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
One Person, One Vote?
An in-depth look at the Electoral College, its slavery origins, and its impact on society today. The film features four dynamic electors from different parties offering insight into the inner workings of this often-misunderstood institution. A timely, nonpartisan film that will fill a stark information gap in American presidential elections.
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Little Sallie Walker
How did generations of Black women and girls across America, including the film's director, find themselves fighting for joy and healing? LITTLE SALLIE WALKER, an intimate documentary, explores how their precious worlds of play collide with a unique set of traumas and struggles from both the past and present.
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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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Hollywood Does Abortion
HOLLYWOOD DOES ABORTION reveals how depictions of abortion in film and television have both reflected and distorted this safe but controversial medical procedure. Exploring how abortion came into our living rooms and psyches, we see how these stories helped shape public discourse and today’s seismic shift in abortion access.
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YOU DESERVE TO DIE: The Story of Gamergate
YOU DESERVE TO DIE is the bizarre true story of how a group of misogynistic "Gamers" wrote the playbook for weaponizing social media as told by those they relentlessly targeted.
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8x10
8x10: From The Confines of Solitary To The Front Lines of Criminal Justice Reform is the story of one man’s experience with solitary confinement and his journey to change a system bent on destroying his humanity.
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GIVE IT A SHOT
GIVE IT A SHOT follows scientists in India and the U.S. developing a new male contraceptive that could revolutionize family planning and improve women’s lives globally.
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Fruity Farm
A queer singer-songwriter runs from Nashville to find himself and learns that coming home may be the most transformative act of all.
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256,000 Miles From Home
On July 1, 2019, four former unaccompanied child refugees, now between 83 and 92 years old, arrive in Vienna, Austria, to begin a trip retracing the route they took 80 years ago, as Kindertransport children, traveling alone, without parents, fleeing to save their lives.
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The Prison Outside
Sentenced to life for crimes committed as a child, Terrence Graham fought his case all the way to the Supreme Court and won, transforming the nation's juvenile justice system. After 21 years, he's finally getting out - but is life outside just another prison?
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Tribal Strands
Two self-made hair artists, create authentic hairstyles, leading the anti-hair discrimination movement. In addition, they inspire Black people to embrace their natural hair worldwide while exploring the intersections between modern and ancient African indigenous hairstyles.
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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 In Between
The in Between is a portrait of a unique community that follows the exceptional but very normal lives of the citizens of the sister cities of Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila along the U.S. / Mexico border, offering an intimate look into the heart of Mexican-American identity.
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Normal Isn't Real: Succeeding with Learning Disabilities & ADHD
Dave, Audrey, Nicole and LeDerick share their unique paths to success as young adults who have successfully met and managed the challenges that come with LD/ADHD.
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Something Yellow
When Ani’s mother urges her to turn off the GPS, familiar Los Angeles streets fracture into surreal landscapes of memory and myth. Ani must find her way through them — only to realize she has to redefine home.
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