Directors
David
Belton
Zackary
Canepari
Julie
Cohen
Drea
Cooper
Bjorn
Johnson
Errol
Morris
Nicole
Newnham
Dawn
Porter
Contessa
Gayles
Sacha
Jenkins
John
Leguizamo
Partnerships
Fellowship
NBCU Academy in partnership with NBC News Studios, the NBC News documentary division, is collaborating with IF/Then Shorts to launch a national open call for archival and journalistically driven short documentaries highlighting social issues and identities.
Five teams will be invited to take the stage at the Original Voices Shorts Pitch, an inclusion focused pitch session where a curated selection of diverse filmmakers propose their documentary works in progress to a panel of industry professionals. The five pitching teams will receive a grant of $6,000 each to help further their documentary and to assist with the costs of attending the pitch event.
From the five finalists, NBCU Academy and NBC News Studios will select one winning project to commission with a $100,000 investment.
Eligible filmmakers are US-based documentarians who identify as – or showcase stories highlighting social issues affecting – women, LGBTQ+ folx, communities of color, and people with disabilities regardless of career stage.
The purpose of the Original Voices Shorts Pitch is to open doors to the NBCU newsroom and archive to diverse documentary filmmakers eager to present a more vibrant, equitable, and accurate take on American history and society today. Reaffirming the values of integrity and inclusion in order to spur innovation, the Original Voices Shorts Pitch aims to break down barriers of authorship and authority between news media networks and consumers, support diverse documentary filmmakers with the resources of a legacy news organization, and strengthen public trust in fact-based reporting and film.
The pitch will take place at DOC NYC 2023.
