2025 AND 2026 GRANT CYCLES
The 2025 grant competition has now closed, and this year’s winners will be announced soon.
We will open the 2026 grant competition in January of 2026, with an estimated application deadline of April 30, 2026.
ABOUT THE AWARD (2025 cycle description, dates and details subject to change for 2026)
The Emerging Artist Film Grant from the OUT at the Movies International Film Festival is intended to supplement the budget for an emerging LGBTQIA+ filmmaker to finish their short documentary or short narrative film. The film must be at least 50% through principal photography, or already in post-production, by the date of submission, to qualify for this grant. The application asks for a link to review a raw string out, selected scenes, or sizzle reel.
The first place winner will receive a $3000 monetary award, along with access to a group of mentors from various disciplines within the film production world. Additionally, they will receive an all-access pass to attend the 2025 OATM Film Festival, which will take place in late September, and the opportunity to screen their finished film at the 2026 OUT at the Movies International Film Festival. The monetary award will be administered upon receipt of a rough cut of the film (a full story assembly, or more fleshed out rough cut).
The first and second runners-up will also receive access to the mentorship, as well as passes to the 2025 OATM Film Festival. These winners will also be given the chance to screen their finished films at the 2026 OUT at the Movies International Film Festival.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 30, 2025, Midnight
REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: May 1 – May 31, 2025
AWARD NOTIFICATION: June 2, 2025
QUESTIONS?
You can contact Max Cullen, Director of Operations & Marketing, at maxcullen@gmail.com.
2025 Grant Winners
ISHIGAKI: WHY WE FIGHT
Documentary Short
Logline: For some, martial arts is a sport. For Ishigaki’s LGBTQ+ fighters, it’s survival. This is a story chronicling 30 years of breaking barriers, one punch at a time and proving that true strength isn’t just about fighting—it’s about finding family.
Director: Kenneth Gawne
About the Director: Ken is a London-based producer with over a decade of experience in the television industry across a range of specialist factual and observational documentary programming. Ken’s work centres around people-driven storytelling and he has often worked with remote or vulnerable communities that require a sensitive approach. Ken always strives to find that personal narrative in a story that allows for an emotional connection with the audience.
SORORITY
Narrative Short
Logline: A trans woman of color in the early stages of her transition learns to accept herself when welcomed into the sorority of sisterhood in the most sacred of places, the women’s restroom.
Director: Ashley Gianni
About the Director: Ashley Gianni is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, and founder of Pizza Bagel Pictures LLC, a female LGBTQ+ production company focused on telling impactful stories that celebrate the LGBTQ+ and female experience. As an independent filmmaker, Ashley’s mission is to hire, inspire, and empower fellow queer & female filmmakers. She believes deeply in the transformative power of storytelling and aims to utilize her films to create social change, provide healing, and offer community to anyone in need.
RAINBOW RIDERS
Documentary Short
Logline: A spunky truck driver and her chihuahua sidekick drive their Pride flag-covered big rig across the country: hauling loads, eating pies, and getting flipped off by bigots.
Director: Georgia Krause
About the Director: Georgia Krause is a Seattle-based, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker telling empathetic stories set within elevated realities. Their queer identity and love for finding magic in the real world has helped shape their filmmaking over the years. The films they create draw audiences into new worlds and use this world building as a way to spark empathy. Though Georgia’s subject matter has varied from everything from brain surgeons to starfish, their work consistently champions underdogs and sheds light on misunderstood communities, individuals, ecosystems, and creatures.