Open Signal‘s Black Film Fellowship is accepting applications until December 20th, 2019. The fellowship allows six Portland-based Black filmmakers to immerse themselves in a creative environment that avoids the biases of extra-cultural critique, while fostering an environment of trust and experimentation. The Black Filmmaker Fellowship is a rare opportunity for social exploration and deep career development at Open Signal.
Open Signal Labs is an incubator for new stories at Open Signal, a media arts center based in Northeast Portland. Labs and its fellowship were created with a clear awareness of emerging opportunities for African-Americans in film and television, and the critical social and political importance of the Black perspective in all areas of storytelling.
Part professional development program and part content development studio, the fellowship was piloted in 2018-19. It is designed to help filmmakers advance their careers and to develop unique and high quality cinematic projects. Over the course of the 10-month program, fellows will create new works independently and as a group, challenging themselves and others to aspire to the highest standards. Collectively, the fellows’ work will explore a new creative operating model, which seeks to advance the culture of the industry at large.
The fellowship is comprised of four major components:
- Individual Project — Fellows will use Open Signal resources to advance their own individual projects in development.
- Group Project Work — Fellows will spend a designated number of hours in primary and secondary production roles on an existing Open Signal documentary project, with specific details shared upon acceptance.
- Professional/Career Development — Fellows will strengthen skills and experience with the intent to move into professional industry production.
- Exhibition/Distribution — With the support and resources from Open Signal, fellows will plan and execute a screening of their finished work or work in progress, build understanding or further develop relationships and processes associated with long-term creative sustainability and ensuring adequate compensation for creative work. In addition to the screenings, the exhibited works will be broadcast on Open Signal cable channels.