Center for Asian American Media
FAQ
James T. Yee Fellowship Questions
- What kind of funding opportunities does CAAM offer?
Currently CAAM has two different funding initiatives: Open Call for Production Funds and Open Door for Completion Funding. For Open Call, CAAM considers projects that are in both the
production and/or post-production phases. Open Door Completion Fund only considers projects that are in post-production. - Does CAAM fund research and development or script development?
CAAM does not currently award monies for R&D or script development through the open calls.
- How large are Media Fund awards?
Media Fund awards average $10,000 to $50,000, though exceptions are sometimes made.
- What is the difference between Open Call versus Open Door?
Open Door Completion Fund is only for projects at the post-production phase. Open Call for Production Funding accepts applications for projects at both the production or post-production phase.
- Can I apply for funding for my student film?
The filmmaker must have sole ownership of the program to be eligible for funding. If your school owns rights to the piece, you are not eligible for funding.
- Do you have to be a US Citizen to apply?
Because these funds are earmarked for American public television, you must be an American citizen or legal resident to apply.
- What is a fiscal sponsor and do I need one to apply?
A fiscal sponsor is a non-profit 501(c)(3) IRS tax-exempt entity which agrees to accept funds from CAAM on your behalf. The fiscal sponsor is responsible for redistributing the funds to the project as needed. It maintains a ledger for all funds accepted and provides CAAM a financial accounting when requested. Most fiscal sponsors require a fee for their services, usually a percentage of the funds accepted through the sponsor. You do not have to have a fiscal sponsor in place at the time you submit your application to CAAM, however, if you are awarded, you may be asked to retain one. Be advised that some fiscal sponsors have an extensive review process for accepting new projects.
- What is broadcast (or errors & omissions) insurance and do I need it in order to apply?
This protects you from any legal challenges to the material in the program, including accidental trademark and copyright infringement, libel, slander, invasion of privacy, defamation, plagiarism and misappropriation of ideas. You do not need to have E&O insurance in place at the time you submit your application. E&O insurance needs to be purchased only if the program has a secured air date; however, it is the filmmaker’s legal obligation to clear all rights before applying to the CAAM Media Fund.
- Can I sell my program to cable?
All funded projects must grant to CAAM exclusive domestic public television rights for
no more than four years for no additional fee. This means it must premiere on American public television before any other television broadcast. After public television broadcast, the filmmaker is welcome to take the program to cable or other television broadcast entities.
- What should I include in the letters of commitment? Do I need to send a deal memo?
We do not need deal memos. Letters of commitment are simply signed letters from your key crew/cast expressing their intention to work on the project in their assigned role.
- What are in-kind contributions?
In-kind contributions are products or services that have been donated, e.g., a
post-production house providing free or discounted off-line services, a caterer giving food, etc. These, of course, have market value, but no
charge has been assessed. - What if I want to screen my work at festivals? Does the public television premier preclude me from applying?
Many of our funded films screen their work at film festivals before they air on public television. The public television premiere pertains to domestic television and does not bar you from premiering your work at a film festival nor does it limit the number of festival screenings before broadcast.
- What do you mean by “full length rough cut?” for the Open Door application?
For Open Door Completion Funds, we require a full length rough cut to be submitted. By this we mean the film should be close to completion and the running time of the rough cut should be comparable to the final length of the film. We do not acccept trailers, selects, demo segments, or assemblies as a sample work for Open Door.
Below is a guideline of final lengths and approximate lengths of the rough cut:
Final Length Rough Cut Length 30 minutes 45 minutes 1 hour 1.5 hours 2 hours 2.5 hours - How long should my sample be for Open Call? Can it be longer than 10 minutes?
For Open Call previous works are accepted, but we strongly recommend that you submit a work-in-progress. Bear in mind that the panel will only watch up to 10 minutes of sample work for each applicant. Thus we also recommend submitting trailers or clips that present the strongest footage of your work that is no more than 10 minutes in length.
James T. Yee Fellowship Questions
- Can I apply to the James T. Yee Fellowship separately, without applying to the Open Call?
At this time we do not offer the James T. Yee Fellowship as a stand alone initiative. You will only be considered for the Fellowship if you apply to the Open Call for Production Funds.
Candidates from the Open Call pool are nominated by the panelists and CAAM staff. - Can I receive both a Fellowship Award and a Media Fund Production Award?
We award either a Production Award or a Fellowship Award. An applicant cannot receive both a Production and Fellowship Award.
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