SHORTS FUND

PIC provides funding of up to $25,000 for the completion of fiction and nonfiction short films of untold stories and fresh perspectives on the indigenous Pacific Islander experience. Our Shorts Fund selects projects for public media digital distribution and television broadcast. More details on this are listed in the following sections.

FUNDING

Applicants can request up to $25,000.

DEADLINE

Our Fall 2024 Open Call is now CLOSED. Our next call will open in Spring 2025.

This is a combined Media Fund/Shorts Fund call. When you access our application portal, simply choose which fund you'll be applying to. PIC opens these combined calls twice a year--once in the spring, and once in the fall.

We encourage interested applicants to read through the following sections to learn more about project qualifications, applicant eligibility, what we are looking for, what to expect during the application review, and funding terms.

Want to learn about the application process? Please proceed to the How to Apply page for detailed information on the materials required to submit with your application. We suggest reviewing this application checklist and preparing materials well in advance of the deadline.

Please read the following sections carefully as some information may have changed.

WHAT PIC IS LOOKING FOR

We're looking for fiction and nonfiction projects that are engaging and artistically innovative on subject matter that covers issues important to indigenous Pacific Islanders with the intention of social change to encourage a more informed, equitable and inclusive society.

PIC defines Pacific Islanders as the descendants of the indigenous peoples of Hawai‘i, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, and other Pacific Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.

Topics: We are especially interested in projects that address the following topics.

Social issues (i.e. physical and mental health, immigration, housing, education, food security, civil rights, race relations, etc.).
Economic issues.
Environment and sustainability.
Community portraits (i.e. LGBTQ, rural, families, immigration, underserved and underrepresented, etc.).
Travel, lifestyle, personal stories, identity, sports, etc.
Impact and solutions to COVID-19

Additionally we look for projects with:

Stories that are untold, little known, have an innovative approach and/or fresh perspectives of the indigenous Pacific Islander experience.
Fully realized stories with completed treatments and/or scripts that are engaging and compelling.
Universal themes that have a strong potential of appealing to a wide and diverse audience.
Robust outreach, engagement and social impact plans with the intention of social change to encourage a more informed, equitable and inclusive society.
Strong training plans that strive to provide meaningful training and mentorship for emerging indigenous Pacific Islander media makers.

Project Parameters: You are welcome to apply with fiction or nonfiction projects that are in pre-production, production or post-production with the ability to be completed within 18 months of receiving PIC funds and that fall into one of these categories:

Fiction Projects: intended for digital distribution only.

Stand-alone fiction films of 20 minutes or less, including animation. This can include films that are intended to be proof of concepts for feature length films.
Serial or anthology series with each episode being no more than 20 minutes in length.
Films for which the exclusive online streaming rights are available.

Nonfiction Projects: intended for digital distribution or national public television broadcast.

Stand-alone non-fiction films of 20 minutes or less.
Stand-alone non-fiction films of 20 minutes or less that are intended to be proof of concepts for an hour long television broadcast version.
Serial or anthology series with each episode being no more than 20 minutes in length.
Films for which the exclusive online streaming and/or television broadcast rights are available.

ELIGIBILITY

You are eligible to apply if you are:

An independent producer who holds artistic, budgetary, and editorial control and owns the copyright to the proposed project.
A citizen or legal resident of the United States or its territories. If you are not a U.S. citizen or legal resident, you can still apply, but you will be required to have a U.S. fiscal sponsor if awarded PIC funding.
A producer who has previous film or television experience and has at least one completed short film in a key creative role: director, co-director, producer, co-producer or writer.

Please note that you can only apply with one project to the Shorts Fund. If you have more than one project, we suggest applying with the one that you consider the strongest.

Additionally, we only accept applications to one PIC funding initiative at a time. If you currently have an application under consideration for another PIC funding initiative your application to the Shorts Fund won't be considered.

You are not eligible if you are:

Applying with a thesis project or student film which is co-owned or solely owned or copyrighted, or otherwise editorially or fiscally controlled by the school.
Employed as a producer, director or writer by a broadcast entity, film studio, educational institution.
Producers or production entities that are foreign-based, owned, or controlled unless you are working with a U.S. fiscal sponsor.
Applying with industrial, commercial and promotional projects.
Current signatories of a PIC-funded project. You may not enter into a new PIC contract until final delivery on your previous project is approved.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Once you submit your application, you will receive an email acknowledging receipt of your submission, which is when our review process begins.

Our process includes internal vetting by staff, and evaluations by a peer review panel made up of film industry professionals, independent filmmakers, public media executives and cultural advisors, all of which can take up to three months. Once our review process is completed applicants will be notified whether their projects have been recommended for funding or not.

Contract Terms

Shorts Fund is not your typical grant. If your project is recommended for funding you will need to enter into a production agreement in which PIC will require certain rights to the film including exclusive U.S. television broadcast and/or online streaming. Other terms of our contract worth noting are below:

Adherence to a schedule of deliverables and budget.

Meet PBS underwriting, technical specifications, and editorial standards.
Agree to receive regular feedback from PIC in good faith.
Clear all third-party material used in your project for television broadcast and/or online streaming.
Have acquired all necessary intellectual property rights.
Seek PIC's approval of other underwriters for the project.
Seek PIC's approval for any forms of distribution not controlled by PIC.
Keep and report accurate and detailed records and bookkeeping for the entire project.
Share with PIC a pro-rata percentage of net revenues of net distribution income.
In-kind services and equipment are allowed in your budget. However, it should be capped to 15% of the total budget.

FUNDING

Applicants can request up to $25,000.

DEADLINE

Our Fall 2024 Open Call is now CLOSED. Our next call will open in Spring 2025.

This is a combined Media Fund/Shorts Fund call. When you access our application portal, simply choose which fund you'll be applying to. PIC opens these combined calls twice a year--once in the spring, and once in the fall.

We encourage interested applicants to read through the following sections to learn more about project qualifications, applicant eligibility, what we are looking for, what to expect during the application review, and funding terms.

Want to learn about the application process? Please proceed to the How to Apply page for detailed information on the materials required to submit with your application. We suggest reviewing this application checklist and preparing materials well in advance of the deadline.

WHAT PIC IS LOOKING FOR

We're looking for fiction and nonfiction projects that are engaging and artistically innovative on subject matter that covers issues important to indigenous Pacific Islanders with the intention of social change to encourage a more informed, equitable and inclusive society.

PIC defines Pacific Islanders as the descendants of the indigenous peoples of Hawai‘i, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, and other Pacific Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.

Topics: We are especially interested in projects that address the following topics.

Social issues (i.e. physical and mental health, immigration, housing, education, food security, civil rights, race relations, etc.).

Economic issues.

Environment and sustainability.

Community portraits (i.e. LGBTQ, rural, families, immigration, underserved and underrepresented, etc.).

Travel, lifestyle, personal stories, identity, sports, etc.

Impact and solutions to COVID-19

Additionally we look for projects with:

Stories that are untold, little known, have an innovative approach and/or fresh perspectives of the indigenous Pacific Islander experience.

Fully realized stories with completed treatments and/or scripts that are engaging and compelling.

Universal themes that have a strong potential of appealing to a wide and diverse audience.

Robust outreach, engagement and social impact plans with the intention of social change to encourage a more informed, equitable and inclusive society.

Strong training plans that strive to provide meaningful training and mentorship for emerging indigenous Pacific Islander media makers.

Project Parameters: You are welcome to apply with fiction or nonfiction projects that are in pre-production, production or post-production with the ability to be completed within 18 months of receiving PIC funds and that fall into one of these categories:

Fiction Projects: intended for digital distribution only.

Stand-alone fiction films of 20 minutes or less, including animation. This can include films that are intended to be proof of concepts for feature length films.

Serial or anthology series with each episode being no more than 20 minutes in length.

Films for which the exclusive online streaming rights are available.

Nonfiction Projects: intended for digital distribution or national public television broadcast.

Stand-alone non-fiction films of 20 minutes or less.

Stand-alone non-fiction films of 20 minutes or less that are intended to be proof of concepts for an hour long television broadcast version.

Serial or anthology series with each episode being no more than 20 minutes in length.

Films for which the exclusive online streaming and/or television broadcast rights are available.

ELIGIBILITY

You are eligible to apply if you are:

An independent producer who holds artistic, budgetary, and editorial control and owns the copyright to the proposed project.

A citizen or legal resident of the United States or its territories. If you are not a U.S. citizen or legal resident, you can still apply, but you will be required to have a U.S. fiscal sponsor if awarded PIC funding.

A producer who has previous film or television experience and has at least one completed short film in a key creative role: director, co-director, producer, co-producer or writer.

Please note that you can only apply with one project to the Shorts Fund. If you have more than one project, we suggest applying with the one that you consider the strongest.

Additionally, we only accept applications to one PIC funding initiative at a time. If you currently have an application under consideration for another PIC funding initiative your application to the Shorts Fund won't be considered.

You are not eligible if you are:

Applying with a thesis project or student film which is co-owned or solely owned or copyrighted, or otherwise editorially or fiscally controlled by the school.

Employed as a producer, director or writer by a broadcast entity, film studio, educational institution.

Producers or production entities that are foreign-based, owned, or controlled unless you are working with a U.S. fiscal sponsor.

Applying with industrial, commercial and promotional projects.

Current signatories of a PIC-funded project. You may not enter into a new PIC contract until final delivery on your previous project is approved.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Once you submit your application, you will receive an email acknowledging receipt of your submission, which is when our review process begins.

Contract Terms

Adherence to a schedule of deliverables and budget.

Meet PBS underwriting, technical specifications, and editorial standards.

Agree to receive regular feedback from PIC in good faith.

Clear all third-party material used in your project for television broadcast and/or online streaming.

Have acquired all necessary intellectual property rights.

Seek PIC's approval of other underwriters for the project.

Seek PIC's approval for any forms of distribution not controlled by PIC.

Keep and report accurate and detailed records and bookkeeping for the entire project.

Share with PIC a pro-rata percentage of net revenues of net distribution income.

In-kind services and equipment are allowed in your budget. However, it should be capped to 15% of the total budget.

For questions contact Kainoa Rudolfo (krudolfo@piccom.org), (808) 591-0059, ext. 140.