New England Film Star Award
The 2020 New England Film Star Award was presented to filmmaker Melissa McClung at the Women in Film / Video New England’s annual meeting in December 2020. See more about Star Award Winners Melissa McClung and 2019 winner Jessica Estelle Huggins.
Also see info on the 2020 finalists and 2019 finalists.

Melissa McClung was awarded the 2nd Annual New England Film Star Award by NewEnglandFilm.com and Women in Film/Video New England.
The New England Film Star Award is an in-kind grant (over $3,000 value!) to be given annually to one filmmaker living in New England for their film/video project. The mission of the award is to benefit a filmmaker who has been marginalized in mainstream cinema due to their race, gender, sexuality, class, able-bodiedness, and/or other factors. The finalists will be announced on NewEnglandFilm.com in October 2020, and the winner will be announced at the Women in Film/Video New England Annual Meeting in November.
The 2020 Call for Proposals is now closed.
It is free to apply. The 2020 jury consists of staff from NewEnglandFilm.com and Women in Film/Video New England, along with our first recipient of the award, Jessica Estelle-Huggins.
See last year’s 2019 Finalists and 2019 Winner, who were honored at the Women in Film/Video New England Annual Meeting in October 2019 at WGBH Boston.
Subscribe in order to receive updates about this award.
2020 Award Partners:
2020 Awardee Receives:
- $650 Rule Boston Camera certificate for equipment rental
- $500 Hunts Photo & Video certificate for equipment rental
- Adobe Creative Cloud 1-year membership
- Catalyst Storieroad 1-year membership
- Women in Film Video New England 1-year membership
- One-on-one script note session with a Stowe Story Labs mentor
- Stage 32 one-hour mentoring call with an executive, one free Stage 32 class, and one free Stage 32 webinar
- Two virtual or in person strategy/consulting sessions with members of the Animus Studios team (including one of the partners)
- A film strategy session with NewEnglandFilm.com Founder Michele Meek via Skype or Zoom
- Free website hosting for 2 years with Media Thinktank
Eligibility Requirements:
- Filmmaker must reside in New England (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire).
- Filmmaker must have a clear project and production plan (any genre, any stage from pre- to post-production) for the grant.
- Filmmaker must articulate in their personal statement how they will benefit from the award as a result of their marginalization by race, gender, sexuality, class, or able-bodiedness, or other factors.
Grant Requirements:
- Awardee must use all services and products awarded by September 1, 2021
- Awardee must complete a short online form progress report by June 1, 2021 and October 1, 2021
- Awardee must list “Support provided by NewEnglandFilm.com” in the award project’s film credits, the website for the film, and on all press releases or publicity materials about the film
How to Apply:
Complete our online application by August 31, 2020. It is strongly suggested that you copy the questions into a separated text file on your computer and work with them there so you do not lose your work.
Deadline:
Extended to September 15, 2020
Grant Notification:
Finalists by October 15, 2020 | Award Winner in November 2020
Subscribe for updates. If you have questions or problems, you can email michele@newenglandfilm.com.