Production company Hayden5 and Video Consortium, a global network of video journalists and documentary filmmakers, have partnered to launch Gear Grant, a new initiative dedicated to supporting emerging, underrepresented filmmakers and visual journalists.
Hayden5 RISE, the company’s philanthropy arm, will award the winning recipient with a video camera equipment package with a retail value of approximately $15,000 USD. The Video Consortium’s Filmmaker Advisory Council will serve as an independent decision-making body to help select the winning filmmaker, which will be announced on August 17th.
The winner will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Applicants must be from a traditionally underrepresented background
- Applicants must demonstrate the potential to excel as a storyteller through nuanced, cinematic, and sensitive work and skills.
- Applicants must have 2-6 years of industry experience.
- Applicants must be actively working in New York or Los Angeles.
“We are thrilled that the Hayden5 RISE Scholarship, in partnership with CUNY, has already provided financial support to a deserving yet underserved filmmaker since we launched in 2020,” says Milos Silber, who co-founded Hayden5 with Todd Wiseman Jr. “In continuing our mission to create a better and more equitable industry, we are excited to be partnering with the Video Consortium to expand the initiative through the Gear Grant.”
“The Video Consortium is working diligently to level the industry playing field for emerging filmmakers and visual journalists around the globe,” adds Sky Dylan-Robbins, Video Consortium Founder, Executive Director. “Ensuring that they have access to gear is an integral part of that picture, and we’re so thrilled to partner with Hayden5 through its RISE program to contribute to overcoming the many systemic barriers of this industry.”
Applications are open June 21st – July 19th, and can apply here.
