Vision Maker Media Public Media Project Fund

Overview

Vision Maker Media is a nonprofit organization with a mission to present and distribute Native stories to the broadest possible audience through public media. Funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Vision Maker Media administers the Public Media Project Fund -- one of the few dedicated funding sources in the United States specifically for Native American and Alaska Native producers creating documentary and public media content about Native peoples.

The fund fills a critical gap in the public media landscape. Public television has historically underrepresented Native American and Alaska Native stories, and when Indigenous subjects have appeared, they have often been filtered through the perspective of non-Native filmmakers. Vision Maker Media's fund is an explicit instrument for changing this by investing in Native-led productions intended for PBS and the broader public broadcasting system.

What It Funds

The Vision Maker Media Public Media Project Fund supports two stages:

Development Grants of up to $20,000 support the early research and development phase of public media projects. Funded activities include subject research, access development, prototype footage, treatment and proposal development, and budget preparation. Development grants are designed to bring a project to the point where it can compete for full production funding from Vision Maker Media or other public media funders.

Production Grants of up to $100,000 support principal photography and production of documentary and public media projects. Production grants are among the most substantial available to Native American producers working in public media, and they are specifically calibrated to support the production costs of films intended for PBS broadcast.

Both tracks require that the project be intended for public media distribution -- primarily PBS and its member stations.

Eligibility

The lead producer or director must be Native American or Alaska Native. Projects must be documentary or public media content about Native peoples, communities, histories, or contemporary issues. Projects must be intended for PBS broadcast or other public media distribution.

Vision Maker Media accepts applications on an annual cycle with defined submission windows. The organization also provides technical assistance to applicants during the development of their proposals.

The PBS Connection

Vision Maker Media has a longstanding relationship with PBS and has placed numerous funded productions on public television, including programs that have aired on national PBS and on regional public television stations across the country. Films funded through the Vision Maker Media fund enter a support ecosystem that includes not only production funding but assistance with broadcast preparation, distribution, and public television outreach -- a meaningful advantage for Native producers navigating the public media system for the first time.

Who Should Apply

Native American and Alaska Native producers and directors who are developing or producing documentary or public media projects about Native peoples intended for PBS broadcast, at either development or production stage.

See Also

For understanding how public television broadcast fits into a documentary's overall distribution strategy, see Distribution Deals: What Filmmakers Need to Know. For planning a documentary production schedule from development through broadcast delivery, use the Production Schedule Calculator.