Theatre Guidelines
Application Deadline: Tuesday, November 1, 2023, 11:59 PM ET
NYFA only accepts applications submitted online at: https://nyfawomeninfilm.submittable.com/submit
OVERVIEW:
Administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre (“Women’s Fund”) is a signature initiative that addresses the underrepresentation of women in the entertainment industry. The Fund provides grants to encourage and support the creation of content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.
The maximum potential grant for the Theatre category is $50,000.
GRANTS TIMELINE:
Applications Opened: Tuesday, August, 2023 at 10:00 AM ET
Applications Closed: November 1, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET*
Recipients Notified: March 2024
Funded Project Completion: March 31, 2025
*Please note that the application form on Submittable will automatically close and stop accepting applications at this time.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
• Projects must be made by, for, or about women and woman-identified individuals. Projects are eligible if they include and/or feature any of the following: a prominent woman-identified perspective, a meaningful woman-identified producer credit, a meaningful woman-identified writing credit, and/or a woman-identified protagonist(s).
• Must be an original play or book of a musical (with dialogue, lyrics and music) that has not been produced previously.
• Must be able to project a professional staging (including paid cast and crew) of the developed work by March 31, 2025 for a minimum of 5 performances in New York City.
• Must be rehearsed and performed in New York City.
• Productions can either be presented to an in-person live audience, and online live audience, or a hybrid of both.
• The applicant (or, if different, the recipient of the funds) must reside in any of the five boroughs of New York City. Companies may be incorporated elsewhere, but must have a New York City business address.
•Applicants can be theatre companies, commercial or not-for-profit producers, or playwrights planning to self-produce.
• All recipients must complete an Interim Report and Final Report clearly outlining how the NYC Women’s Fund was used to complete the project, along with sharing information on attendance numbers and public access plans or outcomes.
• Funds must be used to complete the project outlined in the application form. Funds may be allocated as the applicant needs to complete the project. However, funds cannot be used to purchase capital goods.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
• A detailed synopsis of the full project.
- Please give an overview of your project’s themes and overall storyline.
• How does your project prominently feature a woman-identified perspective?
- Provide a statement detailing how your project represents a prominent woman-identified perspective.
• Current state of the project and plans for completion by March 31, 2025.
- The NYC Women’s Fund is a production grant for theatre. Please include a narrative or calendar of events/key milestones.
• Promotion Plan
- Include any commitments from producers, other artists or venues.
- If the applicant is a theatre company, confirm dates for the production to appear in your season and any associated artists.
- Note: No more than 20% of the award funds may be used towards marketing and promotion.
- All projects must include a public access component as detailed below.
• Promotion Plan
- Please identify your target audience. Are there race/ethnicities, ages, genders, or geographic locations for your audience?
- How do you plan to market your project to your target audience?
• A list of potential venues and Letter of Agreement or Intent from potential venue partners, if available.
- For independent producers or playwrights planning to self produce: It is not required to secure a venue prior to applying.
• Amount of funding requested, description of anticipated use of funds, and how they will move the project to completion.
- Please include an itemized list to describe the anticipated use of the requested NYC Women’s Fund award amount.
- Note:
– The final grant amount is determined by the review panel, and considered on a per application basis and in relation to the entire pool of funds available and the group of projects awarded. We do not influence the review panel’s decision for grant fund allocations, except to disallow funding at less than 50% of the requested amount.
– Purchases of equipment and other physical items are not an eligible spend of the NYC Women’s Fund. Artist or service fees, rentals, and subscriptions for the length of the project only are accepted.
• Complete the budget.
- You may choose to either (1) use the budget template provided via the application directly in Submittable, or (2) upload your own budget.
- The budget must outline proposed totals of artist fees, equipment rentals, marketing, and other project expenses. The budget should also show the total project income.
• Biography for applicant and key artists involved in the project.
• Upload work samples as detailed below.
WORK SAMPLES:
Applicants should include: a 15-page excerpt of the script to be produced. For musicals, operas or other productions in which music plays a critical role, there is the option to upload a 10-minute music sample.
For devised/company-created pieces, please submit a 15-page sample of the previous project and complete description of prompts or concepts for new work to be created.
PUBLIC ACCESS:
The NYC Women’s Fund is a government-funded program. Accordingly, recipients will be required to propose a meaningful way to provide free public access to New York City residents to the project for a limited period of time. Possibilities include, but are not limited to the following:
• A free performance or invited dress rehearsal for New York City audiences;
• Free tickets by lottery, or other means to be agreed upon, over the course of the run equal to 25% of the total number of seats in the theatre for one performance.
• Other means mutually agreed to by MOME and NYFA.
ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT:
Anyone can apply and be awarded a grant regardless of actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, partnership status, marital status, disability (including use of a service animal), race, color, national origin, alienage, citizenship status, military status, or any other class protected by City, State, or Federal law.
NYFA is committed to supporting artists from every background, and at all stages in their creative careers. We strongly encourage artists of color, LGBTQ+ artists, and artists with disabilities to apply.
APPLICATION ASSISTANCE:
To request an accommodation or assistance in applying, please email [email protected]. We ask that requests for accommodation be made as soon as possible, preferably two weeks prior to the deadline (by October 11, 2023), to allow adequate time for staff to support you in submitting an application on time.
