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 [18] 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 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 theMENA 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 [19].
