The Milwaukee Film organization has announced the creation of the Brico Forward Fund. The annual grant program will provide funding opportunities for local filmmakers.
In the inaugural year of the fund, a pool of $50,000 in cash and sponsor-donated production resources (camera rentals, lighting rentals and post-production audio and visual services, etc.) valued at $76,000 will be awarded to jury-selected recipients in packages that combine cash and services.
“Milwaukee Film is dedicated to growing the local filmmaking community,” says Jonathan Jackson, executive director of Milwaukee Film. “No one doubts the incredible talent here, but over the years we have noticed a lack of funding opportunities that go directly to artists and their work. We are attempting to do our part to address that with the launch of the Brico Forward Fund.”
Lead underwriting, $20,000 in support, for the cash portion of the Brico Forward Fund is being provided by the Brico Fund. The $76,000 in production support is being provided by The Electric Sun Corporation, Independent, North American Camera, and RDI Stages.
“We share Milwaukee Film’s commitment to nurturing a sustainable environment for local filmmakers, while engendering dialogue about issues of relevance to our community. This aligned vision has inspired the Brico Fund to provide lead support for the inaugural year of the Brico Forward Fund, that will offer the financial and production assistance critical to ensuring the creation of high quality and meaningful film projects by local artists,” said Anne Summers, CEO of the Brico Fund.
Online applications for the 2015 program were made available on Wednesday and will close on Aug. 16. Residents of the M7 counties (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Kenosha, Racine, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington) are eligible to apply.
Application details can be found at www.mkefilm.org.
