Application Period Now Open for 5th Round of NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre

NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment Announces $1.8 Million Grant Extension, Bringing Total Investment by City of NY to $9.3 Million

Funding Available to Women-Led Creative Projects; Information Session and Application Guidelines Available Now at NYFA.org/nycwomensfund

Previous NYC Women’s Fund Recipients Announce Premiere Dates for Fall 2023

New York -- The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) proudly announces that applications are open for the fifth round of grants for the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre. Qualified applicants can apply for finishing grants through November 1, 2023 at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund.

Since its launch in 2018, as a signature initiative to address the underrepresentation of women in the entertainment industry, the NYC Women's Fund grant program has awarded $7.5 million to 343 media, music and theatre projects, with NYFA acting as the grant administrator. In addition to supporting program recipients, the program has had a trickle-down impact on the entertainment industry--with more than 400 additional artists and art workers employed to work on the grant-funded projects.

"We are thrilled to announce the extension of the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre for an incredible 5th cycle, and celebrate the accomplishments of past recipients whose work is shining a light on NYC as a global creative capital and providing new jobs in the sector,” said Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Pat Swinney Kaufman. “When NYC’s creative industries thrive, NYC thrives, so we must continue to support those that are telling impactful, humorous, thoughtful and diverse stories, and contributing to the city’s $150 billion creative economy.”

"The NYC Women's Fund demonstrates MOME's sustained commitment to diversifying the media landscape and championing the city's immense creative talent," said Michael Royce, Chief Executive Officer, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). "We're proud to continue our partnership with MOME to administer this groundbreaking program, which underscores NYFA's mission of serving individual artists at critical stages of their careers. We encourage all eligible media, music, and theatre-makers to apply!"

Multiple NYC Women’s Fund recipients have recently announced premiere dates for their finished projects in NYC, including:

• (pray) - World premiere at Ars Nova @ Greenwich House, 9/23
  • A sacred offering created by Brooklyn resident NicHi Douglas, this Cycle 4 recipient is premiering in co-production with National Black Theatre.
• My Love Affair with Marriage - U.S. theatrical release at The Quad, 10/6
  • This animated Fiction Feature by Cycle 2 recipient and Brooklyn resident Signe Baumane tells a coming-of-age story about love and rebellion.
• The Berlin Diaries - New run at 59E59 Theatre as part of The Pool Plays, 10/2
  • Cycle 1 playwright, and Manhattan resident Andrea Stolowitz goes back to Berlin to bring the story of her unknown ancestors out of the archives into the light.

Accolades for past fund recipients include:

• Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project - Cycle 3 Documentary Feature recipients Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster, both from Brooklyn, had their film premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for U.S Documentary.
• An Act of Worship - Manhattan residents Nausheen Dadabhoy and Sofian Khan's Documentary Feature from Cycle 1 premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcasted on PBS later that year.
• See You Next Time - Cycle 1 Brooklyn recipients Crystal Kayiza and Cady Lang's Documentary Short was an official selection of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was featured in The New Yorker.
• Las Nogas - Cycle 4 Fiction Short recipient from Brooklyn, Catya Plate's film was featured in Animation World Network. The film cautions humanity of the dangers of global warming and celebrates animal ingenuity and species survivalism.
• English - Manhattan's Roundabout Theatre Company partnered with the Atlantic Theater Company in 2022 to stage this play written by Cycle 2 Theatre recipient Sanaz Toossi from Brooklyn. It was named the "best new American play staged Off Broadway" by the 2023 Obie Awards and won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• Picturing the Invisible - Focus 1: Cycle 2 recipient in the Music (Classical/Jazz/Experimental) category, Manhattan resident Jane Ira Bloom's album was nominated for the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album.
• On the Divide - Manhattan’s Maya Cueva and Leah Galant of Cycle 2 premiered their Documentary Feature at Tribeca 2021 and have since screened at numerous other festivals included Docutah, American Film Festival, and Watch Docs.

Media, music and theatre projects are eligible for finishing and/or production funds in the following 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

Media and theatre projects are eligible if they feature a woman's perspective prominently, and/or include a woman director, and/or include a meaningful woman producer credit, and/or prominently include a woman's perspective or writing credit, and/or include a woman protagonist(s).

Music projects eligible for grants will include new EPs, albums, and videos for yet-to-be released works from all genres. Projects must significantly include a woman as a writing credit, producer credit, engineering credit, and/or musical lead. NYC-based producers, composers, engineers, solo musicians, ensemble bands, and orchestras that are not currently signed to a major label can apply. Applicants must also show evidence of a growing fan base and have played multiple live shows.

All recipients must be current residents of NYC. Anyone can apply and be awarded a grant regardless of actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, partnership status, marital status, disability, race, color, national origin, alienage, citizenship status, military status, or any other class protected by City, State, or Federal law.

Applications and eligibility requirements are available at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund. To sign up for updates on the Fund, please visit MOME's website and/or subscribe to NYFA News. You can use hashtag #NYCWomensFund to participate in the conversation.

* In the original press release from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment about the 5th round of applications for the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre dated 8/22/23, the funds announced totaled $1.8 million, bringing the total investment by City of NY to $9.3 million. Those numbers are incorrect and have been updated to $1.3 million and $8.8 million, respectively.