Money? grants? etc

[Daniel Hollister]

Hi -

I am a senior in high school, soon graduating. I am not, however, new to video; I've been filming scripted films for about 8 years.

I go to a new high school in the area, and there was no type of film program present. 2 friends of mine and I decided to create the first Video Productions class, and with the help of our Drama teacher, we were able to do so.

That's the short version of the class. This entire class is taught by us 3 students. There is a waiting list to get in, the students love it, and we have been getting a lot of publicity and recognition. We've been recognized as, in our first semester of existance, the class in northern california that is producing the best work. We constantly have teachers from other schools coming to see how we managed to pull it all together and whatnot.

Here's the issue: the 3 of us are seniors, and will all be gone this coming year. There is nobody else to take the reigns, nor will our administration fund the class. (We got every penny for our equipment ourselves, as they would not officially support the class.) Since I am going to college locally, they have asked me to continue teaching the class, and I would LOVE to do this. The thing is, I am in the Bay Area; it is very expensive here, college will be very expensive next year, and teaching a class while being a full-time student doesn't leave me much room for a job. My father has also been unemployed since last year, and will be unable to help me financially in any way when I graduate.

I am looking for a way to make ends meet. Our class was able to be created based on a lot of work by us, and a lot of grants we worked to get. These, however, do not cover the teachers.

I am wondering if any of you out there some of some company or orginization that gives out grants of this nature. It sounds really selfish probably, but it is sadly true. We have enough money to run the class, but I personally do not have the money to pay for living expenses and college while teaching. If I am unable to teach this class, it will most likely not exist next year... at least not with the success and fun that it achieved this year. Please let me know if you know of anything!

Thanks so much!

By the way, our website is at http://www.svhsvp.com/

- Dan Hollister

[Mike Rehmus]

Do a search for Grants on the Internet. You will find plenty. Also check with Film Arts Foundation and Bay Area Video Coalition. They have good contacts into the funds and can tell you where you should apply your efforts.

[Daniel Hollister]

Thanks, I'l check out this group.

I've done all sorts of searches for grants, but they usually fall under 2 categories that I do not fall under.

1) Grants for the class itself. A lot of grants are strictly for the class. Strangely enough, we have plenty of money to run the class... I, however, need money for college, as well as living expenses. I understand this is a very very personal and almost selfish thing, but... well, I cant live without it, haha, and I cant teach a class and go to college while earning decent income. Money for these grants can only be used towards the class, and although I still apply for all these for the benefit of the class, this still does not change the fact that I need some support to teach this class.

2) Grants for credentialed teachers. I am not a credentialed teacher, but a high school student who just so happens to be adept at film and have been working with it in real situations since I can remember. Regardless, most institutions do not care. They reserve their grants for teachers who are credentialed and have years of experience and a degree.

I've been finding it very difficult to find something this specific... I imagine it will be even harder to find one that would actually help me out.

I sent an email to an executive at Apple, as I met last year with him when the class was created. (Apple gave us some equipment and software in return for some video work they needed.) I am thinking that perhaps rather than looking for completely "free money," there may be similar options out in the corporate world, where we can give the company high-quality work and/or good PR, for some cash.

That happened this year... Apple didn't just want us to do the film work, they wanted the PR. It really helps a company when they can say "Here's one of the best film programs around, and we made it possible." I'm thinking perhaps something along these lines can happen again...

[Don Donatello]

seems to me that if the school wanted the program they would be looking/applying for grants/funding .. but then they are getting their state funding cut so they are looking for $$ for other "needed" classes etc = bottom line is your class doesn't make their list to fund or to seek funding .. as long as person are willing to work for free they will look for funding for the classes where instructor will not work for free..

many schools will put a real teacher as the instructor for a class on paper but a teachers aide will teach it = the aide gets paid the instructor just oversees the class ( puts very little time in ) ... so perhaps the drama instructor could be the listed instructor and you hired as the AIDE to teach .. it's all in creative paper work that the principal must create ...

but lets face it the bottom line is you are not qualified to be an instructor and you might not be qualified as a teachers aide under the state/school district... maybe it's time to move on after you graduate. i'd start checking out the college. perhaps they have a multi media dept or a video dept that could use your services/know how (as in paid job) ...

[Don Bloom]

I did some research on this a few years ago just for grins (yeah right) and found that the good old U.S. Government has hundred if not thousands of various agencies and departments that have lots of grant money available and here's the thing, if they don't give it all out, next year they get less cause they can't justifiy getting the amount they had this year. So they give. Now having said that, you have to do some leg work, many employees don't know the money is even available in their department or agency.
There are literally tens of millions of dollars available. Not ALL agencies or department have it available and some have more than others and some are not available for projects like video, but I know for a fact that many agencies have money ready for those kinds of projects. I borrowed a book that was about 800 pages that detailed out the who,what,when,where and how. Agencies,names, phone numbers, amount available, what they generally funded, the whole deal. That was about 2 years ago and I no longer have access to that but perhaps some sort of google search or even, heaven forbid, a trip to the library where they have actual books :-)
It's a chore to find who has the cash and then to write a good proposal to be able to get the money but it can be done.
Don't forget the private sector, lots of companies even in todays economy still give away "awards". Hey, it's easier to get $1.00 from 100 people than to get $100 from 1 person.
Good Luck in your quest for cash,
Don

[Mike Rehmus]

<<<-- Originally posted by Don Bloom : Hey, it's easier to get $1.00 from 100 people than to get $100 from 1 person.
Good Luck in your quest for cash,
Don -->>>

Yea, they call them panhandlers :-))))))

Go hit up Rotary and Lions and other service clubs. And while you are at it, look into a Rotary scholarship for yourself. We give away a lot of $ each year. Have something like 1.5 billion in the old fund IIRC.