Mayor’s Office Of Media And Entertainment Announces $2 Million For The NYC Women’s Fund For The Arts

The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) proudly announce that applications are open for the fourth round of grants for the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre.

Qualified applicants can apply for $2 million in finishing grants through November 1, 2022 at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund.  

Since its launch in 2018, the NYC Women’s Fund grant program has awarded $5.5 million to 246 film, theatre, and music projects, with NYFA acting as the grant administrator. The NYC Women’s Fund is a signature initiative launched to address the underrepresentation of women in the entertainment industry.  

“Women’s perspectives in the arts, media, and entertainment industries are crucial to telling the rich and diverse stories of our city,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “This additional $2 million in city funding to the NYC Women’s Fund will provide a tremendous leap toward leveling the playing field and ensuring all creatives, regardless of their gender, are given the platform they deserve. I look forward to seeing the incredible work this fourth round of applications brings to audiences throughout the city and around the world.”  

“We are proud to extend our commitment to the NYC Women’s Fund to offer a fourth cycle of grants, ensuring that more women-led creative projects are given the support needed to reach wide audiences,” said Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Anne del Castillo. “Now, more than ever, it is critical that we continue to elevate women’s voices and perspectives in order to advance gender equity and women leadership in the creative industries and beyond.”  

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and to support the work of women-identifying creatives through the NYC Women’s Fund,” said Michael Royce, Executive Director, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). “We are proud to help media, music, and theatre-makers realize projects that add new depth to New York City’s vibrant media and entertainment landscape,” he added. 

Recent success for NYC Women’s Fund program participants is a testament to the quality of applications received and the appetite for their entertainment projects. Film projects from previous grant recipients have been collectively seen by over 339,000 viewers, while film, theatre, and music releases have been featured at 99 premieres. Highlights of past award recipients include: 

• My Love Affair with Marriage: This animated Fiction Feature by Cycle 2 recipient and Brooklyn resident Signe Baumane tells a coming-of-age story about love and rebellion. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year and will go on to screen at Annecy International Film Festival in France and Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico. 
• Hidden Kingdom: Cycle 2 recipients, Sunny Facer and Jacqueline Davis, who both call Brooklyn home, created this Documentary Web Series to showcase five diverse dancers in NYC and their surreal and personal stories. The series has screened at SXSW, Slamdance Film Festival, Falcon Film Festival-UK, & Big Apple Film Festival. 
• Intimate Strangers: Cycle 2 Classical/Experimental/Jazz/New Music recipient Sara Serpa Santos’ album on the history of Portuguese colonialism in Africa, was featured in the NY Times’ list of Best Jazz Albums of 2021 and The Nation’s list of Best Albums of 2021. Santos resides in Manhattan.  
• The Nosebleed: Brooklyn’s Cycle 1 recipient Aya Ogawa co-presented with the Chocolate Factory Theater, with staged performances at The Japan Society in 2021 and currently at Lincoln Center.  
• Specially Processed American Me: In 2022, Cycle 2 recipient and Brooklyn resident Jaime Sunwoo staged her piece at Dixon Place. 
• 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.  
• The Workers’ Studio: This Documentary Webseries from Queens resident Sol Aramendi, detailing how immigrant women cooperate to lead change in their communities, was exhibited at the Queens Museum and the BRIC House Stoop.   
• Looking at You: A techno music theater work, from the Bronx’s Kamala Sankaram,  mixes electronic dance music, crime jazz and lyric operatic arias to explore the impact of modern technology on privacy.  
  
   A series of online informational sessions will be available to all those interested in applying at www.nyfa.org/nycwomensfund:  

• August 3 – Pre-recorded overview video of NYC Women’s Fund 
• August 17, 2:00pm – LIVE online info session for Music category 
• September 7, 2:00pm – LIVE online info session for Media category 
• September 28, 2:00pm – LIVE online info session for Theatre category 
• October 12, 5:00pm – LIVE online info session for application budgets and timeline  
  
  Film, theatre, music, and web productions are eligible for finishing funds in the following categories (amounts listed are the maximum potential grant): 
• Fiction Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) – $50,000 
• Fiction Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) – $25,000 
• Fiction Webisode/Webseries (all forms) – $20,000 
• Documentary Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) – $50,000 
• Documentary Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) – $25,000 
• Documentary Webisodes/Webseries (all lengths and forms) – $20,000 
• Music – $20,000 
• Theatre Production – grant amounts up to $50,000 

Film, theatre, and webisode/webseries 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).  

Eligible projects for music 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 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. You can use hashtag #NYCWomensFund to participate in the conversation.  

New York Foundation for the Arts  

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) was established in 1971 to empower artists at critical stages in their creative lives.

Today, the nonprofit organization’s programs and services are far-reaching and are rooted in a wealth of physical and online resources.

Each year, NYFA awards more than $3 million in cash grants to individual visual, performing, and literary artists throughout the United States. NYFA’s Fiscal Sponsorship program, one of the oldest and most reputable in the country, helps national artists and arts organizations raise and manage an average of $4 million annually.

NYFA’s Learning programs, including its Artist as Entrepreneur and Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, provide thousands of artists, creatives, and arts administrators with professional development training and support.

NYFA’s website, NYFA.org, is used by more than 1 million people and features more than 20,000 opportunities and resources available to artists in all disciplines. 

The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment  

The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment’s mission is to support and strengthen New York City’s creative economy and make it accessible to all.

In 2019, the creative industries accounted for more than 500,000 local jobs and have an economic impact of $150 billion annually.

MOME comprises five divisions: The Film Office, which coordinates on-location production throughout the five boroughs; NYC Media, the City’s official broadcast network and production group; the Office of Nightlife, which supports the city’s nighttime economy; the Press Credentials Office, which issues press cards; and Programs and Initiatives to advance industry and workforce development across NYC’s creative sectors. 

Photo credit: Wild Arts (source).