2008 Woodie Awards
Workshop aims to help students win grants
Cash awaits aspiring filmmakers with good ideas and right experience.
By Sami Parman
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Premiere
Originally published: 4/10/08 at 4:28 PM CSTLast update: 4/11/08 at 6:50 AM CST
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The 2008 Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund, a product of the Austin Film Society, gives Texas filmmakers a chance to submit their work and receive grant funding for their projects.
The fund in partnership with the radio-television-department will host an informational workshop on how students can apply to receive the $1,000 to $25,000 grants out of the available $100,000 total that will be awarded this year April 18.
The event will be led by Byan Poyser, a Texas filmmaker, and he will provide students with vital information on how to apply for a grant and screen previous works that have been given funding.
Poyser has been a recipient of these grants for his film "Dear Pillow" (available on Netflix and Amazon) and also has done a film with Burnt Orange Productions, an production company of University of Texas at Austin, titled "The Cassidy Kids."
"Cassidy Kids" premiered on the Independent Film Channel last week and can be seen throughout April.
The fund awarded $150,000 last year in cash grants and Kodak film stock to 21 Texas filmmakers out of the 218 applications received.
That was less than 10 percent of the applicants.
"It is a very competitive program," Poyser said.
One person submitted his work four times, and was rejected for all four. Still, he found ways to make his films and useing the previously rejected work for material to submit for funding for his new projects and won a grant.
"It is a very helpful process (grant proposals) to go through," Poyser said. "It forces you to think about your project on specific terms."
The program has been awarded cash funding and services since 1996 and has given over $830,000 to more than 243 film and video projects.
Applicants wishing to apply for a grant must be a Texas resident for at least one year or more and and must be the sole person in charge of creating the project. This is usually the director. Awards are not given to producers, editors, crew and writers not involved in the creative control. Applications can be received no later than June 2.
All genres are acceptable: narrative, documentary, experimental and animation. They do not give funding to multimedia projects, Web series or television series. The number of projects funded differs each year.
The projects are chosen by a panel of judges. The judges for this year have not been determined yet but will be announced after the deadline submission.
If awarded funding, the money will be disbursed in early September.
The workshop will be from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. April 18 in Room 101 of Longwith Radio, Television and Film Building.
For more information, call Bryan Poyser at (512) 322-0145 or Deborah Martin at 733-2147.
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