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Grants available to Arab TV companies
to produce local content
March 2007 - Independent Arab
television news producers will be able to obtain financial support for
their research and productions again this year. The TV Production Fund
Small Grants awards will be made under the MENA MEDIA program,
administered through IREX and AmmanNet and funded by the US Department
of State Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
Approximately ten grants will be awarded to journalists and producers
from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and
the West Bank and Gaza. Recipients will be awarded small grants up to
$20,000 for productions and documentary films. A total of $150,000
will be available in two rounds this year.
Last year, MENA MEDIA's selection committee of media specialists
awarded grants to 10 independent producers from Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the West Bank, and Yemen whose film
subjects ranged from interfaith marriages to the abuse of
performance-enhancing steroids to the search for an Arab hero. Both
male and female producers were among the recipients of the 2006
grants.
In 2007, as part of its commitment to encouraging the continued
advancement of women, MEPI increased its funding to provide an
additional five awards (up to $20,000 each) per year for documentaries
dedicated to women's issues and/or produced by women. These new grants
are in addition to the $150,000 open to competition by all applicants
in the region .
Applications for the first round of grants are now being received with
a deadline set for May 30, 2007. Productions should run 30 minutes or
less and support increasing public dialogue and awareness on current
and locally-oriented issues, including topics that are underserved by
current media production, such as youth, the role of women in society,
oral history, entrepreneurship. Priority will be given to projects
which include alliances on content with television stations, print,
radio or Internet outlets to ensure the productions have the broadest
distribution possible.
Daoud Kuttab of AmmanNet calls the grants program a gift to
independent media practitioners. "In a region where governmental and
semi-governmental groups dominate the national and regional television
scene, these grants will help independent journalists and producers
work in an environment free from these financial pressures."
An independent panel made up of international Arab production
specialists and representatives from the MENA MEDIA Advisory Council,
AmmanNet, and IREX will assess the proposals. Applicants will be
required to demonstrate cost-sharing of 20 percent or more. Applicants
will be asked to include a distribution plan that enables the finished
product to be shown on television channels and at festivals. Details
and on line applications are available on
www.ammannet.net/tv
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IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership
and innovative programs to improve the quality of education,
strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society
development. Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of $50
million and a staff of over 500 professionals worldwide. IREX and its
partner IREX Europe deliver cross-cutting programs and consulting
expertise in more than 50 countries. For more information about IREX,
visit www.irex.org
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