FAQs & Application Checklist
How does CE find the work it supports?
Chicken and Egg acquires projects in four ways:
1. Open Call.
2. Active solicitation and outreach by CE co-founders, staff, and advisors.
3. Recommendations by other artists/filmmakers, arts professionals, arts institutions, foundations and festival programmers.
4. Traveling to film festivals and “markets” where projects have been vetted and selected for pitching forums, markets, meet & greets with funders.
How many applications are actually funded per open call?
CE is only able to fund approximately 8-10% of submitted projects.
How big are your grants?
CE grants range from $5,000 to $25,000 for non-Executive Produced projects. The average grant is around $10,000.
Can I apply to be Executive Produced?
CE takes on executive producing roles on a case-by-case basis, out of existing relationships with current grantees.
Can I apply for a particular grant (ie. I Believe In You vs. Liberty)?
No. We ask lots of questions about the phase of your project over the course of the application so that there is ample information for us to identify the production phase of your project.
Can I apply with more then one project?
If you are currently directing more then one project, PLEASE only apply with one.
IF you are really in a pickle and can't choose between two projects, then you can ask our advice by writing an email with short descriptions of both works to
info@chickeneggpics.org
We urge you to make the choice yourself and go by your hunch!
If you have a project that has received funding from CE in the past, and is still in progress, we ask that you only submit that project for additional support. However, please only re-submit if it has made considerable evolution and you are in a new place.
Do supplementary materials have to be postmarked or received by the deadline?
All materials for projects must be received by the deadline, July 15th.
Does my proposal have to be in English?
Yes.
Will the fund return my paper materials, DVDs or tapes?
Unfortunately CE is unable to return your materials.
When will I be notified if my project has been awarded a CE grant?
Filmmakers will be notified of a CE grant in December of 2013. You will receive an email, either way. Please keep checking our blog around this time for up-to-date information and news.
If my project has been declined, will staff provide feedback?
Due to the limited capacity of CE staff and resources, we are generally unable to provide one-on-one feedback. However, because we know how important feedback is, we are constantly re-assessing our capacity to be able to accommodate giving out more individual feedback.
What we can commit to is feedback via group workshops, which are also open to past and future CE applicants. These workshops will focus on what makes an effective CE submission utilizing examples of previously funded projects. On a first-come-first-serve basis filmmakers will have the opportunity to screen their work-in-progress excerpts and trailers and get on-the spot feedback. On a case-by-case basis we are open to giving feedback to applicants who are unable to attend a CE best-practices workshop because they live in remote regions of the USA and have little access to a filmmaking community. We are striving to be able to utilize the web to create and/or carry out a best practices workshop via a webinar. Stay tuned to our blog for more on this in the future.
Within some of the questions (“Storytelling Style,” for example), you ask multiple smaller questions. Do I have to answer every question in my application?
This application was written with the practical side of fundraising in mind, hoping that the practical questions we asked would inspire the kind of authentic, simple, descriptive, visual, specific, story-driven prose necessary to push your proposal to the next step. We hope you will use the new fresh language you write and out of the application create a base template for a general proposal that "sounds like you.” These multiple questions are meant to help you find an authentic and descriptive way to offer your story to us (“Storytelling Style,” for example). You don’t have to answer all of the points raised, just use the ones you can answer best to find “your voice” and give your reader the access to hear it.
Do I need to submit a prior work with my application?
You only need to submit a prior work if you are a) a first-time director, b) are in development and don’t have any other material to show, c) are only submitting a trailer, d) a combination of a-c. By prior work this could also mean excerpts from a project you worked on in other ways than directing (see 2 below).
If I am a first time director and have not shot anything yet for the proposed project, but I have a great idea, a character, and access, what should I do?
1. You must submit something for your proposed project. Even if it is a “sketch” with a small digital camera or “phone,” a collage of photographs, a storyboard. We need to see what you see. For example; we have been moved to support projects that needed development funding based on selects from interviews they shot themselves with a small digital camera and no crew. Be bold. Be creative.
2. You must submit an example of "prior work." In the case of a first-time director, “prior work” is experience gained working on other people’s projects. We accept excerpts from films where you served as A.D, cinematographer, editor, sound recordist, producer, including: co-producer, consulting producer, line or coordinator or even as an outreach/audience engagement coordinator. Please be sure to describe your role in the creation of the completed work submitted.
Can I apply if I identify as transgender/Gender-non-conforming?
Yes, our application is open to women, female/male co-directing partnerships, and transgender/gender-non-conforming individuals.
If rejected can I reapply?
You can reapply if your project has evolved and developed since your last submission and that is clearly evident in both your proposal and work-in-progress.
APPLICATION CHECKLIST
1. Submit via our website an online application
2. Please submit a work sample (“trailer”/rough-cut/selected scenes and, if appropriate, excerpts from your “prior work”) via one of two ways:
A. Paste an URL link to your work sample in the appropriate field on the application. The video sharing website needs to be the quality and size of Vimeo and Youtube. We encourage you to submit via this method. Consider that yousendit.com links run out-of-date before we have a chance to review them.
B. If an internet link is not possible, mail 3 copies of each DVD (in paper cases) to our Brooklyn office at 45 Main Street, Suite 506 Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please don’t include any extra materials other then your 3 DVD copies.
NOTE: Every DVD submitted should be labeled with the following: Name of Proposed Current Project (even on your prior works), Director’s Name, Date, Type of Sample (trailer/rough-cut, selects, prior work etc), and total running time (TRT).
If you are sending us a completed “prior work,” be sure to identify a chapter or ten-minute scene and link to your proposed project.
DVDs should be submitted in paper cases.
3. Your overall budget if you are in development, pre-production or production. A post-budget is acceptable if you are applying for completion funds/Liberty Grant.
You can attach this to your online application. Try to include a line item that addresses your carbon offsets.
Please note: If you are submitting a trailer but have selects or are at a rough cut stage, consider submitting the longer materials and/or using the storytelling and work sample description areas to give us a sense of where you are and how your story will evolve. Our reasoning: trailers can be slick, very fast, a montage with lots of energy and without spaces that slow down enough for us to get a sense of your film’s real tone, of how you work a scene etc… this has proven to be useful to the panel and the filmmaker.
DO NOT include other materials at this time, we will ask for these when necessary and usually via email.
If you have any additional questions, contact us via email at info@chickeneggpics.org.
ALWAYS include your project title name in the subject line of any email sent to Chicken & Egg Pictures.
