New England Film Star Award

The New England Film Star Award is a grant to be given annually to one filmmaker living in New England for a film/video project. The mission of the award is to benefit a filmmaker who has been been marginalized in mainstream cinema due to their race, gender, sexuality, class, able-bodiedness, or other factors.

The 2019 Finalists were announced in Fall 2020, and the Winner was presented the award at the WIFVNE Annual Meeting in October 2019 at WGBH Boston.

The 2020 Call for Proposals will be available in mid-July 2020. Subscribe for updates to be alerted when the call opens. It is free to apply. The 2020 jury will consist of staff from NewEnglandFilm.com and Women in Film/Video New England, along with our first recipient of the award.

2019 Award Partners:


2019 Awardee Received:

  • Rule / Boston Camera $650 certificate for rental
  • Hunts Photo & Video $500 certificate for rental
  • Talamas $300 certificate for rental
  • Adobe Creative Cloud 1-year membership
  • Women in Film Video New England 1-year membership
  • Two in-person strategy/consulting sessions with members of the Animus Studios team (including one of the partners) at Animus Studios in Riverside, Rhode Island
  • Event services and hosting for a public/private screening event at Jupiter Hall in Manchester, New Hampshire
  • A hair and make-up session with Sydney Hunt, MUA and a private photo shoot culminating in one professional photo by Stephanie Alvarez Ewens at her studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
  • A film strategy session with NewEnglandFilm.com Founder Michele Meek via Skype or Zoom

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 2020
  • Awardee must complete a short online form progress report in March 2020 and September 2020
  • 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:

Grant will be posted mid-July 2020 with a due date of August 31, 2020. Subscribe for updates.

Grant Notification:

October 15, 2020

If you have questions or problems, you can email michele@newenglandfilm.com.