The Producers Guild of America and Google will present two $50,000 grants to two producers or producing teams as part of “The Short Film Project,” PGA and Google announced Tuesday.
The grants will be offered exclusively to PGA Create Fellows from the guild’s recent scripted lab for emerging and mid-career creative producers from backgrounds underrepresented in the entertainment industry. The grant opportunity further expands Google’s previously announced lead sponsorship of the PGA Create Lab.
How it works: The grants will be used to produce new short films that “will incorporate Google Assistant branding,” the entities said in a statement. The 10 producers and teams from the recently completed PGA Create scripted cycle (Oct. 25-28) will be invited to respond to a creative brief from Google. PGA and Google representatives will join a panel of industry experts to select the two funding recipients.
Selected producers receiving the grants will retain ownership of the short films which will debut in June 2022 at the PGA’s 12th Produced By Conference.
“The Producers Guild is delighted to partner with Google for the new ‘The Short Film Project’ initiative, which will provide valuable, first-hand creative producing experience to this important cohort of producers,” PGA co-presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher said. “Providing opportunities to broaden the pipeline into the business for producers from underrepresented backgrounds is a key priority for the PGA that we will continue to expand on.”
“Google was honored to be the lead sponsor of the inaugural PGA Create and support the ambitions of the brilliant group of fellows,” Elle Roth-Brunet, who leads Google’s entertainment and marketing partnerships, added. “The Short Film Project” grants demonstrate our commitment to providing resources and mentorship toward the dreams and aspirations of underrepresented creatives in entertainment and we wish all those who submit the best of luck.”
The partnership with the Producers Guild was negotiated by UTA Marketing, which represents Google.
