2023 PUBLIC MEDIA CONTENT FUND GUIDELINES

⇦ BACK to PUBLIC MEDIA CONTENT FUND

Deadline

June 21, 2023, 5 PM PST. Applications must be submitted to the LPB 2023 Funding Cycle online application process, please click here.

⇧ TOP

WHAT IS LPB’S PUBLIC MEDIA CONTENT FUND?

The Public Media Content Fund (PMCF) is an open invitation to independent filmmakers to submit proposals for documentaries and limited series that meet LPB’s Content Priorities and are appropriate for distribution on national public television and its platforms.

⇧ TOP

CONTENT PRIORITIES

Projects applying to the PMCF can be in the genres of the arts, history, science, biography, health, personal storytelling, and mixed genre. For this fund, we are particularly interested in arts and cultural documentaries. Projects should present a range of subjects, issues and viewpoints that complement and challenge existing public media offerings. Projects should integrate strong story-telling techniques that give voice and provide a lens to the diverse Latino community. While projects can take creative risks and reflect personal or individual experience, they must ultimately appeal to a national U.S. audience.

⇧ TOP

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

  • An independent filmmaker or a production entity (i.e. a partnership or organization owned by the individual filmmaker or filmmakers), creating programs on the Latino experience operating independently from a film studio, commercial broadcast or cable entity.
  • Applicants are strongly recommended to have a Latino/a in a director and/or producer role.
  • Applicants must retain the copyright, artistic, budgetary and editorial control over the proposed project.
  • Applicants applying to the PMCF are not eligible to apply to the CIF with the same or different project.
  • Applicants must agree to create only one version of the documentary. A re-edited version of the LPB funded program cannot be re-packaged for another network.
  • Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, be citizens or legal residents of the United States or its territories, and have previous film or television experience demonstrated by detailed personnel bios or resumes.
  • Applicants are only allowed to submit one application for a project per review period.
  • All funding requests must be submitted in accordance with LPB’s guidelines.

Not Eligible

  • Programs/films previously submitted and declined by LPB with no substantial change to the proposal;
  • Thesis projects or student films;
  • Public television stations;
  • Filmmakers or production entities that are foreign based, owned or controlled;
  • Industrial, promotional or advocacy projects;
  • Projects for which the exclusive domestic television broadcast rights are not available;
  • Projects with a primarily commercial interest;
  • Projects whose content or ideas are substantially similar to previously LPB funded programs currently in production or distribution;
  • Current signatories of LPB contracts who have not completed delivery;
  • Current signatories re-applying for the same type of funding originally awarded; and
  • Employees of CPB, PBS, APT,NETA, ITVS and the NMCA.

⇧ TOP

FUNDING CATEGORIES

LPB is primarily interested in funding projects at the production and post-production stage. Requests for research and development (R&D) are not a priority. LPB funding ranges for each category as follows:

Research and Development $10,000 – $20,000

Research and Development: Funding to fully develop storylines, identify engaging characters, talent and complete a production proposal and budget. Eligible activities include: (i) research; (ii) clearance of life story rights or other rights necessary to initiate production; (iii) development of a script or treatment, including the hiring of writers; (iv) preliminary filming, if necessary, prior to the commencement of principle photography; (v) completion of a production proposal, budget and sample reel.

Production $40,000 – $100,000.  

Production: Funding to film and produce a program. Eligible activities include: (i) principle photography (including all production activities, hiring of crew, talent, clearance of rights for public media use; (ii) post-production.

Post-Production $25,000 – $100,000

Post-Production: Funding to complete a program already in progress. Eligible activities include: (i) post-production (including editing and completion); (ii) clearance of rights required for public media distribution.

⇧ TOP

FUNDING CONTRACT TERMS

LPB receives funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) under an agreement that requires LPB to include certain mandatory terms and conditions in its production agreements. LPB also imposes certain of its own requirements on use of its funding. If your project is approved, in exchange for receiving funding from LPB, you will be required to grant certain rights to LPB, including exclusive domestic public television distribution rights (usually six public television releases over four years), and for digital media programming, exclusive distribution via LPB and/or public broadcasting websites and social media. LPB will have the right to cablecast on a noncommercial, sustaining basis on cable channels programmed by PBS and PBS member stations, and will have certain other distribution rights in connection with use of the program in the education and public television marketplace (including school use of an off-air or off-satellite recording for one year from the date of public television broadcast). LPB may also require certain additional rights. The program will be subject to holdbacks (restrictions on distribution) in Canada. LPB will be entitled to a share of net revenues from all subsidiary and ancillary uses of the program based on LPB’s total financial contribution to the project for a period of fifteen years from completion. In addition, the production agreement will include mandatory requirements regarding record-retention and reporting obligations, objectivity and balance standards, and other terms and conditions on the use of LPB funds for the project. The filmmaker will complete the project in accordance with a project description, budget and delivery schedule. If a filmmaker fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the production agreement, LPB may require the filmmaker to return funds provided for the project. Filmmakers funding will be subject to reduction in LPB funding if the LPB funding has not been expended within four (4) years from the end of the fiscal year in which the Production Agreement is entered into with Filmmaker.

⇧ TOP

REVIEW PROCESS

Proposals submitted to the PMCF go through a two-phase review process. In phase one, each submission is reviewed internally and sent out to professionals in the field for initial evaluation and recommendations. In phase two, projects recommended to move forward are reviewed by a panel comprised of journalists, programmers, independent filmmakers, academics and representatives from national organizations. If a project is selected for phase two, the applicant will be allowed to submit any updates to the project before it goes to the final evaluation committee. Final selections are announced 5-6 months after the deadline.

LPB will send out proposals for evaluation using the following criteria:

  • The inclusion of Latinos in the key production roles.
  • Ability to shed light on the Latino American experience.
  • Project concept is well conceived and creatively structured to engage a national broadcast audience.
  • The extent to which the treatment clearly describes the visuals, style and demonstrates engaging storytelling techniques.
  • The extent to which the proposal takes into account the public television broadcast/streaming medium, and the needs and interests of the program’s target audience.
  • The filmmaker’s ability to successfully complete the program on budget and on schedule, given the experience of the filmmaker and proposed production team.
  • Soundness of the production and fund-raising plans.
  • Overall, the extent to which the project fulfills the LPB mission and programming goals.

⇧ TOP

SAMPLE WORK

Sample tapes are not required for review during the first phase of this process. However, applicants have the option to include a link to sample work in question number 9 of the application summary. If your project moves forward to the second phase, you will be required to submit a sample tape of your current work, which is preferable; previous work will only be accepted for projects in development. Current work may be submitted as a work in progress. We recommend submitting a sample that is no longer than 5-minutes. The sample can be a full-length rough cut (with suggested segment to view), trailer, clips, scene selects, etc. The sample tape will need to be sent as a digital video file in .mov, .mp4, or .wmv, with Quicktime (.mov) preferred.

⇧ TOP

ADDITIONAL BUDGET ITEMS

Regardless of LPB’s contribution to the overall budget, or your determination of how LPB’s monies would be allocated to any given line items within the budget, all applicants must include a comprehensive budget which covers the costs of complete broadcast deliverables, including:

  • Closed captioning;
  • General liability and errors and omissions insurance;
  • One broadcast master HD file or the latest acceptable format outlined in the PBS Producer’s Handbook;
  • Licensing or otherwise clearing all necessary rights for exclusive domestic public television and its platforms, and for educational rights and all other rights required by the production agreement, including but not limited to music performances, art, archival, third-party materials, and news footage;
  • Photography services for promotional stills to be used for promotion in all media;
  • Fiscal sponsorship fees (not to exceed 10% of total budget) if applicable; and 
  • Twenty and thirty-second promo clips of the film for both broadcast and social media.

⇧ TOP CPB

About Us
Latino Public Broadcasting is the leader of the development, production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural media that is representative of Latino people, or addresses issues of particular interest to Latino Americans. These programs are produced for dissemination to the public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. LPB provides a voice to the diverse Latino community on public media throughout the United States. Latino Public Broadcasting is a registered 501(c)(3), EIN: 95-4776447.
Subscribe to e-Voz Newsletter

    Contact Us
    3575 Cahuenga Blvd. Suite # 630
    Los Angeles, CA 90068

    Phone: (323) 969-8000
    E-Mail: info@lpbp.org