Independent Television Service
/OVERVIEW: The Independent Television Service supports the production of documentary film for distribution on public television and affiliated media.
IP TAKE: ITVS is an important source of funding and production support for documentary filmmakers working in full-length, short-form and series formats. The organization’s leadership includes many film professionals and executives from the worlds of documentary film and public broadcasting, offering significant promotional and broadcasting opportunities to its recipients. This is an accessible and supportive funder that invests in it’s grantees’ future.
ITVS paused much of its grantmaking during the COVID-19 crisis, but has since resumed its funding and production programs for 2023. Interested grantseekers and filmmakers should check the organization’s get funded page periodically for updates.
PROFILE: Headquartered in San Francisco, the Independent Television Service (ITVS) was established in 1994 by “media makers and their allies” that work to “bring independently-produced, high-quality public broadcast and new media programs to local, national, and international audiences.” In addition to financial support, ITVS helps to produce and promote and broadcast “untold stories that reach millions of people on public television and beyond.” Its current grantmaking programs include Open Call, Short Form Open Call, Series and Special Projects and the Diversity Development Fund. ITVS also runs a Humanities Documentary Development Fellowship program for “pandemic-affected independent documentary filmmakers.”
Grants for Film
ITVS’s grantmaking for film stems from each of its grantmaking programs.
The Open Call program is ITVS’s largest and provides financial and production support to in-progress documentary films with the intention of airing them on public television outlets. One recently funded project, “Apart,” documents the experiences of formerly incarcerated women as they return to their families. Another Open Call recipient, “Brief Tender Light,” tells the stories of students from Africa who study at MIT.
The Short Form Open Call program also provides financial and production support but focuses on short-form documentaries and/or documentary series for distribution on web-based public media platforms. Recent recipients include “The Dancing Man of L.A.,” a short film about the performance artist Howard Murdoh’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, and “Senior Prom,” a short film about the residents of an LGBTQ retirement home. This program is interested in funding work at the intersection between Criminal Justice Reform, Disability, Health, Rural America and Social Justice.
ITVS’s Series and Special Projects initiative commissions “innovative and timely projects for public media.” Support includes funding for development and production. One recent project, “Philly D.A.,” is a documentary series about Larry Krasner’s work as Philadelphia’s district attorney. Other projects include “Ailey,” a biographical documentary about the choreographer Alvin Ailey, and “Latino Vote: Dispatches from the Battleground,” which examines the roles of Latino voters in the 2020 presidential election.
The Diversity Development Fund supports documentary film producers of color with $35,000 grants for research and development during the pre-production phase of filmmaking. Recent grantees include Nauveen Chaubal, who used funding to develop his documentary “Pinball,” and Sisa Bueno, whose film “For Venida, For Kalief,” tells the story of a young man who was imprisoned for stealing a backpack. Note that the DDF is not a grant, but funding in the form of a “development agreement that assigns ITVS certain rights over your project during the term of the contract.”
Grants for Journalism
ITVS has supported journalistic documentary film through each of its funding programs, but the Special Series and Projects program appears to support more journalistic projects than ITVS’s other funding programs. Past recipients include the 2018 series “Represent,” which examines the experiences of three women running for office in the Midwest, and the Independent Lens production “Cooked: Survival by Zipcode,” which documents the aftermath of the 1995 heatwave in Chicago’s poorest areas.
Important Grant Details:
ITVS makes over $20 million in grants a year to documentary filmmakers and producers, with grants ranging from $25,000 to $350,000. It is important to note that this funder works collaboratively with its grantees, providing extensive production, marketing and promotional support in addition to monetary funding. Funding is mainly limited to filmmakers working in the U.S., but collaborative films with international subject matter and staff are regularly funded. For additional information about past projects, see ITVS’ projects page.
ITVS paused much of its grantmaking during the COVID-19 crisis but plans to resume accepting grant applications in 2022. The organization accepts applications for all its funding programs except for its Series and Special Projects, which are commissioned by ITVS’s leadership. Application guidelines, instructions and due dates vary by program and are linked to ITVS’s get funded page. General inquiries may be addressed to ITVS’s staff via email.
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