Fellowship FAQs
Fellows typically produce two short films over the course of the 10-month fellowship, completing one film in each of the two semesters in the program. In certain cases, program staff may recommend that a fellow complete only a single short film project over the full fellowship term, if the filmmaker’s process is particularly ambitious or labor-intensive from a technical standpoint. In practice, this allowance is generally made for filmmakers working primarily in animation.
No. The fellowship is intended to support emerging filmmakers developing and producing short film projects. Applications proposing a feature-length project will be considered ineligible.
No. Applicants are only expected to outline the project and timeline for one project in the application, and are not expected to have formulated or developed a second project idea at the time of acceptance in the program. Following the first semester, program staff will support the fellow in developing a concept for their second project.
Yes. The fellowship program provides a supportive space for filmmakers to develop their craft and explore modes of expression in the medium. This means that the program is often an ideal space for fellows to experiment and explore methods they may not have otherwise pursued. A filmmaker who has only produced narrative work in the past may make their first documentary work in the program, or vice versa. By attending weekly workshop-style sessions with peers working in documentary, narrative, and animation, fellows are able to become familiar with their peers’ filmmaking practices, and in some cases, may be inspired to expand the scope of their own practice.
While we encourage creative experimentation within the program, if you are primarily a narrative filmmaker and you have not previously produced a documentary project, we would not suggest proposing a nonfiction project in your application (or vice versa). A successful application will include work samples that demonstrate the applicant's ability to execute their proposed project, i.e. previous narrative project work samples that demonstrate their ability to execute a proposed narrative project or previous nonfiction work samples that demonstrate their ability to execute a proposed nonfiction project. Fellows are encouraged to explore a range of filmmaking approaches during the fellowship and may elect to expand their practice with their second semester project.
The Creative Culture program is intensive and demands a great degree of dedication from participating fellows in terms of time and energy. For that reason, an applicant currently seeking a degree full-time would likely not be considered at the right stage for the fellowship experience. In addition, short films made in Creative Culture’s fellowship program cannot be used to fulfill an academic requirement.
The JBFC cannot sponsor any international applicant for a visa at this time. Non-US citizens are nonetheless welcome and encouraged to apply if they will be legally eligible to be employed in the US at the start of the fellowship.
No. The fellowship experience is designed to foster projects from the development and writing stages through post-production. Projects for which principal photography has already been shot and/or are in post-production will not be considered eligible. You are welcome to discuss this later-stage project in your artist statement or include a rough cut or dailies as a work sample, but any project that has, or will have, progressed beyond the pre-production stage at the time the fellowship term begins will not be considered.
The weekly meetings are a dedicated time on Tuesday evenings for the current cohort of fellows to meet as a group to collaborate as a community of peers and receive mentorship from JBFC staff and invited guests. In the first weeks of the semester, fellows workshop their project scripts and treatments with an established filmmaker story expert. As projects progress and enter production throughout the semester, fellows share project updates with the group regularly, and use the space to ask questions and crowdsource feedback. In addition, fellows learn from and teach their peers through skillshare sessions each week. As projects enter the post-production phase, the latter part of the semester is dedicated to workshopping rough cuts through fine cuts with invited industry panelists.
We are happy to accept applications from filmmakers working with a co-director on their proposed project. The fellowship is an experience awarded to an individual filmmaker, rather than a filmmaking team. If selected for the program, only the selected fellow would attend weekly program meetings and receive direct support from the JBFC.
It is not possible to upload attachments directly in the application form. For all relevant questions, please provide a link to the requested materials. We recommend sharing links to documents hosted on Google Drive or Dropbox in your application.
To share a link to single file on Google Drive, please follow these instructions to "Share a link to the file."Be sure to select "Anyone on the internet with this link can view."
To share a link to a Google Drive folder (and all its contents), please follow these instructions to share with "Anyone with a link to the folder." Be sure to select "Anyone on the internet with this link can view."
To share a link to a file or folder on Dropbox, please follow these instructions.
Please ensure that all links provided included are active and remain accessible for review through August 2021. If you have difficulties sharing the links to your files, please email creativeculture@burnsfilmcenter.org.
All fellows must be over the age of 18 years old and must be at the appropriate stage to benefit from participation in the fellowship program. There is no upper age limit to participate.
