ABIERTO MEDIA FUND is for Socially Conscious Filmmakers in Pennsylvania, A Donor-Advised Fund of Bread & Roses Community Fund. We provide micro-grants and mentoring to independent filmmakers who are ready to meet the difficult challenge of speaking truth to power in this moment of social reckoning.
We are pleased to announce Lois Moses, writer/director of EPISTLES OF LOVE: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO EDGAR & CLARA, as first the recipient of support from the Abierto Media Fund. The $1,000 grant will go towards development and production on an epic love story set in 1930’s America that uses the actual letters between an African American couple as the launching point into an analysis of Black love, the Great Depression, and the Great Black Migration.
“One of the most difficult tasks in filmmaking is raising funds for production. The Abierto Media Fund is necessary to provide diverse voices with opportunities to produce their stories that others cannot or will not produce.”
— Martha Conley, Abierto Media Fund Donor and Producer of Lost in the Hype
Focus: Underserved Filmmakers
The primary focus is to nurture the creation of socially conscious, historical and innovative work. Each award recipient will receive mentoring on next steps towards project completion and distribution. We acknowledge the particular need to fund work by women and people of color as well as work of a progressive nature. This fund is a way to provide access to capital for Pennsylvania filmmakers often locked out of the traditional funding process.
“Funding must be made available to independent media producers. Without financial support and guidance, then the entire notion of ‘Freedom of Speech’ is just that, a notion without any realization!”
—– Parris Z. Moore of Blok Box IMG, Abierto Media Fund Donor and Producer of KINYARWANDA
Frequently Asked Questions
Click here for answers to questions like, “Who is eligible to apply?”
Next Round of Applications starts in Spring 2022
The award comprises Micro-grants and 6-months of mentoring to independent filmmakers who are making socially conscious films. Watch this space.
Volunteers
Volunteers: We are looking for Industry professionals who are willing to share their skills to help promote, produce, and critique projects that the fund supports. Contact fund the manager nadine@abiertomediafund.org if you want to volunteer and mentor emerging filmmakers.
Resources: Industry Analysis and Three Funding sources
UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report 2020
A deep dive into a system of cinematic apartheid, “A Tale of Two Hollywoods” shines a light on the divisions that remain in the film Industry… read more.
Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh
A joint grant making program created and managed through a partnership between The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. The program is committed to helping create a vibrant cultural life in Pittsburgh and the region…. read more.
Apply for the Solidarity Fund for COVID-19 Organizing
This Bread & Roses initiative is providing emergency grants of up to $10,000 to grassroots community organizing groups in the Philadelphia five country area and Camden NJ. Deadline is 9am Monday each week… read more.
Community Voices Fund in Philadelphia
The Independence Public Media Foundation funds and supports creative, community-centered media and media making across Greater Philadelphia…. read more.
The Abierto Media Fund is managed by Nadine Patterson. You can contact her at nadine@abiertomediafund.org for any queries on donating or volunteering.
Abierto Media Fund 