Micheaux Foundation One Sheet

The Micheaux Foundation www.micheauxfoundation.com THE MICHEAUX FOUNDATION is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 tax exempt arts corporation which was founded in 1993 by a group which consists of professional filmmakers and legal and financial professionals who share the common goal of supporting and promoting emerging independent screenwriter/directors and their films through production grants, workshops and an annual film festival. The Micheaux Foundation is named in honor of Oscar Micheaux, one of the pioneer African American filmmakers of the early 20th century, who was known as the most creative and the most radical filmmaker of his day. He produced up to 50 powerful films, displaying positive images of African Americans, between the years of 1915 and 1948 with the financial support of the African American community. OUR ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION The Micheaux Foundation will provide a strong catalyst for the expansion of the Washington, D.C. - area film industry by increasing local film production and exhibition activities with the cooperation and the support of the D.C. government film production office. The Foundation will provide either full or partial grant funding for the production of feature length and non-commercial dramatic short films and documentaries by filmmakers from around the world with an emphasis on Washington D.C. – area filmmakers with films to be shot on location in the Washington D.C. – area. It is our mission to assist in the creation of a Washington D.C. – area film industry that will provide the same career opportunities for filmmakers that have traditionally been available exclusively in the New York and Los Angeles film industry markets. OUR PROGRAMS The Feature Film Initiative The Micheaux Foundation will finance and produce commercial-length feature films and "mini-feature" films for under-represented Washington D.C.-area writer/directors for whom financing would not otherwise be available. Over the next seven years, The Micheaux Foundation plans to produce up to ten commercially-viable feature films and up to twenty "mini-feature" films of thirty minutes or less, which will create work and experience opportunities for as many as 1,200 local film technicians and actors. The filmmakers will work with highly trained and experienced film crews, who will assist in the hands-on training of young aspiring filmmakers. In the tradition of Oscar Micheaux, The Micheaux Foundation has initiated distribution discussions with theater chains and independent exhibitors that control over 3,600 theaters with over 26,000 screens to exhibit these feature films on at least 200 screens in the U.S., the Caribbean and the African Continent, where multicultural audiences are starving for new ideas and stories that they would not otherwise have an opportunity to enjoy. The Micheaux Foundation will fund its future programs with the profits from theatrical box office exhibition and the proceeds of home video/DVD sales.

Professional Workshops The Foundation will sponsor and promote quarterly workshops for the continuing education of filmmakers. The workshop series will encompass all relevant aspects of the art and the business of making films and will be required for all Foundation – sponsored filmmakers. The workshops will be taught by guest lecturers, who are established filmmakers and university film faculty members, who will lecture in subjects, including, but not limited to screenwriting in all genres, limited budget “guerilla production” techniques, legal and financial aspects of development, production and distribution, techniques in cinematography and lighting and training in all crew positions. "Each One Teach One” Film Workshops Similar, but less technical workshops are also being planned for at-risk youth at local high schools and in the D.C. Public Housing System. These workshops are to be designed to spur an interest in films as a career option. In an “each one teach one” format, mock films will be shot at these schools with the active participation of students under the supervision of Micheaux Foundation-affiliated filmmakers and other film professionals. University Support and The Micheaux Endowment Fund The Foundation worked with Howard University in producing “I.S.O. (In Search Of…)”. Its first film project that was premiered at Howard University’s Film School in 1994. The Foundation will solicit similar relationships with all of the local university film programs. In exchange for the use of camera and lighting equipment and post production facilities for its sponsored productions, the foundation will provide hands-on training for students of these film programs by utilizing them in all aspects of these productions. The Foundation will endow an annual scholarship fund at each of the participating university film schools. As a result, prospective film students who display exceptional creative and academic promise, but who lack the necessary financial resources to attend a university film program may be given that opportunity. DON'T COMPLAIN…COMPETE! THE MICHEAUX FOUNDATION “To Support the Independent Filmmaker” [email protected]