Voqal Fund and Chicago Filmmakers are pleased to announce that in its fifth year of funding, the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund has awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to eight Chicago-based digital media artists' projects in amounts ranging from $4,000 to $17,000. All projects are scheduled for completion and online viewing by May 15, 2017.
The Chicago Digital Media Production Fund is a project of Voqal Fund and is administered by Chicago Filmmakers. The goal of the fund is to support media arts projects intended for free online distribution. Guidelines stipulated that digital media projects of any length or genre would be considered, but needed to address social issues, be appropriate for youth, and be made available for viewing for free online in order to reach the widest possible audience. The fund was intended to support artists with varying levels of experience, both to recognize accomplished individuals, as well as to provide opportunities for emerging and younger artists.
This year, the following projects were selected for funding:
Beyond the Ledger, submitted by director Liz Kaar, was awarded $17,000. Beyond the Ledger is an eight-part web series that examines the impact of the Illinois budget crisis on average workers and social service users.
Brujos, submitted by director Ricardo Gamboa, was awarded $17,000. Brujos is a web series that follows four gay Latino doctoral students with magical powers, as they try to survive their final papers, queer intimacy, and a literal witch hunt.
The Orange Story, submitted by producer Eugene Sun Park, was awarded $14,600. The Orange Story is a transmedia project that tells the story of Japanese American incarceration during WWII, its aftermath, and the implications for contemporary Americans.
Zero Weeks, submitted by director Ky Dickens, was awarded $14,400. Zero Weeks is a feature length documentary that analyzes America's critical need for modern paid family leave policies.
The Doula Project, submitted by director Sarah Fornace, was awarded $13,000. The Doula Project is an animated web series created to provide practical, educational, and emotional support to women regarding women's healthcare, and specifically reproduction and childbirth.
Brown Girls, submitted by director Samantha Bailey, was awarded $12,000. Brown Girls is a fictional web series that puts two young women of color front and center. It follows them as they explore their sexuality, personal aspirations, and familial relationships in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.
Soteria, submitted by game developer Doris Rusch, was awarded $8,000. Soteria is a single-player, 3D adventure game intended to promote players' readiness to use psycho-therapeutically proven strategies to overcome general anxiety disorder.
Raina's Not Here, submitted by director Samantha Lee Spencer, was awarded $4,000. Raina's Not Here follows a young woman's trip to Ghana as she compares her experiences to life in Chicago and struggles with her misconceptions about Africa and her identity as a Black woman.
The 2016 Production Fund review panel consisted of Jerzy Rose (writer/director, Crimes Against Humanity); Mike MacNamara (actor, co-founder of Midwest Independent Film Festival); Julian Grant (filmmaker, tenured professor at Columbia College Chicago's Department of Cinema Art + Science); Nicole Bernardi-Reis (filmmaker, Executive Director, IFP Chicago); Beckie Stocchetti (Independent/Local Film Initiatives, Chicago Film Office); Patrick Friel (programmer, faculty at SAIC); David E. Simpson (filmmaker; Hard Earned, Life Itself); Danny Alpert (filmmaker, Executive Director, Kindling Group); Erin Nixon (Assistant Director, UIC's Gallery 400); Nick Brown (Founder, Glappitnova); and Amina Ross (Chicago-based transdisciplinary artist).
For more details and updates on past and present grantee projects, please visit the Chicago Filmmakers' website at www.chicagofilmmakers.org.