Black Women Film Network

Overview

The Black Women Film Network (BWFN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, that prepares women of color for careers in film, television, and digital media. Founded in 1997 by Sheryl Riley Gripper - a multi-Emmy Award winner and former Vice President of Community Relations at WXIA-TV/WATL-TV - the organization was originally established as the Black Women Film Preservation Project. Its original mission was to preserve the voice of Black women in film and increase the numbers of women of all cultures in the entertainment industry. It has since been rebranded as the Black Women Film Network, with a broader mandate to empower women of color to tell untold stories through feature films, documentaries, television, and digital media.

Over 27 years, BWFN has awarded more than $35,000 in scholarships to women pursuing careers in film, broadcast, and related fields. The organization operates four primary programs: scholarships, an annual summit, screenings, and workshops. The 2026 BWFN Summit is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Atlanta, with the scholarship application deadline on March 2, 2026. Applications are submitted via Jotform.

What BWFN Provides

BWFN is not a production grant program. It does not fund films directly. It provides educational and career-entry support through four mechanisms:

Scholarships are the organization's primary financial offering. Scholarship recipients receive $1,000 each to support their pursuit of a career in film or television. At the 2024 BWFN Summit, multiple recipients received $1,000 checks. At the 2026 Summit, S. Epatha Merkerson (known for her record-setting role as Van Buren on Law & Order) received the On Her Shoulders Preservation Award and pledged $30,000 to support future scholarship cycles. Scholarships are open to aspiring young women of color pursuing film and television careers.

Screenings are held regularly to showcase films by and about women of color, providing both audience development and networking opportunities for filmmakers.

Workshops run year-round, covering practical skills and industry knowledge that women of color need to navigate the entertainment industry. Topics vary but focus on the intersection of craft and career strategy.

The Annual Summit is BWFN's flagship event. The 2026 Summit, themed "Unbreakable Lens: The Power of Community," brings together established talent, executives, and emerging creatives for panels, awards, and scholarship announcements. The summit also hosts the BWFN Short Film Festival, which screens short films by Black women filmmakers in conjunction with the main event. Past honorees include Lena Waithe, Mona Scott-Young, Danielle Brooks, and S. Epatha Merkerson.

Scholarship Details

The BWFN scholarship is a career-entry grant, not a production grant. The $1,000 award is designed to support women of color who are pursuing education or early-career opportunities in film and television. The amount is modest compared to production grants from organizations like the Sundance Institute or Catapult Film Fund, but the scholarship serves a different purpose: it helps cover educational expenses, living costs during internships, or early-career transition costs that can determine whether a talented filmmaker can afford to stay in the industry.

The 2026 scholarship application is open through March 2, 2026, with the summit following on March 21. Applicants should submit through the BWFN Jotform application portal.

Eligibility

• Who can apply: Aspiring young women of color pursuing careers in film and television. The organization does not specify a minimum age or educational enrollment requirement on its public-facing materials, but the scholarship is oriented toward students and early-career professionals.
• What it covers: Educational expenses, career development costs, and related needs for women entering the film and television industries.
• What it does not cover: BWFN scholarships are not production grants. Filmmakers seeking funding for a specific film project should look at production grant programs instead.
• Geographic scope: BWFN is based in Atlanta and has deep ties to the Atlanta film and television industry, but the organization does not explicitly restrict scholarships to Georgia residents. Confirm current geographic requirements on the BWFN website.

The Atlanta Context

BWFN's location in Atlanta is not incidental. Georgia has become one of the largest production hubs in the United States, driven by a 30% state tax credit that has attracted film and television productions at a volume rivaling or exceeding California. For women of color in Atlanta, the proximity to active production sets, studio facilities, and crew opportunities creates a pathway into the industry that did not exist two decades ago. BWFN's programming is designed to connect its members to that pipeline.

The organization's founder, Sheryl Riley Gripper, is a Spelman College and Georgia State University graduate who served as Vice President of Community Relations at WXIA-TV and WATL-TV for 29 years. She was also the founding executive director of the BronzeLens Film Festival, which promotes diversity in film. Her career in Atlanta media gives BWFN institutional relationships with local broadcasters, production companies, and studios that scholarship recipients and members can leverage.

How BWFN Differs from Production Grant Programs

Filmmakers searching for "Black women film grants" will encounter several organizations, and understanding the differences matters for deciding where to apply:

• BWFN provides $1,000 scholarships for career development and education, not production funding. It is best for early-career filmmakers who need support entering the industry.
• The Black TV & Film Collective (BTFC), a separate organization at blacktvfilmcollective.org, provides $25,000 production grants to six emerging producers per cycle, plus in-kind support and mentorship for narrative short films. This is the better target for filmmakers with a specific project ready to produce.
• Black Cinema Collective (BCC), at blackcinemacollective.org, offers $7,500 microgrants for filmmakers in post-production, with support from Northwest Film Forum and MUBI.
• Black Women Film & Media (BWFM), a Canadian organization at blackwomenfilm.ca, runs the REEL CHANGE residency for Black women producers in Canada, offering monthly stipends, mentorship, and co-production opportunities.

Who Should Apply

Young women of color who are students or early-career professionals pursuing entry into film, television, or digital media and who would benefit from a $1,000 scholarship plus connection to an Atlanta-based network of industry professionals. Filmmakers with a completed script or project ready for production should look at the Black TV & Film Collective's $25,000 production grants or other production funding programs instead.

See Also

For an overview of how fiscal sponsorship expands a filmmaker's access to funding, see Documentary Financing: Building Your Stack. For production planning tools, use the Production Schedule Calculator and Shot List Generator. For production grant programs supporting underrepresented filmmakers, see the Sundance Documentary Fund entry.