As one of the world's largest and most important production centers, New York City is the ultimate place to break into the media and entertainment industries. To help support the City's rising film, theatre and broadcasting stars, numerous organizations offer fiscal sponsorship and a variety of other resources. Here's where to go for more information on grants and sponsorship:

IFP/SBS Workforce Training Grant Program
The Independent Feature Project and New York City's Department of Small Business Services have worked together to form the "Independent Film Training Grant Initative", which provides grants to low-budget indepedent film production companies that offer on-the-job training.  These productions are awarded by receiving a partial salary rebate for their approved trainees - film crew members completing their credit job for the first time.  The grant is limited to New York City based feature film productions with total budgets under $3MM.  Trainees must be NYC residents, and 60% of all shooting days must take place within NYC.  To find out more information and to apply, visit http://market.ifp.org/newyork/traininggrant/index.html.

NYFA
The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting artists in New York State. NYFA Source is the organization's online database listing thousands of grants and sponsorship opportunities available to artists in a variety of fields, including film, theatre and broadcasting. The database allows users to search by discipline, geographic area and other criteria to develop lists of grants for which they are eligible to apply. Through NYFA Source Live Assistance, the organization provides free advice via telephone and e-mail to help artists with this process.

NYFA also awards more than $11 million in grants to individual artists annually, and offers fiscal sponsorship to emerging media and artistic organizations. NYFA sponsorship provides these organizations with the legal status and 501 (c) (3) non-profit, tax exempt status required to apply for funding from many organizations. For more information, visit www.nyfa.org.

NYSCA
New York State also awards grants to non-profit arts organizations. The program is administered by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and funded by the Governor, New York State Legislature and National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on these awards and on other resources available to artists in the State, visit www.nysca.org.