From the Executive Director
“It is not enough to teach our young people to be successful…so they can realize their ambitions, so they can earn good livings, so they can accumulate the material things that this society bestows. Those are worthwhile goals. But it is not enough to progress as individuals while our friends and neighbors are left behind.…the end of all knowledge should be service to others.”
Cesar Chavez
I’ve been thinking a lot about service lately. I always knew if I didn’t make it in the film world, somehow, I could be happy waiting tables in restaurants I loved. As the person in a uniform or an apron for over 20 years, I was clear on the power dynamic; I also knew that I was making a living in service but was no one’s servant.
At the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture, (a national Arts Service organization), I get to work at the intersection of community + industry, with arts leaders and teaching artists whose jobs and creative practice include a commitment to service. We are in service to arts and community nonprofits and small business, cultural institutions, even cities and states — as well as individual artists and creative workers everywhere. We see ourselves as network builders, deep connectors and listeners, fierce advocates, opportunity creators, model designers, resource sharers, and innovation drivers. This is systems change work. We are in service to community field-building aligned to an industry system that is so often elitist, misogynist, racist and broken.
On May 3 + 4th, The Alliance is hosting a Teaching Artist Community Design Lab in Watts, convening a local creative teaching and mentoring community to plan the next few years of Arts2Work training, designing programs and services for justice-impacted young people, and supporting creative entrepreneurship at WLCAC. Huge thanks to Snap Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, NBCUniversal and all our members who are in service with us, doing the work that needs to be done.
Please join the Alliance and take part in Communities of Practice, Arts2Work programs, the Open Archive Initiative, our Youth Media Network, the Innovation Studio, our Power of Storytelling grants, and so much more.
As always, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
~ Wendy
Notes from the Field
Loop Lab Media Apprenticeship Applications Open
Young media arts makers between the ages of 18-26 and located in the Greater Boston Area are invited to apply to the Loop Labs Media Arts Apprentice Program. Loop Lab’s free training program seeks to provide high-growth careers in the creative economy to underrepresented young people. Trainees will receive direct training in a wide range of creative industry skills including audio production, video editing, camera operation, and audio/visual installation. Trainees will build a vibrant portfolio and come out ready to be integrated into the professional creative world. The application deadline is May 10th.
Arts2Work Launches Conversations Podcast
Arts2Work has just debuted their first podcast series aiming to demystify the creative industry. This first season has a wide range of guests from UX designers to filmmakers to educators. This season goes in depth, providing information about the cutting edge of the creative industry. Arts2Work hopes these stories will inspire listeners to forge their own lanes.
Grants and Calls
Chicken & Egg Pictures Project: Hatched
Nonfiction filmmakers working on projects that aim to have a targeted, strategic impact on social change are invited to submit to the Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Hatched project. Participants from around the world are invited to apply. Grants of $30,000 will be awarded to 10 directing teams.
Deadline: April 1st
Creative Capital
Creative Capital is seeking artists from a wide range of fields including visual, performing, film, and literature to submit proposals for their grant program. The program is one of the few nonprofit projects that funds individual artist projects through an open application process. Creative Capital is specifically seeking artists producing boundary pushing, challenging work. It provides unrestricted grants as well as professional development services.
Deadline: April 4th
Fund for Investigative Journalism
The Fund for Investigative Journalism offers grants and support to freelance and staff reporters, as well as media outlets. The grants specifically go towards empowering investigative reporting across a range of formats that provide high quality and unbiased stories. While they have a number of grants with varying deadlines, the deadline for their regular grant, which provides up to $10,000, is approaching.
Deadline: April 29th
Workshops, Festivals, Convenings
Cleveland International Film Festival, April 3rd, 13th, Cleveland, OH
Miami Film Festival, April 5th-14th, Miami, FL
Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference, April 25th- May 5th, Atlanta, GA
San Francisco International Film Festival, April 25th-May 5th, San Francisco, CA
Media Policy Watch
by Priscilla Genet
by Priscilla Genet
Two weeks ago, the Biden-Harris Administration announced their budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The National Endowment for the Arts will be receiving $210.1 million in funding, as covered in a press release. The NEA states that budget investments will support the public’s relationship to the arts for many decades. The budget will bolster the NEA’s Signature Grants for Arts Projects, Our Town, and leadership initiatives. These initiatives, receiving $98.8 billion in funding, work to improve the capabilities of the arts sector, strategically support community arts initiatives, and invest in local arts organizations The State and Regional Partnership Program will be receiving $65.8 million to support state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations. Another $2 million will be going to fund an initiative focused on health and healing through art. Overall, the NEA believes that while supporting a wide range of arts initiatives, the new budget significantly reduces the deficit by asking that the wealthy “pay their fair share.”
TikTok risks being banned in the United States after the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill requiring that its owner, ByteDance, either sell the company or be completely blocked from being installed on devices within the United States. Lawmakers expressed a range of concerns about the app’s privacy features, fearing that information taken from users could constitute a national security threat. Some lawmakers went so far as to express concern that the app’s intent was fundamentally political, with Florida representative Kat Cammack stating that TikTok is turning “content creators into footsoldiers for the [Chinese Communist Party].” Unrelated to the forced-sale bill, the FTC is investigating TikTok for alleged data security breaches, threatening fines that could reach tens of billions of dollars, according to Politico.
Job Bank
Copywriter, Events and Experiences, Google Creative Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY
Designer, Events and Experience, Google Creative Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY
Designer, Events and Experience, Google Creative Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY
Creative Producer/Business Associate, Google Creative Fellowship, New York, NY
Copywriter, Brand Studio, Google Creative Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY; Portland, OR
Visual Designer, Brand Studio, Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; New York, NY; Portland, OR
Associate Director of Development, Educational Video Center, New York, NY
MassArt – Temporary Full Time Faculty – Film/Video, Boston, MA
more jobs on the Job Bank