Announcing the TFI + Pond5 Partnership

We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with Pond5, the world’s largest stock video marketplace. We've joined forces to develop a program that speaks to the needs of storytellers who lack resources during “in-between” phases such as research, creative collaboration, festival travel, content, community screenings, outside-the-box mentorship, and extra release support.

TFI and Pond5 designed this unique program to ensure that artists with diverse backgrounds and a wide range of perspectives are provided an array of support to improve visibility in an often-inaccessible, difficult-to-break-into industry. Support available through the program includes funding, targeted networking events, access to Pond5 content and mentorship programs, all designed to facilitate a sense of community for independent storytellers.  

TFI alumnae and Pond5 artists can apply for micro-grants through the program three times a year, offering multiple opportunities to receive funding. 

Congrats to our first round of TFI and Pond5 Program grant recipients:

Directed by: Rodrigo Reyes
Producers: Inti Cordera and Andrew Houchens
499 Years examines the brutal legacy of colonialism nearly five centuries after Cortez arrived in the Aztec Empire. Bold, unique, and strikingly cinematic, the film uses magical realism, combining documentary and fiction to show how past traumas continue to affect contemporary reality while challenging us to overcome our histories of violence.

Directed by: Raya Martin
Writer/Producer: Valerie Castillo Martinez
Executive Producer: Whitaker Lader
Co-Producers: Jeremy Chua, Nikolo Juban
Set in 90's suburban Manila, the story takes us into the colorful pop-culture world of four 13-year old friends, back in the days when videogames were still a novelty. Mimaw and her friends Paolo, Kachi, and Gilligan go on a journey of self-discovery together as they play games and wrestle with new dilemmas - puppy love, circumcision and other horror stories.
 

Directed by: Pawel Nazaruk & Tomasz Adamski
Producer: Pawel Nazaruk
The Cold War race to dig the deepest into the Earth reveals an entrance to Hell in arctic Russia. Forty years later, Yuri Smirnoff is the last man standing. 
 

Director: Myna Joseph
Producers: Amy Lo, Lucy Owen, Lizzie Shapiro
Executive Producer: Lana Yang
Following a near-fatal car accident, Lu wrestles with creeping invisibility as she approaches the second half of her life. On this long winter day, she finds her physical identity fractured, ignored, misunderstood, and judged – but with wry humor and stubborn resilience, she’s determined to be seen.
 

Directed by: Tchaiko Omawale
Producers: Hope Olaide Wilson, Maya Emelle, Sophia Solomon
Co-Producers: Sabine Hoffman, Sascha Brown Rice
A 17 year-old orphan is shipped off to her estranged grandmother and she plots her escape while navigating a foreign environment, new friendships and a hidden eating disorder.
 

Lead Artist & Executive Producer: Tani Ikeda
Lead Artist & Creative Director: Jess X. Snow
Additional Lead Artist: Layqa Nuna Yawar
Producers: Kevin Tsukii, Meghan McWilliams
Partner Organizations: O+, Emblematic Group
Through a network of augmented reality murals centering Survivors of sexual assault, Survivor Love Letter presents a galaxy where survivors are not only believed and supported, but also loved unconditionally. Using our AR app, users can watch the mural and the love letter come to life through animation and read a library of love letters from survivors and allies all over the world, and ultimately have the option to add to the galaxy by writing their own. 

Check out photos from our Producers Network and launch event here!