In The News

Now celebrating its 30th year, the Roy W. Dean Film Grants fund independent feature films, documentaries, web series, and short films with budgets of $500,000 or less that are unique and make a contribution to society that, without its help, might otherwise never get made.  Students are welcome to apply.

Winners of the Roy W. Dean Film Grants receive a cash award as well as goods and discounted services offered by film industry companies and professionals who care about getting good films produced.   See each grant below for specific information on awards for individual grants.

The SPRING Grant Deadline is March 31st.

For any questions, please email info@fromtheheartproductions.com or call 805-984-0098. 

Grant guidelines and deadlines for interested artists will be made available in January and February by SPACE.

SPACE, the multidisciplinary arts nonprofit, will receive the funding through the National Endowment for the Arts award. In turn the monies will be regranted to artist projects throughout the state of Maine. This sub-grantmaking program was announced as part of the $20 million distributed by the NEA through the American Rescue Plan to assist cultural communities nationwide through the pandemic. SPACE is among 66 local arts agencies recognized as playing a central role in increasing public access to the arts, supporting artists and enhancing the quality of life in their communities. 

“The NEA’s significant investment in local arts agencies, including SPACE is a key element in helping the arts and culture sector recover and reopen, while ensuring that the American Rescue Plan funding is distributed equitably,” said Ann Eilers, NEA’s acting chair. “These grants recognize the vital role of local arts organizations and will allow them to help rebuild local economies and contribute to the well-being of our communities.”

The animated TV series “Big Nate,” based on the long-running comic strip by Lincoln Peirce of Portland, will debut Feb. 17 on Paramount Plus, the streaming service announced Tuesday.

Nickelodeon, which is producing the series, first announced its plans to make a “big Nate” series in February 2020. Peirce said Tuesday he’s excited that the strip he began 31 years ago – and which runs in 400 newspapers – will finally make it to TV.

Like the comic strip, the series will focus on an 11-year-old sixth-grader named Nate, along with his family and friends. The Paramount Plus news release describes Nate as “a sixth-grade kid who has a never-ending need to prove his awesomeness to the world.” The first eight episodes of the show will be available for streaming Feb. 17 on Paramount Plus, with more episodes to be announced at a later date.

Events planned for January 18-20 scrapped amid nationwide COVID surge.

NATPE said Saturday (January 8) it has canceled the upcoming NATPE Miami Conference and Marketplace, slated for January 18-20, after weighing health and safety concerns and the experience of an event that would no doubt have diminished attendance amid the latest nationwide surge of COVID-19. 

The National Association of Television Program Executives will look to smaller virtual and possibly (where appropriate) in-person events in 2022 at no charge to attend, NAPTE CEO JP Bommel said in a statement. 

TikTok — the hugely popular mobile video app with more than 1 billion users — has been taking its first steps to break into a new screen, the TV screen, launching and integrating a new app called TikTok TV first with Amazon Fire TV, and then Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, LG Smart TVs, and Samsung Smart TVs. Today comes news of another front in that strategy: TikTok has inked a partnership with Atmosphere, the startup that provides licensed and curated streamed video content for commercial venues like Westin, Taco Bell and Texas Roadhouse, as well as doctors’ offices, gyms and other venues where people spend dwelling time.

Initially, the partnership will see Atmosphere develop a new channel on its platform dedicated to curated TikTok videos. It will be the first time that TikTok content is being used for an out-of-home video service.