National Endowment for the Humanities: Media Projects – Development Grants

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH’s) Division of Public Programs supports activities that engage millions of Americans in understanding significant humanities works and ideas. At the center of every NEH-funded public humanities project is a core set of humanities ideas developed by scholars, matched to imaginative formats that bring those ideas to life for people of all ages and all walks of life. Projects must be analytical and deeply grounded in humanities scholarship in a discipline such as history, religion, anthropology, jurisprudence, or art history. The projects the NEH supports must demonstrate the potential to attract a broad, general audience. It welcomes humanities projects tailored to particular groups, such as families, youth (including K-12 students), teachers, seniors, at-risk communities, and veterans, but they should also strive to cultivate a more inclusive audience.

Media Project grants support:

• Film and television projects: Projects may be single programs or a series addressing significant figures, events, or ideas. Programs must be intended for national distribution. The Division of Public Programs welcomes projects ranging in length from short-form to broadcast-length video.
• Radio projects: Projects may involve single programs, limited series, or segments within an ongoing program. They may also develop new humanities content to augment existing radio programming or add greater historical background or humanities analysis to the subjects of existing programs. They may be intended for regional or national distribution.

NEH encourages projects that engage public audiences through multiple formats in the exploration of humanities ideas. Proposed projects might include complementary components to a film, television, or radio project. These components should deepen the audience’s understanding of the subject: for example, websites, mobile applications, museum exhibitions, book/film discussion programs, or podcasts.

Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare programs for production. Grants should result in a script and should also yield a detailed plan for outreach and public engagement in collaboration with a partner organization or organizations. For information on Production grants, see: http://www.neh.gov/grants/public/media-projects-production-grants.

Amount:  Awards for development typically range from $40,000 to $75,000, depending on the complexity of the project, and are usually made for a period of six to twelve months.

Eligibility:  Any U.S. nonprofit organization with IRS tax-exempt status is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies and federally recognized Indian tribal governments.

Link: http://www.neh.gov/grants/public/media-projects-development-grants

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