Artist Services: Creative Culture

Creative Culture is a program that connects filmmakers to creative careers. View past fellows, makers, and residents here.

Recognizing a gap in support for filmmakers in the Hudson Valley, Jacob Burns Film Center staff developed Creative Culture, a unique initiative designed to foster a thriving artistic community in the region. The goal of the program is to transform makers into strong and successful storytellers by strengthening their voice, providing a supportive network, and helping to connect them to industry jobs and opportunities

New! Join our database for opportunities and become part of the creative teams making these films. For information about fellowships and the maker experience see below. Jacob Burns Film Center is building a database of makers who want to support Creative Culture by helping out on Creative Culture productions. Submit this form to join a database of producers, cinematographers, assistant directors, sound department, gaffers, grips, editors, composers, and more. By submitting this form, you add your information into a database that creative leads will have access to when building their cast and crew for Creative Culture projects. Those who submit their information to the database will be called upon at the discretion of Creative Culture creative leads. Contact creativeculture@burnsfilmcenter.org with any questions.

Fellowship Opportunities

The Jacob Burns Film Center is committed to supporting the development of new filmmakers through two fellowship pathways:
The Valentine & Clark Emerging Artist Fellowship
The Sally Burns Shenkman Woman Filmmaker Fellowship

The Fellowships, which encourage community engagement, aim to foster thoughtful media creation and provide the necessary time and resources for fellows to fully realize and share a creative project with mentors, peers, and students.

The Emerging Artist Fellowship is open to any artist under the age of 30 who lives or grew up in Westchester County. The Sally Burns Shenkman Fellowship is open to all female artists, with no restrictions on age or location.

Both fellowships are open to applicants who have graduated college and demonstrate a strong interest in pursuing a career in the film/media arts. Artists working in all film genres (animation, documentary, video art, narrative, etc.) are encouraged to apply. Applicants for the Emerging Artist Fellowship will be asked to demonstrate or document financial need to supplement their application.

Applications for spring 2018 fellowships should be submitted here.

For more information, please contact creativeculture@burnsfilmcenter.org.

The Valentine and Clark Emerging Artist Fellowship is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Westchester Community Foundation. The Sally Burns Shenkman Woman Filmmaker Fellowship is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Jacob Burns Foundation.

The Maker Experience

This five-month, project-based program invites emerging and working professionals to the JBFC Theater, Media Arts Lab, and Grant St. residence to fully realize their short artistic projects. Creative Culture makers are provided with professional equipment, production and post-production space, mentorship from JBFC staff and visiting filmmakers, and peer support of others within the community.

Creative Culture is an application-based program, and JBFC offers fellowship opportunities and financial assistance to accepted applicants in need. 

Applications for spring 2018 maker positions should be submitted here.

For more information, please contact creativeculture@burnsfilmcenter.org.

Residency Opportunities

The Jacob Burns Film Center welcomes filmmakers, artists, and educators from across the country and around the world to live, work, and teach on the JBFC campus. Thanks to a generous grant from Kathryn W. Davis in 2007, the Jacob Burns Film Center purchased 5 Grant St., a house adjacent to the Media Arts Lab, for our artists-in-residence.

This program is invite-only. For more information, please contact creativeculture@burnsfilmcenter.org.