Minnesota Filmmaker Mentorship Grant

Minnesota Filmmaker Mentorship Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Jerome Foundation Inc
Amount: Up to US $10,000
Last Updated: February 20, 2026

Summary

The Minnesota Filmmaker Mentorship Grant offers up to $10,000 for early career film directors in Minnesota to engage in self-designed mentorships with experienced professionals. It supports those working in various genres, including experimental, narrative, animation, and documentary. Applicants must have a clear vision for their projects and demonstrate a commitment to innovative storytelling and community impact. A phone conversation is required before applying.

Overview

NOTE: Interested applicants are required to schedule a phone conversation prior to applying, no later than March 28, 2025 to ensure their mentorship goals and budget align with the program requirements. This is listed as the Pre-proposal deadline above. Minnesota Filmmaker Mentorship Grant This grant provides Minnesota-based early career film directors, working in short and/or long form experimental, narrative, animation or documentary genres, or in any hybrid combination of these forms, up to $10,000 to engage in self-designed mentorship with experienced directors or other film professionals to strengthen their film directing craft and/or professional skills in connection with a specific film project. 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 Filmmaker Mentorship
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 ............................................................................................... 12
Additional Grant Requirements ....................................................................................... 13
Help and Resources ........................................................................................................ 14
APPLICATION INFORMATION .................................................................................. 15
Eligibility Quiz ................................................................................................................. 15
Application Questions .................................................................................................... 17
Work Samples ................................................................................................................ 17
CV .................................................................................................................................. 20
The application is available beginning January 6, 2025, with a deadline of Thursday, April 3,
2025, before 4 pm Central time.
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 Filmmaker Mentorship Grant provides
Minnesota-based early career film directors, working in short and/or long form
experimental, narrative, animation or documentary genres, or in any hybrid combination of
these forms, up to $10,000 to engage in self-designed mentorship with experienced
directors or other film professionals to strengthen their film directing craft and/or
professional skills in connection with a specific film project.
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.
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Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements outlined in the following pages.
Mentorship 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 interested in a production grant, may apply to the Minnesota Film
Production Grant (up to $30,000). The information about and application for that program
diWers from this MN Filmmaker Mentorship 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
Deadline for required phone call with Jerome
Friday, March 28, 2025
staD
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 Filmmaker Mentorship Grantees
Learn more about past MN Filmmaker Mentorship grantees.
Over the two rounds of the MN Filmmaker Mentorship Program (in 2021 and 2023), 20
filmmakers applied, and six grants were awarded totaling $48,000. Of the grantees, 67%
identified as being of African, Asian, and/or multi-racial or multi-ethnic descent, with 33%
identified as being of European descent. 50% identified as female, 33% as male, and 17%
as gender non-conforming/non-binary. 75% identified as heterosexual or straight. 13%
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 Filmmaker Mentorship Grant supports early career film directors with an
active ongoing commitment to filmmaking.
Interested applicants are required to schedule a phone conversation with Jerome staD
prior to applying, no later than March 28, 2025 to ensure their mentorship goals and
budget align with the program requirements. This is meant to avoid ineligible artists
investing valuable time and energy in completing an application. You will receive the link to
apply after your eligibility has been determined.
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
Grant funds are designed to give grantees opportunities to engage in self-designed
mentorships while actively working on a specific new film project between November
2025 and April 2027. Film projects may be short or long-form 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 any stage of production
between November 2025 and April 2027 as a focus for mentorship activities.
» 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.
» We urge you to think carefully about your schedules before applying. This
mentorship grant is awarded to a film director only once.
• 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. The priority for this mentorship grant is to support directors in their 2nd–5th
year in the field.
» 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
application. The Foundation recognizes that career paths can be non-linear or
disrupted along the way.
5

» Filmmakers who receive consistent mentorship 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 feature-length
film directing credits for fully produced works (running time of 50+ minutes or
more per film).
» 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.
• 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).
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.
6

• 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.
• 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.
7

• 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).
» Directors who have previously received a Film Production grant, Filmmaker
Mentorship grant (previously named FVDP Artist Development Grant), or Jerome
Hill Artist Fellowship are not eligible to apply.
Eligible Activities
Eligible grant activities include opportunities to engage in self-designed mentorships with
experienced directors and other film professionals to further the applicant’s artistic,
technical, and/or business skill skills while working on a specific new film production in the
genres of animation, documentary, experimental or narrative, or any hybrid combination of
these forms.
This program seeks to advance the creative practice and/or career development of early
career film directors. Applicants must have a solid grounding in filmmaking and clearly
identify the skills they are pursuing, the strategy for achieving their mentorship goals, and
the ways the mentorship will support their film work.
The proposed mentorship activities must occur during the grant period of November 2025
through April 2027. The mentorship activities may focus on all stages of production.
This grant will support the activities filmmakers identify in their application. Any significant
changes to the mentorship activities, either in nature, scope, timeline, location, or budget,
must be approved in advance by the Foundation. This program does not allow the
substitution of the proposed mentorship with a diWerent mentorship unless it is
comparable. The Foundation reserves the right to withdraw this grant if the changes are
deemed significant and at odds with the panel’s reasons for recommending the grant.
8

The below list includes examples of types of mentorship activities supported by this grant:
» Mentorship/Apprenticeship (other than those for study in degree-granting
programs). Eligible costs include fees for working with a director or studying with
instructors to acquire or further develop new artistic or technical filmmaking
skills, including but not limited to:
• the craft of storytelling
• cinematography
• audio production
• editing
• animation
• scripting
• working with actors
• storyboarding
• developing community relationships
• marketing expertise-trailers, web, social media, pitch material, etc.
» Travel costs to attend filmmaking conferences, residencies, study artistic film
practice and/or engage with other filmmakers or mentors, networking with
producers or doing pitch sessions at festivals (including related transportation,
lodging, per diem and/or childcare costs)
» Fees related to supporting business skills (e.g., accounting, marketing, legal
consultation, distribution, fundraising, website design for promotion, etc.)
» Equipment and/or software purchase (up to 25% of the award)
This is a grant to support mentorship activities, not a production grant. If your focus is
production, consider applying for the MN Film Production Grant program.
Funds may not be used for study in degree-granting programs or for commercial or
promotional productions.
Applicants are required to have a phone conversation with Jerome staD before
applying (and no later than March 28, 2025) to ensure that their proposed mentorship
plan and budget meet the program’s focus.
9

Review Process
1. Jerome Foundation staW pre-screens applications to verify eligibility, relying on the
eligibility quiz, qualifying film, 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.
Review Criteria
Panelists use three criteria in reviewing applications: impact, creative risk and vision, 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.
Impact
To assess impact, panelists will consider filmmakers’ mentorship goals, what they want to
explore with this mentorship grant, and how these activities will further their work as a
director, in addition to why this is the best time for self-designed mentorship activities and
the details about the mentors. The CV provides context for an applicant’s film directing
experience and work with film forms and subject matter. Work samples are also referenced
in discussing filmmakers’ potential impact on the larger field.
In addition to considering the filmmaker’s desired impact, panelists assess the potential
impact of the mentorship activities, how it contributes to the creative development and
career of the director as well as their work, and the potential aesthetic or social impact of
their work on the larger field or community. The panel will assess whether the director has
a clear idea of the community, participants and/or audience for their work and how to work
in relationship with them from creation to completion of the project. The application
10

questions on timeliness and relevance, the applicant’s self-assessment of their work, and
the CV are used to assess the value of this grant for the filmmaker’s development and
career.
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
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
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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
Feasibility
The feasibility is indicated by the budget information as it relates to filmmaker mentorship
activities and the stage of production of the related film project. Panelists will assess how
a filmmaker’s goals align with the plan of activities, and if the scope of artistic and/or
professional mentorship activities proposed is reasonable and supported by the work
samples.
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;
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)
12

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.
Additional Grant Requirements
» Grantees must receive all funds by April 2027. The filmmaker mentorship activities do
not need to be completed by this time, but all grant funds must be distributed.
» Grantees may not substitute a diWerent mentor or a diWerent project than those
proposed 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 filmmaker mentorship activities 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 delays happen 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. Filmmaker mentorship activities must take
place after the grant is awarded.
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» Grantees are required to schedule a grant conversation with Jerome staW to provide
updates on the mentorship activities and the film project once grant funds are
expensed. Grantees are not eligible to apply for additional support from Jerome
Foundation until the grant conversation has occurred.
» 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.
Help and Resources
Meeting and Video Resources
Informational Webinar: Thursday, January 23, 2025, 5–6 pm Central
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.
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.
Contact Jerome StaE
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.
Please note: you will receive the link for the application after you have been
determined eligible for the program after having your required phone conversation
with Jerome staN.
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
Interested applicants are required to schedule a phone conversation with Jerome staD
prior to applying, no later than March 28, 2025, to ensure their mentorship goals and
budget align with the program requirements. 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.
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 any stage of production between November 2025 and
April 2027 as a focus for the mentorship activities?
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7. Are you an early career film director with at least 2 years, but no more than 10 years, of
experience in creating 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,
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 any feature-length film directing credits for fully produced works (running
time of 50+ minutes or more per film)?
11. Have you directed, completed, 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 screening
requirement—it may be 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?
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)?
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 (select one)
o an individual
o a co-directing team
2. Artist Name (and Co-Director Name)
3. Pronouns
4. Amount requested (up to $10,000)
5. 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.
6. 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 (before or after) your enrollment in a degree
program (if applicable).
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
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through public screenings, festivals, and/or competitive grants or prizes are
not eligible.
o 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.
o 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
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
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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
• any work for which you do not have primary creative control
• 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
• episodic or web-based series for which you are not the creator and director
• (For co-applicants): any works you did not direct together as a co-directing team or
that included additional co-directors not included in the application
Jerome staW will assess whether your work samples are eligible for the panel to view. If your
application does not contain 10 minutes of work samples from two diWerent films, or if your
work samples are ineligible in any other way, as described above, the panel will not have
enough information to gauge the merit of your work. As a result, your application will be
considered incomplete and removed from further consideration.
You will provide the following required information for each sample:
1. Vimeo or YouTube URL: provide a link to the full-length film if possible. This provides
panelists the opportunity to view more of the film if they so choose.
a. Vimeo password, if applicable
2. Work Sample Description, listing:
a. Name of the Film
b. Date Completed
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c. Length of the Film (in minutes)
d. If the film has been screened, when and where it was screened (note that you
must include this information for Work Sample 1)
3. Cue points for the Work Sample: Indicate your start and stop time for the excerpt (e.g.,
“Start at 3:30 and end at 8:00”). If no start and stop time is provided, panelists will begin
watching at the beginning and will have full discretion of when to stop viewing.
Do not submit more than one sequence/cue point per work (e.g., Do not say “Start at
1:00 to 1:30 then jump to 2:45 to 3:45”—panelists want to see uninterrupted sequences
of work in real time).
The total time of your excerpts for the two required work samples is a combined 10
minutes (not 10 minutes per work).
If you submit a third work-in-progress sample from the project for which support is
requested, the total time for that sample is 3 minutes. A work-in-progress sample is an
additional time allotment and is not considered part of the required 10 minutes.
4. Your Role in the Work Sample: If your only role was solely as the director, enter
“director.” If you played multiple roles, list all the roles you played in the creation of the
work (e.g., “director, camera operator, editor, producer”). If you are not the sole director
of this work sample (or if applying as co-directors, both applicants are not the co-
directors), your application will be ineligible.
5. Work Sample Excerpt Context: Provide 50–100 words (recommended length) to give
panelists a context for what they are watching. This can include a brief description of
the entire film, information about sections of the work occurring before or after your clip
that you want them to know, or your intentions and goals in creating the piece.
If your requested film is for a diWerent genre of work than the samples, please direct the
panel’s attention to the elements of the sample that will give them confidence you can
undertake the proposed film. For example, if your film is a hybrid narrative that includes
animation sequences, but your samples are narrative and documentary, the panel will
want to understand what experience you have creating and integrating animation as a
director to make the proposed project possible.
Given the panelist’s preference for recent work, if you are submitting work samples that
are older than 5 years, please explain why.
CV
Please reference the CV Webinar for guidance on submitting your CV.
CVs must be current and complete, with a clear history of your film directing experience
and your other film-related experience. Bios and resumes are not acceptable. The CV is
your chance to present your background, experience, and accomplishments to the panel
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