Why FUND Media

A labor of love for individuals committed to the significance and potential of media, Why FUND Media is a timely and worthy follow-up to a 1984 publication by the Council on Foundations titled How to Fund Media. Editor Karen Hirsch seamlessly brings together a series of separate chapters written by media arts experts who've based their chapter essays on extensive consultations with field representatives and grantmakers, and on historical research. The Council's purpose, in collaboration with the affinity group Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media, was to create a resource not only for grantmakers but also for media grant seekers, especially independent producers, according to Council president and CEO, Dorothy (Dot) Ridings. As Karen Hirsch notes in her introduction, "There is little doubt that media — film, television, radio and the Internet — are central communication tools of our time. An average American adult views nearly 60 films a year, listens to the radio nearly 60 hours per month, spends roughly 10 hours a week on the Web, and watches television more than 4 hours a day. Combined, that comes to about four full months a year. Yet, despite the degree to which media shapes our daily lives, culture, politics and society, most foundations do not fund it.”

For arts grantmakers, there are two issues. First, why aren't the media arts a discipline funding category in the same way that dance, theater, music, and visual arts are? Are enough of us seeing media as an artistic field? Second, since media is such a powerful communication tool, are we wisely and creatively using media to amplify arts funding whether it's a television production based upon a particular play or dance performance or an Internet site that presents an artists' registry? The co-publishers of this booklet clearly want grantmakers to reconsider guidelines prohibiting support for media and then articulate the ways in which they will support media.

This book focuses on independent media — media created by producers and artists who work outside of commercial and nonprofit institutional structures. Independent producers are usually not full-time employees of nonprofit or for-profit organizations. As noted by Hirsch, these media makers generate stories that often go untold otherwise.

The chapter essays are structured around case studies, incorporating real world experiences of independent media makers and the grantmakers that supported their efforts. Although the title of the book is Why FUND Media, it does incorporate some of the strategies in the initial publication How to Fund Media by giving specific information on budgets, review processes, funding guidelines, and so forth.

The introductory chapter addresses the most common reasons why foundations do not fund media including sub-headings such as sticker shock, media gatekeepers, the risk of funding individuals/independent producers, and the measurement and identification of value. The value of small grants, a wider definition of media, alternative distribution strategies, working around as well as through gatekeepers, regranting mechanisms through intermediaries as a way of supporting independent producers, and assessing value through alternative measures are highlights of the text.

Most significant for arts grantmakers is the second chapter by Jim Hubbard, an independent producer, archivist, critic, and administrator. He writes on the coming of age of media as art and leads his essay with a wonderful quote from John Hanhardt, curator of film and media arts at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, who stated, “If one is not supporting film and the media arts, then one is not supporting the leading edge of transformation of our culture.” The forms of video art, experimental film, innovative narrative and documentary films, and new media are avenues for independent artists to create in the same way that a playwright writes the script for a play that is then produced by a theater, and a composer creates a musical score that is performed by a chamber ensemble. Hubbard profiles three artist-producers, Peggy Ahwesh, Stephen Winter, and Toni Dove. Hubbard's text is very thoughtful, tracing not only the purpose of the works but also their exemplary qualities, the challenges each of the makers faced in marshalling the resources to produce these works, critical role of grantmakers in the equation, and commentary from professionals in the field. (A disclaimer: Some of my own statements appear in this section of the publication since the Jerome Foundation is a supporter of independent emerging media makers. In fact, the Jerome Foundation was founded by a filmmaker.)

The third chapter focuses on activist video, a vibrant and ever expanding field of activity that has a heavy interface with the nonprofit world, including social service agencies, advocacy groups, and media arts centers. This is change-oriented, catalytic, and issue-oriented production. Funders active in this arena are often interested in helping organizations bring important stories before the public, advocate for larger debates on serious topics, and effect change through a powerful medium. There is a sidebar section on how one evaluates the impact of activist media, which is useful in its preliminary findings. As Charles Benton notes, media becomes the “magnifier and multiplier.” For media activist Lillian Jimenez, activist media “promotes the insights, analysis, and multiple perspectives needed for citizens to make up their own minds, something critical to a democracy.”

Mike Janssen authors a chapter on radio documentaries and focuses on the singular role radio has played in this country in bringing debate and illumination to issues. Often a relatively low-cost alternative, radio is a powerful tool.

K.M. Soehnlein authored a chapter titled “Small Grants Seed Big Films.” I think this is one of the most telling sections of the report, the second most important chapter for arts grantmakers. It offers a case study of the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco. I know how critically important even small grants can be to independent makers. This is an arena in which nonprofit media arts centers have played an important role. The centers identify independent makers, provide them resources such as access to equipment and a peer learning environment, and often serve as an agent through which funds from private and public funders are regranted in relatively modest amounts to produce works. The chapter focuses on the importance of seed or development funds. While Soehnlein tells success stories in which independent makers receive small grants, produce trailers, and then raise substantial additional funds to complete major projects, he also tells powerful stories of makers who finish works on a shoestring. Development and seed grants become production grants, and modestly priced yet significant works result. To find independent talent, grantmakers can create partnerships with regranting entities, such as media arts centers, and take advantage of their knowledge and capacity and that of the expert, independent panels that the centers convene. This chapter also presents actual production budgets and a list of funding sources, giving the reader an idea of cost alternatives and the range of funding sources that currently exist. Readers will be surprised at the variety of small grants that go into these productions, not a very efficient way to secure financing, but a reality of this field.

Chapter six deals with documentary works in action and demonstrates the power of their stories to galvanize public opinion and action. Arthur Dong is profiled as a special breed of filmmaker who thinks of production and outreach as intertwined from the get-go. Using his film License to Kill, as an example, the author examines the varied and specific uses the documentary has enjoyed. An evaluation of License to Kill is an effective sidebar text within the chapter. Patricia Thompson follows up with a chapter on the catalytic role of documentary outreach, profiling ways in which films and tapes can be used effectively. Thompson profiles Working Films, an organization that partners with filmmakers to create outreach campaigns for communities and classrooms. She also mentions MediaRights.org, an online information clearinghouse that facilitates partnerships between filmmakers and nonprofit organizations interested in social issues.

The final chapter deals with the vibrant arena of youth media, particularly significant when one is thinking of new media. This is an art form of the younger generation. Our children are consumers of media at an unprecedented level. They are critical and intelligent about the media they themselves produce. Profiled in this section is the Global Action Project in New York City. There is also a listing of youth media resources.

The volume ends with a useful media proposal checklist for grantmakers and grant seekers, ten very clear questions with explanatory notes. There is also a set of dos and don'ts for media grant seekers.

Why FUND Media is effective because it relates real-life stories and makes dynamic the issues surrounding media arts funding. It deals head-on with policy concerns but is also very practical in orientation. It captures the excitement and vibrancy of independent media artists and makers. It covers all the bases in a highly engaged and informative way, and is a quick and absorbing read, at fifty-eight pages. It's beautifully designed with strong visual components combined with clarifying text. It fulfills its purpose and would be a valuable addition to any arts grantmaker's library.

Why FUND Media is available from the Council on Foundations,
(202) 466-6512.

Cynthia A. Gehrig is president, the Jerome Foundation