NBCU Academy in partnership with NBC News Studios, the NBC News documentary division, is proud to present Original Voices, a new artist development and inclusion initiative for independent documentary filmmakers. Eligible filmmakers are US-based documentarians who identify as – or showcase stories highlighting social issues affecting – women, LGBTQ+ folx, communities of color, and people with disabilities regardless of career stage or immigration status. We recognize all key creative staff as our fellows. The fellowship is an invite-only opportunity. We partner with national artist development organizations, funders, producers, curators, and independent documentary film nonprofits to solicit recommendations each summer. Fifty teams are invited to apply and five to seven teams are chosen.
The inaugural Original Voices Fellowship cohort launched in 2021 with seven documentary filmmaking teams receiving a bespoke artist development fellowship and non-recoupable grant award of $45,000 each to support their creative process on feature-length nonfiction films. Once granted, the first fellowship year includes invitations to bimonthly online professional development workshops and a week-long trip to New York City to attend a film festival and in-person workshops at 30 Rockefeller Plaza with all travel and housing included. Fellows also have ongoing access to NBC News Studios executives, journalists, archival research support, mentorship, creative feedback, festival and marketing strategy, and fellows gatherings in New York City and along the festival circuit. We are also proud to partner with nonprofits and academic research labs such as the Center for Media and Social Impact, The Flaherty, and Peace is Loud to offer additional workshops and programming.
The Original Voices Fellowship cohort of 2022 included six filmmaking teams receiving a non-recoupable grant award at the increased amount of $60,000 along with the Original Voices Fellowship cohort of 2021 receiving a regrant of an additional $15,000 each to support the completion of their films and career sustainability.
In 2023, we are launching a new program, the Original Voices Shorts Pitch. NBCU Academy in partnership with NBC News Studios, the NBC News documentary division, is collaborating with IF/Then Shorts to launch a national open call for archival and journalistically driven short documentaries highlighting social issues and identities.
Five teams will be invited to take the stage at the Original Voices Shorts Pitch, an inclusion-focused pitch session where a curated selection of diverse filmmakers propose their documentary works in progress to a panel of journalists, funders, news executives, and distributors. Pitching teams will receive a grant of $5,000 each with all pitch travel and housing included. One winning team will also receive a $100,000 investment and co-production deal with NBC News Studios. Eligible filmmakers are US-based documentarians who identify as – or showcase stories highlighting social issues affecting – women, LGBTQ+ folx, communities of color, and people with disabilities regardless of career stage or immigration status.
The purpose of the Original Voices Shorts Pitch is to open doors to the NBCU newsroom and archive to diverse documentary filmmakers eager to present a more vibrant, equitable, and accurate take on American history and society today. Reaffirming the values of integrity and inclusion in order to spur innovation, the Original Voices Shorts Pitch aims to break down barriers between news media networks and consumers, support diverse documentary filmmakers with the resources of a legacy news organization, and strengthen public trust in fact-based reporting and film.
Check back here in Spring 2023 to apply.
Questions? Reach out to Jeanelle Augustin who leads Original Voices and is happy to learn about your film.
Chain of Rocks
Directed by Damon Davis, Produced by Chris Renteria
Production Stage: Production
A Death Row inmate confesses to a crime after 30 years of maintaining his innocence. Now, an activist who once fought for his innocence is faced with the moral dilemma of whether the fight was in vain. Chain of Rocks is an animated feature-length documentary that explores the complexities of race and masculinity and how they skew our worldview and play a role in oppressive systems.
Florence From Ohio
Directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal, Produced by Carrie Weprin and Mynette Louie
Production Stage: Development
Florence from Ohio is a real-life, genre-twisting film about Florence Wang and her second-generation daughter, Stephanie Wang-Breal. Told through the lens of Florence’s St. John Knit power suits and 1980s local TV cooking show, mother and daughter collectively reimagine and grapple with their generational ideas of motherhood, feminism, racism, and assimilation.
The Queer Beat
Directed by Eric Juhola, Produced by Jeremy Stulberg and David Ninh, Cinematographers Rachel Bardin and Rose Bush
Production Stage: Production
The Queer Beat is a collaborative vérité documentary featuring trans, queer and gender non-conforming journalists who reflect on their own identities while working to tell the story of a seminal moment in LGBTQ history. The film follows reporters Kate Sosin and Cristela Guerra as they investigate the still unsolved 1998 murder of trans woman Rita Hester, whose death sparked the creation of the world-wide movement ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance’. Two decades later, they discover new leads amidst a community still grieving and try to answer the question ‘What happened’?
Unseen
Directed by Set Hernandez Rongkilyo, Produced by Day Al-Mohamed and Félix Endara, Executive Producer Diane Quon
Production Stage: Production, First Time Feature Filmmaker
unseen follows the story of Pedro, an aspiring social worker hoping to provide mental health services for underserved communities. Being a blind, undocumented immigrant, Pedro faces harsh political realities in the U.S., but a network of supporters carries him through a decade’s long struggle to actualize his dream. What starts as a journey to foster the mental health of others ultimately transforms into Pedro’s path towards his own healing and self-discovery.
Untitled Labor Union Documentary
Directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing, Produced by Samantha Curley and Mars Verrone, Cinematographer Martin Dicicco
Production Stage: Production
From the perspective of a single Amazon fulfillment center, this documentary is an intimate portrait of current and former Amazon workers taking on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.
BAD PRESS
Directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler; Produced by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Garrett Baker, Conrad Beilharz, Tyler Graim and Joe Peeler; Cinematographer Tyler Graim
Production Stage: Post-Production, First Time Feature Filmmaker
When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring their free press, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian Country.
BAD PRESS is premiering at Sundance 2023.
Bloodthicker
Directed by Zac Manuel, produced by Chris Haney
Bloodthicker is a coming-of-age documentary about three childhood friends navigating adulthood while living in the shadows of their famous fathers. Filmed over 4 years, the film is an intimate portrait of how three young musicians come to define themselves in the presence and absence of their fathers.
Hummingbirds
Directed by Silvia Castaños, Estefania Contreras, Miguel Drake McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger, Produced by Leslie Benavides, Miguel Drake McLaughlin, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger
In this uniquely collaborative coming-of-age film, inseparable best friends Silvia and Beba emerge at night to escape the cruel summer heat of their Texas border town, wandering empty streets in search of inspiration, adventure, and a sense of belonging. When forces beyond their control threaten their shared dreams and they are faced with an uncertain future, they take a stand and hold onto what they can—the moment and each other.
I Didn’t See You There
Directed by Reid Davenport, Produced by Keith Wilson
Spurred by the spectacle of a circus tent that goes up outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker launches into an unflinching meditation on freakdom, (in)visibility, and the pursuit of individual agency. Shot entirely from his literal physical perspective, both from his wheelchair and his two feet, the filmmaker’s gaze and thoughts oscillate between how he is seen, his distant family, and whether his films have fallen into the legacy of the Freak Show.
I Didn’t See You There premiered at Sundance 2022.
La Flaca
Directed by Jessica Chermayeff and Ana Veselic, Produced by Alba Jaramillo
A teenager’s flight from Honduras through Central America suddenly snaps into focus when she gives birth on US soil — launching an epic coming-of-age tale of assimilation in America.
Mija
Directed by Isabel Castro, Produced by Tabs Breese and Associate Produced by Yesenia Tlahuel
Doris Muñoz is an ambitious music manager whose undocumented family depends on her ability to discover aspiring pop stars. Mija dives into the world of a young woman and a community of first generation musicians that are hustling harder than anyone because “making it” isn’t just a dream—it’s a necessity.
Mija premiered at Sundance 2022.
Untitled
Directed by Sura Mallouh, Produced by Sura Mallouh, Laura Poitras, and Yoni Golijov, Cinematography by Jason D’Souza
Two friends uncover a conflict that divides their already embattled community. Told from all sides, with unprecedented access to courtrooms, anonymous sources and community leaders, this observational film unfolds in real time.
Stories that captivate. Stories that investigate. Stories that inspire. That’s the foundation of NBC News Studios. NBC News Studios is a full-service production company that specializes in documentary storytelling and the occasional scripted project. NBC News Studios offers producers and filmmakers access to everything our legacy news organization has to offer: eight decades of television and radio archive; a global network of journalists; a world-class investigative team; and a rich trove of stories. Our team has decades of experience in the TV and documentary worlds and has been honored with multiple Emmy, Peabody and DuPont awards.
NBC News Studios’ documentary co-presentation with Focus Features, Dawn Porter’s The Way I See It, was the highest rated non-news program in MSNBC’s 25-year history.
Want to learn more about the Original Voices Fellowship? Contact us and a member of our team will be in touch.