Redford Center Grants

Redford Center Grants

Overview: The Redford Center Grants program supports independent environmental documentaries and their impact campaigns. Since launching in 2016, the program has supported 60 projects and awarded $2 million in funding. According to the International Documentary Association, only 8 of approximately 440 nonfiction film grants exclusively support environmental stories.

Program Structure: The grant operates on a two-year cycle. Year 1 provides $25,000 to support production and impact campaign expenses. Year 2 offers the opportunity to apply for additional funding to support production completion and impact.

Geographic Scope: Applications from anywhere in the world are eligible.

Focus Areas: Projects must be about or intersect with environmental issues and propose or activate solutions. The Center encourages stories about:

Intersectional environmental issues and solutions for people and the planet

Leadership, progress, solutions, possibility, hope, and innovation that transform defeatist narratives

Fresh viewpoints or filmmaking artistry challenging conventional environmental storytelling boundaries

Equitable, inclusive, and diverse environmental movements centering underrepresented and historically excluded communities

Systemic bias, discrimination, and injustice in environmental policy and impacts on communities

Pathways to direct action, groundbreaking achievements, or measurable impact

Protecting and restoring land, water, biodiversity, and natural resources

Cultural practices honoring traditional and ancestral knowledge

Community power and civic engagement at the intersection of environmental justice and planetary health

Applicant Eligibility:

Must be 18+ years of age

Application must come from Director or Producer

Previous filmmaking experience highly recommended

Awardees expected to participate in professional development programming

Project Eligibility:

New and ongoing nonfiction feature films or episodic docu-series

At any stage of development, production, or post-production

Projects that are picture locked are ineligible

Must be a documentary feature film or episodic docu-series

Must have clear impact goal and developed impact campaign idea

Must be about or intersect with environmental issues with proposed or activated solutions

What is NOT Funded:

Picture-locked projects

Narrative films

Non-environmental projects

Projects without clear impact goals

Grantee Benefits:

$25,000 financial support in Year 1

Invitation to apply for Year 2 funding (more substantial investment)

Travel and lodging covered for Redford Center Grants Summit (Spring 2025, US-based)

Exclusive participation in learning sessions and networking with experts and industry leaders

Support in refining project narratives and impact goals

Presentation opportunity at intimate virtual film showcase with funders and industry leaders (Fall 2024)

Promotional support and strategic advice from development to distribution

Invitation to join fiscal sponsorship program at discounted rate

Access to network of industry and environmental experts

Professional development retreat

Grantee cohort model with learning sessions and community building

Core Values: The Center seeks accountability to and representation of intersectional environmental advocates and artists, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color; Women; people with disabilities; immigrant and refugee communities; LGBTQ+ communities; and all people disproportionately impacted by environmental injustices.

Past Grantee Success: Grantee films have received awards, premieres, and distribution from Netflix, Hulu, HBO, PBS, National Geographic, Sundance Film Festival, Jackson Wild, and DC Environmental Film Festival. Notable projects include Youth V Gov (Netflix premiere 2022), Inventing Tomorrow (2019 Peabody Award winner), To The End (Sundance 2021 premiere, Roadside Attractions theatrical release), Path of the Panther (four Jackson Wild nominations), Adaptation (PBS), Exposure (Jackson Wild Breakthrough Film Award), and Manzanar Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust (PBS POV).

Contact: grants@redfordcenter.org