When you're working on a film that relies on historical or found footage, public domain clips are a great starting point, but they're only part of the picture. Many of the most compelling archival materials are still protected by copyright and require formal licensing. In this post, I break down best practices for legally licensing archival footage beyond the public domain, helping filmmakers navigate rights, avoid costly mistakes, and tell powerful stories with confidence.

If you’re a documentary filmmaker looking for support on your next project, you’ve probably seen the terms grants, fellowships, and labs thrown around interchangeably. While they can overlap in purpose, each offers a very different experience, and choosing the right one can make a big difference in how your film moves forward. Below, we break down the differences between these three types of opportunities, what each typically provides, and how to decide which is the best fit for your current stage.

This post is the second in a recurring feature of the blog, offering a seasonal roundup of the most timely and relevant opportunities for independent filmmakers. Below, you’ll find a curated list of active grants, fellowships, and labs that are currently accepting applications for fall 2025.

We are living in a loud moment. 

Every scroll, tap, and click is another voice in a crowded room trying to be heard. Attention is everywhere and nowhere. Stories spread fast, vanish faster, and most leave little behind. The sheer volume of content has made narrative harder to hear.

So the question becomes: what stories still matter?

As an interviewer, I’ve learned to come prepared — but I’m still learning how to let go. I asked a few too many stacked questions. I cut in once or twice to clarify when I should have just listened. I occasionally moved the conversation forward too quickly instead of staying with the emotion. I’m working on it.

If your organization is investing time and money into video, you want to be sure it’s working. But what does that mean in 2025? Higher engagement? More donor conversions? Longer watch times?

The answer depends on what kind of videos you're making and how you're using them.

We’re honored to share that our short documentary Suni’s Kidney Journey has won a Silver Telly Award in the General - Public Interest & Awareness category.

In the second episode of The Circles, we’re looking for snails. Big ones. Small ones. Teeny tiny ones that barely move but still leave a glistening trail behind.

If you’re part of a communications team at a mid-sized nonprofit or institution, you’ve likely felt the pressure to generate more video, social, and donor content with limited time and resources. Here’s the truth: you don’t need to build a production house overnight. But you can build a content mindset—starting with your team.

You had high hopes. A compelling story to tell. A team ready to collaborate. But somewhere along the way, things fell apart—deadlines slipped, the message got muddled, and you were left managing expectations with your board or leadership.

Sound familiar?

When organizations approach us about creating a short video or branded documentary, they often have a long list of hopes: They want to raise awareness, inspire donors, persuade decision-makers, explain a complex issue, and mobilize their base.

All with one video.

That instinct makes sense—budgets are tight, timelines are short, and stakeholders want to maximize impact. But here’s the hard truth: the most effective videos don’t try to do everything.

In the middle of a world that feels loud, fast, and uncertain, I started working on something small.

A short animation.

We call it The Circles, named after the small neighborhood in Santa Cruz where we live, tucked just a few blocks from the ocean. It’s a place where crows caw early in the morning, where neighbors’ cats dart through our yard, and where time, somehow, moves both slowly and quickly.

Before we start rolling—before interviews are scheduled, cameras are packed, or shots are framed—we ask questions.

There’s a quote I keep coming back to from Eddie Shleyner’s VeryGood Copy:

“Self-doubt is baked into creative work—and all you can do is anticipate the angst, embrace it when it comes, and convert it into good energy, something productive.”

If you’ve ever made something from scratch—be it a film, a pitch, a painting, or a product—you know the feeling. That nagging voice that whispers: Is this any good? What if this falls flat? Or worse: What if I’m not the right person to make this?

Think of your nonfiction work as an ongoing experiment. You begin with a hypothesis (your central idea), design a methodology (your research and narrative approach), and inevitably encounter unexpected results. Sometimes those results appear negative—the experiment "fails."

One of the most important — and often most difficult — questions to answer early in the development of a documentary is: What’s at stake?

So What Are Stakes in a Documentary?

A recent report from State of Create explores what’s happening across the creator economy—from artists and podcasters to filmmakers and writers—and outlines where things are heading. While it’s focused primarily on independent creators, there are powerful lessons here for organizations too: the future belongs to those who prioritize authenticity, emotional connection, and meaningful engagement over vanity metrics.

In 2025, budgets aren't just tight—they're constricting. I hear it in hushed conversations with producers, in worried emails from directors, in the nervous energy of nonprofit teams trying to do more with less. The financial landscape is challenging, and for many organizations, the dream of creating compelling video content feels like a luxury reserved for well-funded giants.

If you’re a filmmaker, writer, or creative of any kind, you’ve probably wrestled with this fear: Is my work original enough? It’s a question that can paralyze even the most talented artists. We spend so much time worrying about breaking new ground that we sometimes forget why audiences show up in the first place.

One of the unexpected joys of reading with my daughter has been discovering which books truly capture her imagination. Some of our most treasured moments happen with books that aren't packed with words or elaborate plots. Instead, they're simple, emotional narratives—like when her eyes light up as the little chimp Bobo finally finds his mom for a big hug in Jez Alborough’s Hug, or how she turns very serious with concern when an octopus washes ashore in Alison Jay’s Out of the Blue.