual filmmakers or co-directing teams
applying jointly. Funds are issued directly to the applicant film director(s) or to their single-
member LLCs (if applicable). Applications cannot be accepted from, nor payments made
to fiscal sponsors, management companies, producers, multi-owned or Partnership LLCs,
S-Corps, consultants or 501(c)3 organizations.
Minnesota film directors may also apply to the Minnesota Filmmaker Mentorship Grant (up
to $10,000). The information about and application for that program diWers from this MN
Film Production Grant. Filmmakers may not apply to both programs.
Program Timeline
Date Element
Monday, January 6, 2025 Application Opens
Thursday, January 23, 2025,
Informational Webinar (register in advance)
5–6 pm Central Time
Tuesday, February 4, 2025, Application Questions Workshop (register in
5–6 pm Central Time advance)
Tuesday, March 18, 2025,
Live Q&A Session (register in advance)
5–6 pm Central Time
Friday, March 28, 2025 Deadline for eligibility review with Jerome staW
Phone appointments available for application
Through Wednesday, April 2, 2025
questions (schedule in advance)
Thursday, April 3, 2025, Application Closes
by 4 pm Central Time Late applications not accepted
No later than October 20, 2025 Notification of grant status
Fall 2025 Public announcement of grantees
November 13, 2025–April 2027 Timeline to receive grant funds
Please note that the Foundation does not accept late applications, given the expansive 12-
week open application period. The deadline is Thursday, April 3, 2025, before 4 pm Central
Time. The 4 pm deadline time (not midnight) is intentional to allow time during work hours
for Jerome staW to respond to any technical issues you may have.
This program funds a range of early career filmmakers, including but not limited to those of
diverse cultures, races, ethnicities, genders, gender expressions, sexual identities, class,
physical and mental abilities, generations, religions, countries of origin, languages and
immigration statuses—and working in a wide range of aesthetics, forms, creative practices,
lineages, and points of view.
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Applications are reviewed by diverse panels of film directors and film professionals with
experience and understanding of filmmaking in Minnesota, who recommend grantees to
the Jerome Board for approval.
MN Film Production Grantees
Learn more about past MN Film Production grantees and their projects.
In the most recent round of the MN Film Production Grant program in 2023, 19 filmmakers
and film director teams applied, and 4 production grants were awarded totaling $119,650.
Of the grantees, all identified as African, Asian, and/or multi-racial or multi-ethnic descent.
25% identified as female, 25% as male, and 50% as gender non-conforming/non-binary.
50% identified as LGBTQIA+. 25% identified as transgender. 25% were part of the disability
community. Although the program is open to artists of all ages who meet early career
eligibility, 75% of grantees were between the ages of 25–34.
Eligibility Requirement
The MN Film Production Grant supports early career film directors with an active
ongoing commitment to filmmaking.
Applicants must complete an eligibility quiz in Submittable before accessing the
application. This is meant to avoid ineligible artists investing valuable time and energy in
completing an application. Applicants can schedule an appointment with Jerome staW to
answer questions and help determine eligibility.
Film directors who wish to discuss eligibility should make an appointment with Jerome
program staW no later than March 28, 2025 in advance of applying.
Eligible Applicants
• Jerome Foundation-Aligned Focus
Eligible filmmakers are aligned with the Foundation’s focus on artists who take creative
risks, seek innovative approaches, have a clarity of purpose and vision for imaginative
storytelling, are engaged directly with those involved in their filmmaking, and work to
build relationships with and impact their creative community and the field. Please read
the “review criteria” for more detailed explanations of the criteria.
The Foundation considers risk broadly through the ways filmmakers are expanding,
questioning, experimenting with, or imagining film forms, practices, and approaches in
unique ways.
• Geographic Location
Eligible applicants are residents of the state of Minnesota who have been residents for
at least one year at the time of application and plan to be residents (for at least 183
days of the year) during the grant period of November 2025 through April 2027.
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» Jerome does not require citizenship but does require residency and a Social
Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for tax
purposes.
» An indicator of eligible residency status is filing US federal taxes as a resident of
Minnesota or New York City in 2024.
» To qualify as a resident of Minnesota, applicants must reside in Minnesota for at
least 183 days in 2025 and 2026.
• Type of Film Project
This production grant funds short or long-form film projects in the ever-expanding
creative genres of experimental, narrative, animation, or documentary genres or in any
hybrid combination of these forms.
» This program supports film projects that will be in production between
November 2025 and April 2027.
» This program does not fund retroactively: only costs incurred after the grant is
awarded and a grant contract is signed will be supported. Grantees must accept
all grant funds between November 13, 2025 and April 2027 but are not expected
to complete the project by April 2027.
» Funds can be used to support all stages of production, but at least 50% of funds
must be directed to production.
• Films that will be solely in pre-production during the grant period should
not apply in this round; films that have completed production are not
eligible.
• We urge you to think carefully about your schedules before applying. The
production grant is awarded to a film director only once per film.
• Experience Level: Early Career
This grant is for early career film directors with at least 2 years (i.e., not beginning
filmmakers) but no more than 10 years of experience directing their own films in
documentary, narrative, experimental or animation, or any hybrid combination of these
genres.
» Mid-career or established artists from other fields who have recently shifted to
film directing will not be considered early career. For example, a composer with
a ~10-year career in music who is now moving into film directing will not be
considered an early career film director for the purposes of this grant. We also
recognize that some directors may experience significant success and move
past early career status well before their 10th year of practice.
» If an applicant self-defines as an early career artist but has been making work for
more than 10 years or has received significant support for multiple projects
and/or does not “pass” the eligibility quiz, they should make an appointment
with Jerome staW no later than March 28, 2025 to discuss before submitting an
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application. The Foundation recognizes that career paths can be non-linear or
disrupted along the way.
» Filmmakers who receive consistent development and production opportunities,
commissions, awards, acclaim, commercial success, national or regional prizes
for multiple projects are beyond early career. Filmmakers who have received any
of the following are not eligible:
• Academy Award (“Oscar”) (feature-length film)
• American Film Institute Award
• Herb Alpert Award
• MacArthur Fellowship
• Spark Fund
• A significant award defined as mid-career or established
• Number of Project Requirements
The Foundation funds early career film directors who have created enough work to
communicate who they are as makers, their unique style, and their original voice.
» Eligibility is limited to filmmakers who have at least two completed film projects
(a minimum of 10 minutes total running time) and no more than 2 feature-length
film directing credits for fully produced works (running time of 50+ minutes or
more per film). Produced works are those that you have completed and released
through distribution on streaming platforms, broadcast networks, cable
television, or national public media; screened through theatrical, educational,
and/or festivals; or acquired by film distribution companies.
» Applicants are required to provide two work samples of completed films they have
directed. Applicants are required to aWirm sole creation of all work samples.
• 1 of the 2 work samples must have been completed and publicly screened1
(not just self-presented2) and made post-enrollment in a degree program, if
applicable. Applicants must provide information on the location or platform
where the work has been screened.
• The 2nd work sample must be completed, but there is no public screening
requirement—it may be screened, self-presented, or not yet screened, and
may also have been completed while you were in a degree-granting program,
if applicable.
1 Public screening includes but is not limited to film festivals, presenting venues or community
organizations, or via online screening platforms with a juried or curated selection process and/or
through project grants.
2 Films that have only been presented through a film director’s own platforms or through un-
curated, “sign up” or “first come, first served” formats are not considered publicly screened. Film
directors who are entirely self-presented and who have no additional engagement opportunities
with their community through public screenings, festivals, and/or competitive grants or prizes are
not eligible.
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• For individual applicants, work samples must be solely directed works, not
work completed as part of a co-directing team.
• For co-directing applicant teams, work samples must be works completed
by the co-directors named in the application (not solo works or works done
as part of diWerent co-directing teams).
• Are the Director/s of the proposed film
This is an individual artist grant awarded to directors of new original film projects, i.e.,
the director applying must own the copyright of the project, have artistic, budgetary,
and editorial control, and be listed in the film credits as the director).
» Commercial, industrial, or work for hire; PSAs, journalistic work, short turn-
around filmmaking contest videos, music videos, or projects over which the film
director does not have creative control cannot be used to confirm eligibility and
cannot be the focus of a grant project or used for work samples. We understand
the creative value of this work, but because of its nature, it does not provide
panelists the opportunity to understand the film director’s voice and vision.
» Individual directors must meet all eligibility requirements to apply. Individual
applicants must be the sole director of the proposed film. Projects created with
a co-director will not count towards eligibility and may not be used as work
samples.
» Co-directing teams of two directors may apply as long as both applicants meet
all the individual artist eligibility requirements.
• Only eligible co-directors may be included in the application. For example,
someone who is a resident of California, or who is a producer or a
cinematographer (but not a director) for the project cannot be included in
the application.
• Co-directing applicants may not submit work samples directed individually
or co-directed with anyone other than the co-applicant. Applicants will be
required to aWirm co-creation of all work samples.
• Co-directing applicants may not include individually created projects or
projects co-directed with other artists not included in the application to
establish eligibility.
• Co-directors submit a single application and will share the grant funds
equally. To apply, all co-director applicants must meet all the eligibility
requirements for film directors.
» Producers, cinematographers, screenwriters, editors, actors, or
interdisciplinary artists, who are not also primarily film directors, are not
eligible.
• An editor or actor who wants to make their first film is not eligible.
• Choreographers making a dance film, visual artists who want to
incorporate video as part of an installation, or technology-centered artists,
game creators, or artists doing interactive work are not eligible.
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• Age limitations
» Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.
» Age is not the determining factor for early career stage. Artists may begin directing
their own original work at any age.
• Education
» Formal training in degree-granting programs is neither expected nor required.
» Filmmakers enrolled in a degree-granting program are not eligible (MFA, PhD, or low
residency MFA).
» Filmmakers who have graduated and are not at least two years post-graduation by
April 3, 2025, are not eligible unless they have projects created outside their time in
a degree program to meet the work samples requirements for eligibility.
» The number of years in a degree program are deducted from the total 10 years
counted toward the 2–10 year cap of Jerome’s early career parameter.
» Full-time tenured faculty (or the equivalent) at any college, university, or
institution of higher learning at the time of application or as of April 3, 2025, are not
eligible to apply.
• Jerome Foundation Specific Criteria
» Filmmakers may not apply with more than one application (i.e., cannot apply as an
individual and part of a co-directing team, apply as part of multiple co-directing
teams, or apply for multiple projects).
» Eligible filmmakers who have previously received Jerome grants are eligible if they
have completed or are compliant on all reporting requirements for any direct grant
received from Jerome Foundation, including the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship,
Jerome@Camargo, or a previous Film Production or Filmmaker Mentorship grant.
» Directors who have received a production grant through this program may not
reapply for additional funding for the same film. A single film may not receive more
than one grant from this program.
» Directors who have received a grant through this program may not apply for
funding for a new film until the already-funded film is complete.
» Jerome Hill Artist Fellows may not use this grant to support the same costs
covered by the Fellowship funding.
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Eligible Projects
Eligible projects include short, episodic, or feature-length film production projects in the
genres of animation, documentary, experimental, and narrative, or a hybrid combination of
these forms. The Foundation has no preferences for subject matter or genre. Panels who
review applications and recommend grants are asked to equally consider projects in all
film genres. There is no budget cap, but the budget needs to be feasible.
Applicants are expected to demonstrate their experience and capacity for the proposed
story or content or form. For example, if a film involves or focuses on specific people or
communities, applicants will be asked to demonstrate the degree to which meaningful
relationships with the film subjects/content has been developed. This program supports
film directors who screen work in non-traditional venues in addition to work screened in
movie theaters, festivals, or broadcast channels, ranging from public access to screenings
within specific communities as well as films that have online distribution/presentation.
Funds may be used to support all stages of production, but at least 50% of funds must
be directed to production. The proposed film must be in production at some point
during the grant period of November 2025 through April 2027. This grant cannot be used
to solely support pre-production, or solely post-production or distribution. Films that will
be solely in pre-production during the grant period should not apply in this round; films that
have completed production are not eligible.
Funds may be used for:
Pre-production expense examples: Production expense examples:
• Location scouting • Shooting
• Hiring cast and crew • Rehearsals
• Permitting & Insurance • Location fees
• Finalizing rentals agreements • Equipment rental or purchase
• Website development • Travel (transportation, lodging, per diem
Applicants may not apply for pre-production costs)
only—this is a production grant and must • StaOing (creative, technical or otherwise)
include production. At least 50% of funds must be directed to
production.
Post-production expense examples: Distribution expense examples:
• Editing • Creation of trailers
• DCP Master • Marketing
• Transfers and conversions • Screenings
• Securing rights and licensing • Community Engagement
• Scoring/sound mix • Attending pitch sessions
• CGI/titling • Distribution costs
• Translators/subtitling • Festival fees
• Special eOects Applicants may not apply for distribution only—
• Color correction this is a production grant and must include
Applicants may not apply for post-production production.
only—this is a production grant and must
include production.
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Funds may not be used for study in degree-granting programs or for commercial or
promotional productions.
Review Process
1. Jerome Foundation staW pre-screens applications to verify eligibility, relying on the
eligibility quiz, qualifying films, and application materials (including work samples, CV,
and budget).
2. Applications are reviewed by an independent panel comprised of film directors and film
professionals with wide-ranging experience in Minnesota and beyond. All panels are
constructed to ensure that no single race, ethnicity, gender, or age constitutes a
majority or even half of the panel. A list of past panelists for this and other programs is
available on the Foundation’s website.
3. Panelists identify a group of finalists to be discussed at a full-day meeting, where they
will arrive at a collective set of recommendations.
4. Recommendations are reviewed and approved by the Jerome Foundation’s Board of
Directors.
Feedback is only oWered to finalists who have been discussed by the full panel. Finalists
will be prompted to set up an appointment if they so choose. The Foundation will not,
however, be able to oWer non-finalists feedback on their applications beyond general
trends of what made applications competitive.
productions.
Review Criteria
Panelists use three criteria in reviewing applications: creative risk and vision, creative
engagement and impact, and feasibility. Questions in the application directly tie to these
review criteria. Panelists are also asked to prioritize applicants who demonstrate
meaningful alignment with Jerome’s mission and values centering equity, diversity,
innovation, risk, and humility.
Creative Risk and Vision
The Foundation intentionally embraces risk-taking and curiosity as an emergent strategy for
discovering and developing new ideas, methods, or approaches that may generate
innovative or transformative outcomes. We recognize that not every risk-taking experience
results in success and fully support trying and failing as part of the creative process. We
consider risk broadly through the ways artists are expanding, questioning, experimenting
with, or imagining film forms, practices, and approaches in unique ways.
Jerome does not have a singular definition of risk, but the context for this value is framed by
our commitments to intersectional racial equity and our values of risk, innovation, and
10

humility. The Foundation acknowledges that definitions of risk related to resources tend to
focus on risk avoidance, framing people as risks through the lens of racism and other forms
of oppression.
The Foundation encourages and supports artists to intentionally test, push, question, and
experiment—and welcomes artists to share the ways they are exploring creative risk. We
recognize that inviting risk requires a respectful and nurturing environment built on trusting
relationships. The uncertainty of risk generates many reactions, from exhilaration to
discomfort to anxiety and fear. We strive to sustain these responses within a culture of care
and belonging. We celebrate curiosity, learning, empowerment, and healing over
punishment, hierarchy, extraction, and exclusion.
Filmmakers supported by the Foundation have defined creative risk as centering:
» the development of nuanced narratives that oWer inspiration and visibility for
communities too often excluded, marginalized, or underrepresented in cultural
production
» a direct connection to the story/content or relationships with those involved
» building new or re-imagining worlds as ways of engaging in community
» challenging norms and creating new possibilities
» culturally specific, experimental storytelling techniques
» truth-telling around identity and intersectionality in complex ways
» confronting social issues with direct, unfiltered narratives
» reinventing popular genres or forms to include diverse perspectives
» crossing genre boundaries and pushing form
» introducing or re-introducing language and cultural practices that have been
intentionally repressed
» and/or adopting experimental distribution or presentation methods that connect
more directly with their audiences
This grant supports filmmakers whose creative vision:
» embraces their role and relationships for building community
» has a clarity of purpose, is distinctive, and authentic
» is focused on creating and sharing deeply considered, imaginative stories
Creative Engagement and Impact
Inspired by the Foundation’s value around humility, this grant supports filmmakers who
embrace their roles as part of a larger community of artists and citizens and consciously
work with a sense of purpose and responsibility. Panelists seek to understand why this
project is important, the filmmaker’s relationship to the subject matter and/or the
connection to the communities involved, and the desired impact of the film. Panelists
assess the potential impact of the film on the filmmaker’s career as well as the filmmaker’s
potential impact on the larger field or community.
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Panelists will assess whether the director has a clear idea of their community, participants,
and/or audience for the film and whether they are working in relationship with them from
creation to completion of the project. The application questions on timeliness and
relevance, the applicant’s self-assessment of their work, and the CV are all used to assess
the impact of this filmmaker and their project.
Feasibility
Filmmakers are asked to provide detailed information about their project, their role/s in the
production, the project status and timeline, the production budget (including fundraising
status and contingency plan), the creative team, and any producing partners or
collaborators from the community involved, and the distribution plan and goals.
The feasibility criterion is about the potential that a film can be made.
Filmmakers whose project represents an attempt to move into a new form are asked to
explain the reasons for wanting to make this move as well as their capacity to do so by
responding to this direct question in the application. Such applicants are also encouraged
to use the Work Sample Context field to explain how their work samples might indicate
their ability in the proposed new form.
Panelists will assess whether the production timeline, budget, and level of planning around
logistics (including but not limited to anticipated shooting schedule, identification of
production team or collaborators, viability of location(s), relationship to community, and
the sources of additional potential and/or secured funding) are appropriate for the scope of
the project, and if the film director and their assembled team demonstrate capacity for
completing this project as proposed.
Understanding that every filmmaker is under-resourced and the innumerable ways inequity
impacts access to resources, financial need is not a criterion panelists use to assess
applications.
Alignment with Jerome Foundation Values
In addition, we prioritize supporting artists who share the Foundation’s central values of
risk, innovation and humility. In reaching their recommendations, panels are charged to
think not only of how strongly every grantee meets each review criteria, but also of
recommending a cohort of grantees that collectively captures Jerome’s commitment to
equity and diversity in the larger field of film.
The Foundation centers equity in our approach to this grant program, as well as all others,
through our active eWorts in understanding filmmakers whose cultural narratives and
projects have been historically and presently excluded; being transparent about the
application process and review criteria; informing and being in relationship with various
communities of filmmakers about this grant opportunity; creating avenues of access for
applicants to better understand the process; being responsive in addressing questions or
diWiculties with the application; engaging diverse panelists for the review process;
12

providing opportunities for feedback from applicants, panelists and grantees; and
integrating feedback as a means of eliminating disparities and improving access.
Further definitions for Jerome Foundation’s values are on its website.
About Jerome Foundation
Founded in 1964, Jerome Foundation’s grantmaking mission is to
support diverse early career generative artists, culture bearers and
arts leaders who take creative risks, seek innovative approaches,
and have a clear creative purpose and vision guided by service to
their community. We support artists at this inflection point as a
means of nurturing their creative development and production and
Still from Jerome Hill’s
the profound and multi-dimensional influence this has on society. Film Portrait (1972)
We value artists, culture bearers, and arts leaders and their essential roles in cultivating
thriving and evolving communities. We center and invest in diverse artists and arts leaders
across creative fields who are imaginative changemakers engaged in building an
ecosystem of belonging and care for the arts, for its creators, and for the communities they
serve.
As a Foundation, Jerome centers intersectional racial equity in our commitments and
practices, acknowledging that our assets were derived from our founder, Jerome Hill’s
family company, the Great Northern Railway. We are committed to eliminating disparities
and improving access and outcomes to ensure the long-term viability of artists, culture
bearers, and arts organizations, prioritizing those whose cultural narratives and practices
have been historically, and presently are, excluded, underrepresented, and marginalized.
Guided by our equity commitments and practices, the Foundation strives for values
alignment in our grantmaking and the stewardship of our assets. The Foundation seeks to
foster a diverse, loving, and nurturing culture informed by our values of risk, innovation,
and humility.
The Foundation honors the legacy, artistic interests, and humanistic concerns of its
founder, Jerome Hill—an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, painter, photographer,
composer, and supporter of the arts and artists in the United States and Europe.
In 2024, as we crossed the threshold of our 60th anniversary, we celebrated over 3,000
artists and arts organizations we have had the honor to fund with cumulatively
$138,503,910 in grants. Jerome Hill started the foundation with $2.7 million.
13

Additional Grant Requirements
» Grantees must receive all funds by April 2027. The film does not need to be completed
by this time, but all grant funds must be distributed.
» Grantees may not substitute a diWerent project than the project in the application for
which a grant was received. Any major changes to the nature or scope of the project
must be approved in advance by the Foundation.
» If a grantee decides to abandon the proposed project during the grant period from
November 2025 to April 2027, the Foundation will cancel the grant and require the
return of any funds already distributed and not spent. Grant funds cannot be
transferred to a diWerent project.
» The Foundation understands that projects are sometimes delayed due to
circumstances beyond anyone’s control. We work with grantees on extensions beyond
the grant period on a case-by-case basis.
» The Foundation does not fund retroactively. If an applicant completes production of the
proposed project before November 2025, no funding will be awarded.
» Grantees are required to schedule a grant conversation with Jerome staW to provide
updates on the project once grant funds are expensed. Grantees must also complete a
final grant form in Submittable once the film has been completed (or abandoned).
Grantees are not eligible to apply for additional support in this grant program (for a
diWerent project) until the grant conversation and the final grant form is submitted and
approved.
» Grants are considered taxable income. Grantees must provide a social security number
or ITIN to the Foundation. All grantees and the amounts they have received from the
Foundation are listed in the Jerome Foundation’s annual tax return, which is a public
document and is posted on the Foundation’s website. For more information on public
access to the tax returns of foundations, please contact Foundation staW.
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Help and Resources
Meeting and Video Resources
Informational Webinar: Thursday, January 23, 2025, 5–6 pm Central Time
Join Jerome staff for a webinar to review the program and application process and stay for
a Q&A. Register in advance for the live event or to be notified when the recording is
available.
Application Questions Workshop: Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 5–6 pm Central Time
This session will provide context for and discuss ways to answer the application questions,
and include time for a Q&A. Register in advance for the live event or to be notified when
the recording is available.
Live Q&A Session: Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 5–6 pm Central Time
Bring your questions about the program and application to this Zoom session with Jerome
staff. Register in advance for the live event. This session will not be recorded.
Workshop Videos will be posted to the Foundation’s website no later than January 25:
» Work Samples: Learn recommended practices for work sample submissions for
this program and how you might apply them to other grant programs.
» CV: Get tips and ideas for creating a CV that helps the panel understand your work
and experiences.
» Film Budget: Learn recommended practices for how to present a film budget.
Contact Jerome StaF
Applicants are encouraged to email Jerome staW, Truc Anh Kieu (tkieu@jeromefdn.org) and
Nell Augustin (jaugustin@jeromefdn.org), with questions about the program’s intent and to
sign up for a 20-minute phone appointment to discuss eligibility or ask questions about the
application. Please contact Andrea Brown (abrown@jeromefdn.org, 651-925-5615) with
any technical issues or questions about the online system.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions are available on the Foundation’s website.
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APPLICATION INFORMATION
The purpose of this section is to allow you to see the questions in the eligibility quiz and the
application before starting your online application in Submittable. This information is also
included in the application in Submittable.
Applications must be submitted by Thursday, April 3, 2025, before 4 pm Central. Please
note that given the expansive 12-week open application period, the Foundation does not
accept late applications. The 4 pm deadline time (not midnight) is intentional to allow time
during work hours for Jerome staW to respond to any technical issues you may have.
Changes to an application may not be made after the deadline, as the review process
begins immediately.
Panelists who review applications and recommend grantees consider all elements of the
application (and only those elements) and are not required to consider materials beyond
the recommended lengths in work samples or narrative answers. Panelists are not required
to visit websites or social media channels or consider materials beyond those submitted
by the applicant.
Eligibility Quiz
The MN Production application process requires you to complete an eligibility quiz in
Submittable prior to gaining access to the application. This is meant to avoid ineligible
artists investing valuable time and energy in completing an application. Jerome staW is also
available by appointment to answer questions and help determine eligibility.
The quiz is based on the exact information included in the Eligibility section above.
1. Will you be applying as an individual film director or as a co-directing team?
2. Have you read and understand that Jerome Foundation seeks to fund filmmakers who
take creative risks, seek innovative approaches, have a clarity of purpose and vision for
imaginative storytelling, are engaged directly with those involved in their filmmaking,
and work to build relationships with and impact their creative community and the field?
3. Are you a resident living in Minnesota?
4. Did (or will) you file your US federal taxes as a resident of Minnesota or New York City in
2024?
5. Will you reside in Minnesota for at least 183 days in 2025 and 2026?
6. Will you have a film project in production between November 2025 and April 2027?
7. Are you an early career film director with at least 2 years (i.e., not beginning filmmakers)
but no more than 10 years, of experience directing your own films in documentary,
narrative, experimental or animation, or any hybrid combination of these genres?
8. Have you received any of the following: Academy Award (“Oscar”) (feature-length film),
American Film Institute Award, Herb Alpert Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Spark Fund,
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other significant award defined as mid-career or established, and/or significant
commercial success?
9. Do you have at least two completed film projects (a minimum of 10 minutes total
running time)?
10. Do you have more than two feature-length films (running time of 50+ minutes or more)
that are fully produced?
Produced works are those that you have completed and released through distribution
on streaming platforms, broadcast networks, cable television, or national public media;
screened through theatrical, educational, and/or festivals; or acquired by film
distribution companies.
11. Have you directed and publicly screened (not self-presented) at least one film not
made while in a degree program?
12. Have you directed and completed a second film? There is no public presentation
requirement—it may be publicly screened, self-presented or not yet screened, and may
also have been completed while in a degree-granting program, if applicable.
13. Will you be the Director/s of the proposed project (i.e., will you own the copyright of the
project, have artistic, budgetary, and editorial control and will be listed in the film
credits as the director/s)?
14. Are you at least 18 years of age?
15. Are you enrolled in a degree-granting program (MFA, PhD or low residency MFA)?
16. Are you or will you be a full-time tenured faculty (or the equivalent) at any college,
university, or institution of higher learning at the time of application or as of April 2025?
17. Have you ever received a grant directly from the Jerome Foundation (including Jerome
Hill Artist Fellowship, Jerome@Camargo, or a previous Film Production or Filmmaker
Mentorship grant)?
If yes, have you completed or are you current on all reporting requirements?
18. Are you an applicant on more than one application?
Additional Eligibility Questions for Co-Directing Teams Only
19. Are all applicants able to confirm individual eligibility?
20. Have the applicants co-directed together and are they credited as co-directors on at
least two completed films?
You will receive an error message if your responses to the questions
indicate that you are ineligible to apply. If a response requires further
discussion, you will be instructed to contact Jerome sta= to discuss your
eligibility.
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Application Questions
About You/Film Basics
1. I am applying as an (select one)
o Individual
o Co-Directing Team
2. Artist Name (and Co-Director Name)
3. Pronouns
4. Amount requested (up to $30,000)
5. Film Title
6. Genre (check all that apply)
o Experimental o Documentary
o Animated o Hybrid combination of these forms
o Narrative (please describe)
7. Logline/Brief Description (recommended length: 75 words)
8. Projected running time (in minutes)
9. Production Timeline: please share the start and end date of the production.
This is a production grant, and while expenses can support any stage of production, at
least 50% of funds must be directed to production.
10. Project Status at time of application (select one)
o Pre-production o Distribution
o Currently in production o On hiatus from production
o Post-production o Other: please specify
11. Do you have a degree in filmmaking? If yes, please share the name of the school
you attended, the degree received, and the month and year you graduated.
Jerome does not expect or require that applicants have a degree.
12. List the name of the first film you directed (for which you have creative control and are
listed as the director or co-director) and the completion date.
This must be a film directed outside of your enrollment in a degree program (if
applicable).
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Work Samples
Please reference the Work Sample Webinar for guidance on submitting work samples.
This grant requires 2 film work samples of original work that you conceived and directed. If
you are applying individually, these samples must be solely directed by you. If applying as
co-directors, both samples must be co-directed by both applicants.
Applicants also have the option to include a work-in-progress sample of the project for
which they are applying.
Each sample must come from a diWerent work, must be one continuous sequence (no
sizzle reels or trailers) per sample, and must adhere to the following rules:
» Sample 1 must be a completed and publicly screened work not created and
presented while enrolled in a degree-granting program.
o Public screening includes but is not limited to film festivals, presenting or
community organizations, or via online screening platforms with a juried or
curated selection process and/or through project grants.
o Films that have only been presented through a film director’s own platforms or
through un-curated, “sign up” or “first come, first served” formats are not
considered publicly screened. Film directors who are entirely self-presented
and who have no additional engagement opportunities with their community
through public screenings, festivals, and/or competitive grants or prizes are
not eligible.
» Sample 2 must come from a diWerent work that you have completed. This sample
may include work created and screened while enrolled in a degree-granting program
if you feel it represents you at your strongest. This can be work that has been
publicly screened, self-presented, or not yet publicly screened.
» Optional Sample 3: is the option to submit a work-in-progress of the film
proposed in this application—if you have begun production and can provide a
sample that is a good representation of the artistic level to which your film aspires.
Only those who are submitting work-in-progress footage of the film in this
application may submit a third work sample. If you are working on a feature project
and made a short as a proof of concept, this is eligible to use as your work-in-
progress.
The work-in-progress sample is an additional sample and cannot substitute for
either of the required two samples drawn from completed works.
Work sample time maximum:
Submit links to the complete film (no need to edit a clip) and provide a start and end cue
point within the film for the panel to watch. Provide cued sections up to 10 minutes total
for the 2 required work samples combined (not 10 minutes per work sample). If you have
a third work-in-progress sample, provide a cued section of up to 3 minutes. Do not
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include multiple cue points within a single sample or a sizzle reel or trailer. For example,
you may submit one 6-minute sample from one film, a 4-minute sample of a diWerent film,
and a 3-minute section from the work in progress for which you are applying.
If you do not have at least 10 minutes of completed films that you directed, you are too
early in your career to be considered and should not apply.
General work sample rules:
» Submit your strongest work samples. Panelists want to see a range of work
demonstrating development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
» Panels prefer work created within the last 5 years, the more recent the better,
although the Foundation recognizes this may be challenging given the recent COVID
pandemic. Older samples may be submitted with an explanation in the “work
sample context” field.
» If applying as an individual, you must have sole directing credit on every work
sample and be listed in the credits as the sole director. Projects done as part of a
co-directing team are not eligible work samples and will not be considered. Projects
for which you are the performer, writer, editor, producer, etc.—but are not the
director—are also not eligible.
» If applying as a co-directing team, those listed in the application must share co-
directing credits on every work sample, and the co-directing team must be
consistent for all samples (i.e., the composition of the team cannot change even if
additional directors are not part of the application). You may not submit works you
or your colleague(s) directed individually, directed without you, or directed with
additional other people.
» A note regarding episodic or web series: do not use the same episode or web
series for both work samples, even if they are diWerent episodes. The panel wants to
see a range of work.
» Samples should be real-time sequences of your film work, not sizzle reels,
promotional videos, commercials in industrials, work for hire, short filmmaking
contest videos, highlight reels, pitch tapes, music videos, proofs of concept,
trailers, or interviews about your work.
Ineligible work samples include:
• work that you produced or edited or acted in but did not direct
• industrials, PSAs, journalistic pieces for news sites
• news or video clips produced for journalistic purposes
• films created for team-based contests or 24–72 hour, short-term festival projects,
such as 24-Hour Film Slam, 48 Hour Film Fest, 72 Film Fest
• commercial or non-commercial work-for-hire that you created at the direction of a
client or producer, and for which you do not have creative control, even if this is
commissioned work
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