Inside Out and OUTtv Announce New Initiative To Support Queer Canadian Documentary Filmmakers With The ‘OUTSpoken Documentary Film Financing Fund’
July 5, 2019
INSIDE OUT AND OUTtv ANNOUNCE NEW INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT QUEER CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS WITH THE ‘OUTSPOKEN DOCUMENTARY FILM FINANCING FUND’
TORONTO, ON (Tuesday, July 2nd) – Inside Out, Canada’s largest LGBTQ film festival and single largest promoter and exhibitor of LGBTQ content in Canada, and OUTtv, Canada’s national LGBTQ+ television network, proudly announced today the start of a new initiative to support queer Canadian documentary filmmakers with the creation of the ‘OUTSpoken Documentary Film Financing Fund’.
The new fund will be accepting submissions beginning July 15, with two projects to be selected to receive funding. Submissions will be open until September 3, and the winning projects will be announced at the Opening Night of the 2019 Inside Out Ottawa Film Festival, October 24, 2019.
In addition to direct funding, the winning projects will also receive mentoring and production support from OUTtv and Inside Out. OUTtv will broadcast the completed documentaries on OUTtv, and also on OUTtvGo, OUTtv’s subscription video on demand platform.
“We are committed to addressing inequities in our industry through providing direct, financial support to LGBTQ2 creators and their projects,” said Andria Wilson, Inside Out’s Executive Director. “This partnership creates an ideal opportunity to provide that support to queer and trans Canadian documentary filmmakers – not only financing their projects, but also guaranteeing distribution to OUTtv’s audiences.”
“We have so much respect for Inside Out and their efforts in elevating LGBTQ+ content and cultivating Canadian queer film,” said Brad Danks, CEO of OUTtv. “OutSpoken, OUTtv’s documentary series, has commissioned many original documentaries and we are excited to partner with Inside Out to foster new queer Canadian documentary filmmakers.”
The fund will place particular emphasis on applications from filmmakers that represent historically underrepresented populations within the industry. Only applications from LGBTQ2 Canadian directors will be considered eligible. Full submission requirements, evaluation criteria and timeline details can be found online at insideout.ca.
About Inside Out
Inside Out is Canada’s largest LGBTQ film festival and the single largest promoter and distributor of LGBTQ content in Canada. Founded in 1991, Inside Out is committed to representing the interests of LGBTQ voices within the Canadian film industry. We are dedicated to developing, presenting, and promoting LGBTQ content that showcases and supports the broad diversity of voices and identities within our communities, and ensuring that authentic and positive representation of LGBTQ people is central in that content.
Annually, Inside Out presents the 11-day Toronto LGBT Film Festival (Toronto’s third largest festival after TIFF and Hot Docs), a 4-day festival in Ottawa, a year-round screening and event series at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, and innovative professional development initiatives including the world’s only LGBTQ Feature Film Financing Forum.
Inside Out is made possible through the support of corporate, government, and foundation partners, as well as a membership of more than 1,000 donors annually and audiences in excess of 35,000 attendees.
Our current high-level partners include RBC Royal Bank (Lead Sponsor), Netflix (Presenting Partner), STARZ (Premier Sponsor), Delta Airlines (Official Airline) and Gillette (Platinum Sponsor). Our key government partners include the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the Government of Ontario, Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Our Industry Partners include Telefilm, Ontario Creates, CMPA, ACTRA, Entertainment Partners Canada, and SIM International. Inside Out is a Canadian Academy qualifying festival and a partner festival of Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program.
About OUTtv
OUTtv is Canada’s national LGBTQI+ television network that offers a compelling mix of drama, comedy, talk and award-winning movies. Their original programming includes The Whole Package, Never Apart TV, Don’t Quit Your Gay Job, Knock Knock Ghost and original documentary strand Outspoken. OUTtv is the exclusive initial license holder for the Canadian broadcasts of RuPaul’s Drag Race, House of Drag and The Boulet Brothers Dragula. OUTtvGo is OUTtv’s streaming platform where subscribers can stream their favorite series and movies and discover new content exclusive to the service. OUTtvGo is available for iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Roku and on web browsers for $3.99 a month. To learn more about OUTtv visit outtv.ca.
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