If you are an independent filmmaker or video artist in New England and don’t know about the LEF Foundation you are about to get an infusion of hope. Somebody cares that you are out there tapping away at your screenplay, mapping out your scenes and pacing like a wild tiger worrying about how you are ever going to get any money to make your film, or for starters, develop it. The LEF Foundation is upstairs in their little office in Harvard Square waiting to hear from you. That is, they are waiting to receive your letter of intent to apply (except you missed the deadline for this year-January 17, 2003). There actually are people who are so focused on the potential and life of our film community that they have created a special fund within their foundation to support only film and video artists. The LEF Foundation calls it THE MOVING IMAGE FUND “dedicated to providing grants for project development, production, and distribution to individual film and video artists, as well as to selected organizations that support filmmakers.” The LEF Foundation is the New England independent film community’s next best thing to a fairy godmother.
The LEF Foundation’s presence arrived on the east coast in 1992 when the California based family foundation decided that they wanted an office in New England. It also happened to be around the same time that Lyda Kuth, a founding board member, was ready to go back to work after the birth of her daughter. Ms. Kuth, with a passion for the work of the foundation that supports the arts in all disciplines, took the staff position as Director of LEF New England and opened the office. During those first years, Ms. Kuth and the new chapter of LEF absorbed what was going on in the arts around New England.
Five years into it LEF New England was emerging with a more refined purpose. The work of the east coast office began to differentiate itself from the work of the west coast office. Ms. Kuth further explains, “because I got a better sense of what the cultural landscape looked like here and how LEF could best impact it.” The emphasis of the organization “shifted more towards artist based projects, creation of work and innovative work and while that was happening LEF began looking at more independent film artists. And as our funding for that expanded we decided to take a more strategic approach to that discipline.” Any filmmaker listening to Ms. Kuth cannot help but feel cared for when she speaks. “We fund the arts. We fund all the disciplines. We are committed to continuing to being an arts funding organization in full, but we decided to take one discipline and fund more strategically in it and that’s film.”
In all of New England there is no other foundation that is doing the work that the LEF Foundation is doing so specifically on behalf of the film community. Of the LEF Foundation’s $500,000.00 funding available for grants, half is given out through their General Fund, which funds all arts disciplines except for film; the other half is dispersed through their Moving Image Fund, a fund dedicated exclusively to film and video artists.
Okay, so what does said filmmaker or video artists have to do to get the MIF fairy godmother to help him or her out? Well, for starters, LEF is interested in independent work not driven by the market. The Moving Image Fund supports film artists in “all genres-animation, experimental, narrative and documentary- as well as those seeking to move beyond these traditional boundaries. Please note: Students are not eligible to apply.” You also must apply through a not-for-profit fiscal agent. Some of the 501.c3’s who have been fiscal agents for MIF projects are Harvard University, BFVF, Center for Independent Documentary, to name a few. When applying, you must identify the phase of production that you are requesting funds for either: Project Development (maximum award: $5,000.00), Production (maximum award: $25,000.00) or Distribution (maximum award: $5,000.00). You may return to LEF for funding of the same project at different phases, but are restricted to applying once a year (deadlines for MIF are generally around the first of the year).
You can visit their website: lef-foundation.org for the 2003-04 deadlines, which will be posted by July 1st. Your work will be looked at based on: Artistry-“the project demonstrates aesthetic excellence and artistic intent is clearly realized through the chosen medium,” Content-“conceptual premise is compelling and well-defined,” Resonance-“work engages and informs the broader public,” and Feasibility-“demonstrated ability of artist to complete project.”
You must first submit a Letter of Intent with specific information. For the 2003 applicant pool, there were 140 Letters of Intent that were reviewed by the LEF staff and board. Of those 140, 46 applicants were selected to go on to be reviewed by the MIF panel. The MIF panel will then narrow down from that pool the projects selected for funding. Finally this MIF panel list goes back to the board for final approval. The process begins in January and Grant awards are announced in the end of April. The judging panel is anonymous and changes every year.
This is the LEF Moving Image Fund’s second year of awarding grants. Last year 30 grants were awarded. Of those, 11 were Project Development Grants ranging from $3,000.00-$5,000.00, 20 were Production Grants ranging from $3,000.00-$20,000.00 and 2 were Distribution Grants ranging from $3,000.00-$5,000.00. Six Grants went to Organizations (BFVF: $10,000.00, WGBH: $10,000.00). Some of the Grant recipients from 2002 included Laurel Chiten’s documentary on alien abductions, TOUCHED; Steve Ascher and Jeanne Jordan’s documentary about a Newton family’s search for a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), THE HEYWOOD BOYS; Tracy Strain’s feature length documentary about the American Dream, SWEET DREAMS: THE DONUT MOVIE; Steve Subotnick’s animated film, THE ANGEL; Brittany Gravely’s experimental short film, BLOOD OF THE EARTHWORM; Don Mays’ narrative feature film, SAME DIFFERENCE; and a Distribution Grant to Lucia Small for MY FATHER, THE GENIUS.
Louisa McCall, originally hired as a strategic planning consultant for LEF New England, and who now serves as Program Manager, talked about the Moving Image Fund, saying that generally MIF panels fund at least 50% of the proposals under review. It will fund, keeping two things in mind, “#1-finding the best work it can and #2 creating a sense of possibility so people go away with ‘yes, it is possible to make a film here’” in New England. LEF is looking for “the emerging and promising” artists in their fields. The LEF Foundation wants to have a strong presence in New England’s film community. The fact that “we are willing to fund at the earliest stages when the risks are greatest” will hopefully encourage more risk-taking in the community.
The LEF Foundation is committed to building up and supporting the New England Film Community and we are grateful to have their magic in our midst. I wasn’t kidding when I said the LEF Foundation is the New England independent film community’s next best thing to a Fairy Godmother!
For more information, call Kathryn Ostermier, Program Assistant, LEF New England, (617) 492-5333. Or visit their website at www.lef-foundation.org.