Sponsored Projects

Film Independent Fiscal Sponsorship

New and innovative work, fiscally sponsored by Film Independent.
The Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists, supporting a diverse slate of projects at every stage of the filmmaking process – from development to distribution and beyond. Support Film Independent's creative community and help bring these projects to life by donating below.
Filter by:
Connected
Connected is a multimedia experience comprised of a feature documentary film and an exhibition of large-scale photographic prints that reflect on peaceful protests: the documentary is a poetic documentation of various protests held in Pittsburgh intertwined with a participatory coming-of-age portrait of a Pittsburgh teen who has never participated in a protest; the exhibition consists of 40 framed images from peaceful protests held in Pittsburgh that are approximately 68 x 98” in size.

Writer/Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Photographer/Editor: Gregory Scott Williams, Jr.
Executive Producer: Germaine Shaw Williams, PhD, Seith Mann

Donate Now | Learn More

Conscience Point

Exposing a painful, quintessentially American geography, Conscience Point unearths a deep clash of values between the Native American Shinnecock and their elite Hamptons neighbors, who have made sacred land their playground.

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director/Producer: Treva Wurmfeld
Producer: Julianna Brannum

Learn More

Coparenting Storey

Simone is trying to co-parent with her ex. Art is trying to prove he's not still in love with her. Their families are wild, their boundaries are unclear, and their newborn is already judging them.

Writer/Director: Brandyn Johnson
Producer: Tyrin Bell-Sinkfield
Producer: Khari Johnson

Donate Now | Learn More

Cosmic Symphony: Music From the Ashes

In this documentary short, songwriter and composer Diane Warren, jazz bassist John Clayton, and pianists Susie Cheng, and Starr Parodi share the stories of their beloved instruments lost in the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Through interviews, photos and animation, their instruments are brought back to life. In the process we discover healing through memory, music, and community.

DIRECTOR: : Laura Karpman
PRODUCER: Lorenza Muñoz
PRODUCER: Christina Kounelias

Donate Now | Learn More

Cosmic Tortoise

Set in a rapidly evolving city of Trinidad where everyone aims to leave for somewhere else, lonely Trinidadian-Chinese girl Lisa encounters a Chinese exchange student Xialin who invites Lisa to participate in her research of creating a "behavioral clone". A platonic romance seeps into Lisa but their friendship is challenged by yet another long goodbye.

Director: Elenie Chung
Producer: Yi Meng

Donate Now | Learn More

Cowboy Boots

Jack, a gay farm boy from Nebraska, finds anything but the promised land he envisioned when he visits a San Francisco gay club for the first time.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director/Producer: Eric Delehoy
Director of Photography: Jamie Goodwick
Script Supervisor: Bryan Tranel

Donate Now | Learn More

Coyotes

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director: Said Zagha
Producer: Myriam Sassine
Co-Producer: Laura Jumel

Donate Now | Learn More

Critical Care

A nurse hits her bottom in a traumatic profession and an abusive alcoholic marriage. This low point quickly puts her in collision with a side of herself--she would never dare to meet.

Project type: Fiction Short
Project status: Pre-Production
Director/Writer/Producer: James McNinch
Creative Producer: John Henry Davis
Executive Producer: Jeffrey Lindsay Relf
Executive Producer: Mark Durkop
Executive Producer: Kittie Fahey
Director of Photography: Jason Lehel
 

Learn More
Cry Eat Cry

Public crying is a crime. Evelyn must transform her grief into gluttony to evade her father’s fate.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director/Writer: Katerina Hung
Executive Producer: Thomas Bang

Donate Now | Learn More

Crystal

When a divorced middle-aged city bus driver crosses paths with a beautiful young trans wouldbe starlet, their attraction for each other becomes an unexpected lesson in rediscovery.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director/Writer: Jeffrey L Relf
Producer: James McNinch
Cinematographer: Andrés Garzas
Cast: Arisce Wanzer as Crystal
Cast: Trymaine Alfred as John Max

Donate Now | Learn More

Dana Never Had A Brother

When a young woman learns her long-term girlfriend may have a brother she’s never mentioned, she finds their idyllic hometown visit spiralling towards a haunting truth as increasingly concerning parts of her partner’s childhood reveal themselves.

Writer/Director/Editor: Destinee McCaster
Producer: Giovanna Trujillo, Gabby Fiszman
Cinematographer: Madeline Abiera

Donate Now | Learn More

Dare
In an on-going game of “Dare,” a Beverly Hills rich kid finds himself on the mean streets of LA with no i.d., no money and no memory. His lifeline - a homeless teenage girl masquerading as a boy for her own safety, her eight-year-old brother and a transvestite former Marine Medic, now a hooker. Dare is a first love, coming of age story about accepting responsibility and the meaning of family, friendship, love and tolerance.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Writer/Director/Producer: Shea E. Butler
Editor: Susan Demskey-Horiuchi

Donate Now | Learn More

Dating Now

A young black woman navigates everything from f*ckboys to ghosting to thirst traps on her misadventures through the dating world of 2017.

Project type: Fiction Episodic
Writer/Producer: Tasha Henderson
Producer: Brett Takeshita

Learn More

Dawn Dusk

Chelli Look, a leather bag artist, must reconcile the legacy of her sister, who was murdered 10 years prior, with the future of her career as a designer.

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director/Producer: Sarah Blue Winslow & Jason Gerber
Editor: Meredith Mantik
Composer: Silas Hite

Donate Now | Learn More

Days in the Dark: The Life of Vito Russo

Days in the Dark: The Life of Vito Russo is a biographical film about the famed Gay Rights leader whose affinity for cinema sparked a life of writing, romance, and activism.

Director: Kenneth Lott
Writer: Terrence Cooper
Producer: Josh Folan
Executive Producer: Tim Pinckney

Donate Now | Learn More

Dead Horse Lake

Dead Horse Lake is a neo-noir crime thriller about a young cocktail waitress in love with a hit man who’s forced to walk a fine line when the hit man’s boss falls for her.

Writer/Director: Michael Graf
Producer: Sara Dahmen

Donate Now | Learn More

Deadening

Haunted by anxieties he’s long ignored, a reserved Black man finds his psyche transformed into a twisted nightmare where his hidden fears take on a monstrous life, jeopardizing his relationship and his grip on reality.

Writer/ Director: Malachi Moore
Producers: Hae Ji Cho, Megan Darling, Kristen Semedo
Cinematographer: Brook Lee Karner

Donate Now | Learn More

Dear Luke, Love, Me

When Penny's queer-platonic significant other Luke "ghosts" her after an inseparable 13-year-long relationship, she must find closure on her own.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Director/Producer: Guilermo Diaz
Writer/Producer: Mallie McCown
Producer: Lindsey McGowen
Cinematographer: Rinny Wilson

Learn More

Death and Bowling

Two transgender men meet at the funeral of the esteemed captain of the Lavender League, a community bowling club for older lesbians. Grief and desire seep together as the death of a queer matriarch transforms a community left behind.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Writer/Director/Editor: Lyle Kash
Producer/First AD: Ariel Mahler

Donate Now | Learn More

Death of Nintendo

The story takes us into the colorful pop-culture world of these four 13-year old friends, back in the days when video games were still a novelty. Mimaw and her friends Paolo, Kachi and Gilligan go on a journey of self-discovery together as they play games and wrestle with new dilemmas - puppy love, circumcision and other horror stories.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Writer/Producer: Valerie Castillo Martinez
Director: Raya Martin
Cinematographer: Ante Cheng
Editor: Cyril Aris

Learn More

1 6 7 8 9 10 37