Moving Image Fund

Moving Image Fund is sponsored by Moving Image Fund. Moving Image Fund is a grant from the LEF Foundation that funds New England-based nonfiction filmmakers and video artists across all stages of documentary production.

How to Apply - LEF Foundation The Moving Image Fund has two separate online application cycles each year: A two-step application process beginning in January for projects in the Production stage Early Development and Pre-production stages A single-step application process beginning in August for projects in the Early Development and Pre-production stages A single-step, twice-yearly application process beginning in February and in June for projects in the Post-production stage All online submission forms ask for a written proposal adapted from the Documentary Core Application , in addition to project budget information and a film/video work sample.

Find more details about the application process, requirements, and timeline for each stage below. Please be sure to read our guidelines and frequently asked questions before you apply. LEF New England staff regularly hosts a virtual informational session prior to grant deadlines.

New and returning applicants to LEF are welcome to register. Register for the MIF info session You can watch a recording of the most recent info session on LEF’s YouTube .

We also encourage all prospective applicants to take the opportunity to contact LEF New England staff early on by phone (617-492-5333), e-mail , or messenger to ask any questions about the application process and to determine whether your project is eligible and a good fit for LEF’s funding priorities.

We are a small team and do our best to respond to all inquiries quickly, but if you are reaching out during the final two weeks before a grant deadline, e-mail is preferred. LEF accepts Moving Image Fund LOIs and applications through an online submission portal hosted by Foundant. The Moving Image Fund’s submission form has moved.

Now, through an account with LEF’s grant interface, you’ll be able to apply for funding, view your previous grant support, and complete final reports, all in one place. Instructions for Using LEF's Grant Interface First, navigate to LEF’s grant interface Logon page . You’ll see information on the right-hand side with logon instructions for both new users and prior grantees.

Please read this carefully. After you’ve created an account or logged in, you’ll be taken to the Apply page, where you’ll see any open opportunities, visible by an Eligibility Check . Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility with the Eligibility Quiz, you’ll see the opportunity to be applied for.

You can preview the submission form, or select the Apply button to begin. You can save the form if you’d like to return to it later, or click the Submit button when you’re done. You’ll then be taken to your applicant Dashboard (accessible with the Home icon), where you can see your Active Requests for funding.

You might see previously supported projects under this tab, along with Follow Up forms to be completed. Once all Follow Up forms, including a Final Report, are completed and approved, this project will move to the second tab, Historical Requests. For more instructions, including how-to guides and walkthrough videos, visit Foundant’s applicant tutorial .

LEF accepts Moving Image Fund LOIs and applications through an online submission form hosted by Submittable. Click here to go to the online submission form . Nonfiction Core Application Checklist LEF has used the Nonfiction Core Application as a template for the Moving Image Fund LOI and Full Application forms.

You can visit the Core Application proposal checklist to get a sense of the questions that will appear on the LEF’s online submission forms. Beginning in 2017, LEF adapted its Moving Image Fund LOI and application materials to join a growing circle of documentary film funders who are implementing the Nonfiction Core Application , an initiative of the International Documentary Association and Sundance Institute .

The Nonfiction Core Application is a collaborative effort by grantors who regularly fund documentary projects to standardize application requirements, with the aim of fostering greater access and a more equitable and sustainable documentary field.

Learn More Production Application Process Annual LOI Deadline: At the Production stage, letters of inquiry (LOIs) are accepted through an online form (see above) for a January deadline each year. LOI Requirements: At this grant stage, the LOI form requires a written proposal, a summary budget, and a link to view a current work sample of up to 10 minutes from the project you are proposing for funding.

Should the project be invited forward in March, these LOI elements can be updated, as needed . LOI Review Process and Notification Timeline: LOIs are reviewed by New England-based peer readers whose recommendations inform which projects are invited to the full application stage. Filmmakers are notified by e-mail of LOI decisions in March.

At that time, the projects that most align with LEF’s funding criteria are invited to submit a full application. Full Application Requirements: If invited to submit a full application in March, applicants will be required to re-submit all of the elements included at the LOI stage with any updates, including responses to some additional questions, and a full line-item budget.

Full Application Review Process and Notification Timeline: LEF invites an external panel of three peer reviewers, who include those from the New England filmmaking community and the wider film and documentary field, to evaluate and make decisions on LEF’s Production applications. Filmmakers are notified by e-mail of funding decisions in May.

Recent Deadlines & timeline Early Development / Pre-production Application Process Annual Application Deadline: At the Early Development and Pre-production stages, full applications are accepted through an online submission form (see above) for an August deadline each year. Requirements: At both of these grant stages, the application forms require a written proposal and a summary budget.

The Early Development application requires links to view two past film/video work samples. The Pre-production application requires a link to view a current work sample of up to 10 minutes from the project you are proposing for funding. Review Process and Notification Timeline: These applications are reviewed by three New England-based peer readers, whose recommendations inform final grant decisions by LEF staff.

Filmmakers are notified by e-mail of funding decisions in October Preview the Pre-production application Recent Deadlines & timeline Post-production Application Process Bi-annual Application Deadline: At the Post-production stage, applications are accepted through an online submission form (see above) for a February and an August deadline each year.

Post-production is only open to projects that have received prior LEF funding (Early Development, Pre-production, or Production). Please note that if your project just received a MIF Production grant at the most recent round in May, you will be able to apply at the Winter/Spring Post-production deadline in February (during the next calendar year).

Full Application Requirements: The application form requires a written proposal, a full line-item budget, and a link to view a work sample of up to 20 minutes from the project you are proposing for funding. Full Application Review Process and Notification Timeline: These applications are reviewed by LEF staff.

Filmmakers are notified by e-mail of funding decisions in May and September, depending on the deadline by which the project was submitted. Recent Deadlines & timeline The LOI forms for Production, and the full applications for Pre-production, Early development, require only an estimated summary project budget, and do not require a full line-item budget.

At the full application stage for Production, and for Post-production applications, LEF requires a full line-item budget. You may use your own budget form and/or the LEF Budget Template, which you can download here . If you would like further guidance on how to craft a documentary budget, you can find an introduction and a more detailed budgeting template available from the International Documentary Association here .

If you have questions about preparing your budget for a LEF grant application, please feel free to contact us. The work sample or samples that accompany your written proposal are an extremely important part of your application. They are an opportunity to show what is unique about your artistic approach, your story/characters, and your access to the people, places, and materials in your film.

In most cases, LEF requires a current work sample from the project you are proposing for funding, except at the Early Development stage, in which two past work samples are required. At Pre-production, Production, and Post-production, the required current work sample can include a selection of research footage, character sketches, and/or rough scenes from the project for which you are applying for funding.

In full applications, you may also supplement this current work sample with a sample from a completed past work for review, if relevant to the style or execution of the current project. You will have an opportunity to contextualize your work sample with an accompanying work sample description. Trailers can occasionally be helpful material to include in a work sample for LEF, but only when accompanied by additional sample footage/scenes.

In general, we encourage applicants to choose sample footage from your project that offers an in-depth window into a part of your film: a scene, a character, a particular artistic approach you are experimenting with, or another aspect of your project that you feel shows the originality of your vision or point of view as a filmmaker. Crowdfunding-style pitch videos are not appropriate as LEF work samples.

Work samples should be submitted as links that will remain available to view online by peer reviewers through the duration of your application review timeline. Vimeo, Google Drive, and YouTube links are acceptable. To increase accessibility for the review process, applicants are strongly encouraged to create captions for their work samples.

We recommend the “Subtitling, Captioning, and ASL Captioning Info and Services” section of FWD-Doc’s resources page for guidance on how to create captions, subtitles, and audio descriptions. Note that automatic captions can be turned on with paid Vimeo accounts and for all videos uploaded to Google Drive . Please read specific work sample requirements for the stage at which you’re applying.

If you have questions about preparing your work sample(s) for a LEF application, please feel free to contact us. LEF no longer requires you to have a confirmed fiscal sponsor at the time that you submit a letter of inquiry or application. However, the online submission form does provide the option for you to share who your confirmed or potential fiscal sponsor will be.

If you are awarded a grant, you must have a confirmed 501c3 fiscal sponsor in place in order to receive any grant funding. Find more details about locating a fiscal sponsor on our FAQ page , and reach out to us if you have other questions. We believe that incorporating peer reviewers at various stages of the Moving Image Fund is a valuable step toward creating a more inclusive and dynamic grant decision-making process.

We also see it as a step toward investing in LEF’s overarching goal of building a sustainable and strong community of support for artists and their work. Since the inception of MIF, LEF has hosted an external panel process that invites non-fiction filmmakers and professionals from a diversity of perspectives in the field to evaluate and make decisions on LEF’s Production and Post-production applications.

In 2020, LEF expanded these efforts by inviting three New England-based peer readers for all Pre-production grant applications, whose recommendations informed final grant decisions by LEF staff. In 2021, LEF began inviting New England-based peer readers at the Letter of Inquiry stage for Production and Post-production grants whose recommendations inform which projects are invited to the full application stage.

Peer reviewers remain anonymous, change at every round, and are compensated with an honorarium for their time. At each stage of consideration, including the letter of inquiry stage and the full application stage, LEF staff invites a new round of peer reviewers who together represent a diversity of perspectives on documentary.

Nominations of new peer reviewers are accepted on a rolling basis from past LEF grantees and recent peer reviewers. We acknowledge the impact of inequitable systems of power within documentary film-making and grant-making.

Because of this, we strongly encourage nominations of those who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American), LGBTQIA+, women and non-binary people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and low-income/working class artists.

LEF staff will prioritize and invite peer reviewers at each grant round who together represent a wide diversity of identities, locations, and approaches to non-fiction film. We are looking for peer reviewers who represent a broad range of personal and artistic points of view. Following any grant cycle, all applicants can request a phone call to hear peer review notes on their application.

While these notes are only representative of the evaluations shared by a subjective group of peer reviewers who change from one round to the next, the LEF team shares peer review notes with any applicants who request them in order to support their continuing creative process and any future grant applications.

Prior applicants have shared that receiving notes from the review has been a crucial form of in-kind creative support for their works-in-progress, and so we remain committed to sharing peer review notes to inform and encourage all filmmakers who apply. The LOI forms for Production and Post-production require only an estimated summary project budget, and do not require a full line-item budget.

At the full application stage for Early Development, Pre-production, Production, and Post-production, LEF requires a full line-item budget. You may use your own budget form and/or the LEF Budget Template, which you can download here . If you have never crafted a documentary budget before, you can find an introduction and a more detailed budgeting template available from the International Documentary Association here .

If you have questions about preparing your budget for a LEF grant application, please feel free to contact us. The work sample or samples that accompany your written proposal are an extremely important part of your application. They are an opportunity to show what is unique about your artistic approach, your story/characters, and your access to the people, places, and materials in your film.

In most cases, LEF requires a current work sample from the project you are proposing for funding, except at the Early Development stage, in which two past work samples are required. At Pre-production, Production, and Post-production, the required current work sample can include a selection of research footage, character sketches, and/or rough scenes from the project for which you are applying for funding.

You may also supplement this current work sample with a sample from a completed past work for review, if relevant to the style or execution of the current project. You will have an opportunity to contextualize your work sample with an accompanying work sample description. Trailers can occasionally be helpful material to include in a work sample for LEF, but only when accompanied by additional sample footage/scenes.

In general, we encourage applicants to choose sample footage from your project that offers an in-depth window into a part of your film: a scene, a character, a particular artistic approach you are experimenting with, or another aspect of your project that you feel shows the originality of your vision or point of view as a filmmaker. Crowdfunding-style pitch videos are not appropriate as LEF work samples.

Work samples should be submitted in your application form as Vimeo links that will remain available to view online by peer reviewers through the duration of your application review timeline. Please read specific work sample requirements for the stage at which you’re applying. If you have questions about preparing your work sample(s) for a LEF application, please feel free to contact us.

LEF no longer requires you to have a confirmed fiscal sponsor at the time that you submit a letter of inquiry or application. However, the online submission form does provide the option for you to share who your confirmed or potential fiscal sponsor will be. If you are awarded a grant, you must have a confirmed 501c3 fiscal sponsor in place in order to receive any grant funding.

Find more details about locating a fiscal sponsor on our FAQ page , and reach out to us if you have other questions. We believe that incorporating peer reviewers at various stages of the Moving Image Fund is a valuable step toward creating a more inclusive and dynamic grant decision-making process.

We also see it as a step toward investing in LEF’s overarching goal of building a sustainable and strong community of support for artists and their work. Peer reviewers remain anonymous, change at every round, and are compensated with an honorarium for their time. Nominations of new peer reviewers are accepted on a rolling basis from past LEF grantees and recent peer reviewers.

We acknowledge the impact of inequitable systems of power within documentary film-making and grant-making. Because of this, we strongly encourage nominations of those who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American), LGBTQIA+, women and non-binary people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and low-income/working class artists.

LEF staff will prioritize and invite peer reviewers at each grant round who together represent a wide diversity of identities, locations, and approaches to non-fiction film. We are looking for peer reviewers who represent a broad range of personal and artistic points of view. Following any grant cycle, all applicants can request a phone call to hear peer review notes on their application.

While these notes are only representative of the evaluations shared by a subjective group of peer reviewers who change from one round to the next, the LEF team shares peer review notes with any applicants who request them in order to support their continuing creative process and any future grant applications.

Prior applicants have shared that receiving notes from the review has been a crucial form of in-kind creative support for their works-in-progress, and so we remain committed to sharing peer review notes to inform and encourage all filmmakers who apply.