NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre
The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre provided grants to encourage and support the creation of digital, film, music, television, and live theatre content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.
The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre (“Women’s Fund”), administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), was a signature initiative that addressed the underrepresentation of women in the entertainment industry. The Fund provided grants to encourage and support the creation of content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.
In 2024, $1.3 million was awarded in the fifth cycle of the program, bringing the grand total of Women’s Fund grants to $8.8 million, allocated to a total of 415 projects (72 in 2024, 97 in 2023, 89 in 2022, 94 in 2020, and 63 in 2019). Cycle 5 will mark the final round of grants for the NYC Women’s Fund.
The program provides:
- Finishing grants for film and digital projects
- Funds for the creation of music recordings or videos
- Production funds for live or online theatre
In addition to being made by, for, or about all who identify as women, projects are eligible if they feature a prominent woman perspective; and/or include a woman-identified director and/or producer and/or writer/songwriter and/or engineer (for recordings) and/or woman-indentified protagonist(s) or lead musical role.
Timeline
Grant Categories
- Fiction Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) – up to $50,000
- Fiction Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) – up to $25,000
- Fiction Webisode/Webseries (all forms) – up to $20,000
- Documentary Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) – up to $50,000
- Documentary Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) – up to $25,000
- Documentary Webisodes/Webseries (all lengths and forms) – up to $20,000
- Music (all categories) – up to $20,000
- Theatre Production – up to $50,000
GENERAL
All applicants were notified about the outcome of their application for Cycle 5 via email in October 2024.
All funded projects will receive 50% of the award distribution at the beginning of their contract.
Media projects will be eligible to receive the next 40% of the award when the project has reached picture lock. Media projects will be eligible to receive the last 10% of funds when the project is completed, and they have scheduled a public access date and method.
Music projects will be eligible to receive the next 40% of the award when their project has finished recording. Music projects will be eligible to receive the last 10% of funds when the project is completed and they have scheduled a public access date and method.
Theatre projects staging live, in-person performances will be eligible to receive the last 50% of the award once they’ve contracted a third-party venue and supplied rehearsal dates and a full list of their creative team.
Theatre projects staging online-only performances will be eligible to receive the next 40% of the award once they’ve supplied rehearsal dates and contracts for all artists involved. Online theatre projects will be eligible for the last 10% of funds at premiere.
Yes.
- Digital Distribution: For all projects distributed digitally, grantees will be required to include in liner notes and credits on an appropriate page of their websites the following : “With support from: The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts”. Grantees should also include the Made in NY logo.
- Physical Distribution: For all projects distributed in physical form, grantees will be required to include the following phrase in the project’s liner notes: “With support from: The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts”. Grantees should also include the Made in NY logo.
- Social Media: Within the 2-week period following the grant award and the 2-week period following the release of the project, grantees must post a minimum of five (5) social media posts acknowledging the support from The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts. Please note, this is a minimum of five (5) across various channels, not per channel.
Yes. Funded projects must complete a final report via Submittable clearly outlining how the NYC Women’s Fund was used to complete the project, along with sharing information on attendance numbers and public access plans or outcomes.
BUDGET
No. First and foremost, the NYC Women’s Fund is meant to support artist and production fees. It is not an appropriate use of funds to purchase equipment or capital goods. Equipment rentals are acceptable.
Yes, however, only 20% of the NYC Women’s Fund award amount may be allocated to marketing, promotion, and distribution.
Yes, but no more than 20% of the grant may be used for these expenses.
Either (i) 75% of its total shooting days take place in New York City, or (ii) 75% of its production costs are “qualified production costs”. “Qualified production costs” means the below-the-line production costs only to the extent such costs are incurred directly in New York City and are attributable to the use of tangible property or the performance of services within New York City directly and predominantly in the production (including pre-production and post-production) of a qualified film.
Any questions?