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Program Officer 🔥


Catapult Film Fund is dedicated to supporting nonfiction filmmakers with critical early stage funding and mentorship to launch distinctive, story-driven, and cinematic films.

We believe in taking a chance on filmmakers who have ideas for artful and compelling nonfiction films that inspire us to think differently about the world. Every day, we help launch new projects by providing research and development funding for documentary filmmakers because getting films off the ground is incredibly hard.

We embrace supporting filmmakers at a stage where funding for projects is hard to find and considered the riskiest. Without early funding or access to established industry networks, many filmmakers struggle to access the resources needed to make their films. 

We support authentic voices who tell stories with integrity, creativity, and genuinely represent their vision and perspective. Since our founding, we have awarded over $5.4 million in direct grants to filmmakers through our grant and mentorship programs. Our signature program, the Catapult Development Grant, helps filmmakers achieve the momentum they need by creating a visual sample strong enough to help unlock production support. 

In addition to providing funding, Catapult creates opportunities for filmmakers with tailored mentorship at critical moments in the life of their projects, which often spans many years. We serve as advisors and advocates for our community of filmmakers, often introducing them to key stakeholders in the field where they can fund and distribute their work. We are proud to help launch films such as All That Breathes (2022 Sundance Grand Jury Award winner), Crip Camp (2021 Academy Award nominee), The Silence of Others (2020 Goya, Emmy, and Peabody Award winner), and Always In Season (2019 Sundance Festival Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency). 

The Catapult team is comprised of leaders in the documentary field helping shape the way the world sees people's lives through the art of documentary films. 

Catapult is now in an exciting moment of transition and growth. We’re looking for people to join us who are passionate about nonfiction storytelling and committed to contributing to building a more equitable field for documentary film. We pride ourselves on being adaptive, responsive, and believe that each person is an integral part of an eco-system grounded in trust. We offer ample flexibility within our working culture because we believe it leads to a better work-life balance. The team currently works remotely, although our office is available for occasional meetings or for a better home-life balance, if preferred.

Summary

The Program Officer will play a central role on Catapult’s team by supporting the artist development programs: Catapult’s signature development grants, research grants, momentum grants, and mentorship. Through the combination of critically-timed early funding and creative mentorship, Catapult’s artist development programs propel film projects while nurturing the careers of diverse nonfiction storytellers. 

The PO will work to implement and expand these programs through strategic and equitable approaches to grantmaking practices. With support from the Co-Director/Chief Program Officer, this individual will have key responsibility in reviewing and curating film project submissions, serve as a point of contact for filmmakers, help maintain and develop relationships throughout the documentary film industry, and support the development of Catapult’s operational formats. The PO reports to the Co-Director/Chief Program Officer. 

Grantmaking

  • Support the development, implementation, and management of artist programs in collaboration with the programming team. 
  • Review, analyze, and provide recommendations on film proposals and other submissions for grant funding.
  • Review footage of rough and fine cuts with notes; collaborate on creative project fundraising strategies. 
  • Plan and manage programming events such as workshops and panels as needed.
  • Ensure program and partnership effectiveness and quality through consistent monitoring of grantmaking processes; create the resources and evaluation tools needed to support progress reporting and deliverables. 
  • Monitor and manage contracts, fiscal sponsorships, deliverables, report gathering, and media intake.
  • Coordinate grant disbursement with Catapult’s contracted finance firm.
  • Develop and compile the data outlining program strategy, achievements, and impacts as related to programmatic needs. 
  • Participate, source, hire, and onboard the team of application readers.
  • Manage applicant correspondence; provide feedback to applicants as needed.

Mentorship

  • Provide support and maintain positive relationships with current grantees.
  • Strategize with film team on decisions related to the release and distribution for film
  • festivals, sales agents, publicists, and buyers.
  • Develop and facilitate grantee events such as workshops, screenings, and other industry networking convenings.
  • Manage grantee call scheduling calendar.

Industry Relations 

  • Seek, engage, and leverage the ideas, talents and spirit of both the Catapult community and the wider documentary community to build and deepen ongoing involvement in the organization.
  • Help foster relationships with key partners and stakeholders.

Communications 

  • Capture grantee activity to support development and communication efforts by assisting with program materials, funding proposals, articles, social media postings, or other forms of media. 
  • Maintain knowledge of relevant issues in the documentary landscape to help inform colleagues of upcoming topics, news and milestones, and other opportunities to guide communications content planning.

Qualifications

  • A record of accomplishment and experience with a minimum of four years at a film, media, arts, and/or cultural organization is required. 
  • Knowledge and understanding of the independent documentary field is required. 
  • Experience in project management with strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize tasks and self-manage workload is essential.
  • Clear thinking, strong communication, and sophisticated systems and habits for self-organization is essential.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to write clear and analytical content is required.
  • Experience with platforms such as Airtable, Siteleaf, and Google suite of software is ideal

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