While fiscal sponsorship is a component of the program, unlike other sponsoring organizations, we also provide a suite of support services such as tailored consultations, discounts to our workshops and webinars with leading industry professionals, and other essential resources.
In the last 5 years, WMM’s Production Assistance Program has helped 194 films reach completion and assisted filmmakers in raising more than $46,000,000 from government, foundation, corporate or individual, and crowd-funded sources. Since its inception, the program has been a part of raising more than $100,000,000 and helping more than 1,000 films to completion.
Films and filmmakers we have supported have been nominated for or won Academy Awards for the last 22 years, including Oscar-winning documentary CITIZENFOUR by Laura Poitras, STRONG ISLAND by Yance Ford, SUGARCANE by Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat, TO KILL A TIGER by Nisha Pahuja, THE ETERNAL MEMORY by Maite Alberdi and THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK by John Hoffman and Christine Turner, the last two of which were directed by PA alum. The program has also supported critically acclaimed fiction features like FAMILIAR TOUCH (dir. Sarah Friedland), Dee Rees’ PARIAH, I CARRY YOU WITH ME (dir. Heidi Ewing, prod. Mynette Louie), FAREWELL AMOR (dir. Ekwa Msangi, prod. Huriyyah Muhammad, Sam Bisbee, Josh Penn), and THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (dir. Marielle Heller). We’re thrilled to continue to have a large presence at the Sundance Film Festival, including GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT (Dir Michèle Stephenson), LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING (dir. Lisa Cortés), Sandi Tan’s SHIRKERS, which won the World Cinema Documentary Competition Award for Best Directing, and most recently SEEDS (dir. Brittany Shyne, prod. Danielle Varga), which won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary. In addition to Sundance, films supported by our program premiere at major festivals like Berlin, Tribeca, CPH:DOX, and SXSW.
FIND PROJECTS AND FILMMAKERS TO SUPPORT
On Three Wheels
On Three Wheels follows Brooklyn based, Puerto Rican bike shop owner Sandra as she risks it all for her dream of giving every wheelchair bound child an adaptive bicycle- taking them from four wheels to three- while bearing witness to the stark realities of families raising children with disabilities.
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Made in Ethiopia
Flamboyant Chinese businesswoman Motto needs every bit of mettle and charm she can muster to drive forward the biggest Chinese industrial park in Ethiopia. Having staked their future on the promise of industrialization, Ethiopian farmer Workinesh and factory worker Beti - like their country - find themselves at a crossroads.
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The New York Love Songs
Millennial musicians journey from jazz school to adulthood as the aughts give way to a new digital frontier in this lyrical and intimate odyssey filmed over 20 years.
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No Money No Honey
Revisiting memories captured on old VHS tapes, Máxima, an Argentine sex worker, longs for her golden years in Miami with friends while confronting the ghosts of a childhood scarred by neglect and abuse. As she reconciles with her past, she finds strength in the needs of her trans community.
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Coach Emily
Emily Taylor, a Black woman and rock climbing coach in Oakland, CA, battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life as she strives to empower her students, all young girls of color, and connect them to the outdoors.
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The Last Guardian
An 86-year-old man living alone on a sinking island at the edge of New York City is the first and possibly last guardian of one of the world’s most critical waterways.
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The Feeling of Being Watched
When journalist Assia Boundaoui investigates rumors of surveillance in her Arab-American neighborhood in Chicago, she uncovers one of the largest FBI terrorism probes conducted before 9/11 and reveals its enduring impact on the community.
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Tip/Alli
In 1977, the outing of science fiction author James Tiptree, Jr. (as Alice B. Sheldon) shook the world’s sense of genre fiction as a male domain. Fifty years later, TIP/ALLI reveals the intricate life of expansive gender that produced some of the 20th century’s most celebrated speculations.
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In the Wake of Giants
As two conservationists travel across the Indo-Pacific in search of how best to protect the ocean they love, their beliefs are challenged in a village where whales are still hunted, forcing them to confront whether their own vision of saving the ocean is part of the problem.
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TURBULENCE
How do we overcome the heartbreaks, sorrows and traumas we endure or witness, and come out whole?
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I Brought You Into This World
"I Brought You Into This World" is an intimate, character-driven documentary following three pregnant Black individuals of varying gender identities as they navigate pregnancy in a post-Roe America. The film exposes the profound impact of political and social conditions on maternal healthcare, revealing deep racial and gender disparities.
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Gregory & Veronique: From Paris to Hollywood
Gregory & Veronique: From Paris to Hollywood is an intimate look at Gregory Peck’s legendary life and career, exploring his challenges and triumphs, and the impact that he and his wife Veronique made on Hollywood, told through personal archives: letters, home movies, and stories from those who knew them best.
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American Fall
A road trip through the U.S. in the fall of 2024 to discover what unites us.
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The Endless Frontier
THE ENDLESS FRONTIER follows four passionate researchers hunting for cures and protecting the planet from disaster, when they unexpectedly find themselves on the frontlines in the fight for the future of science itself.
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House No.7
After escaping their conservative societies, three women, rent rooms in an old Damascene house in Damascus, Syria, where they manage to create a safe space isolated from the madness of the post-war era. But soon the girls start facing many threats, thus protecting their fragile space becomes a challenge.
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Firelighters: Fire Is Medicine
Our relationship with fire is out of balance, leading to catastrophic wildfires. FIRELIGHTERS follows Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa burning rights activists as they share their knowledge and provide solutions to this global problem.
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The Island in Me
Homecoming follows two women Johnny Frisbie and Amelia Borofsky who, after decades away, return to their beloved childhood atoll of Pukapuka in the South Pacific. The film reveals a unique story of love, survival and indigenous resiliency in the midst of rising tides and migration.
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