Media Fellowship

We’re fond of saying indie is more A24 than a16z. One funds startups like a big studio cranking out blockbusters from central casting while the other is looking for more untold stories, niche content, or overlooked talent with the potential to blow up.

What can be true of startups can be true of startup stories too. And we’d like to help change that with a small grant program to find, support, and distribute budding filmmakers, Tiktokers, Instagrammers, influencers, AI prompt engineers, and individual creatives to tell these stories of untold pasts and unlimited futures. What Vice did for culture, we’d like to do for the culture of startups and entrepreneurship.

What do these stories look like? You tell us!

The instinct when evaluating a program like this is to ask or anticipate what we might want to see. But that would be missing the point. The point is to encouraged and support the work you can’t not do. The ideas that you can’t shake. The thing you really want to exist, but no one is making it so it might as well be you.

From Gonzo journalism to fictional entrepreneurial tales, from newly formatted funding competitions to investigative journalism and documentary-style profiles of individuals, companies or movements, we want all forms of ambitious visual storytelling to educate and inspire the next generations of startup founders.

— Up to $5,000 to make your thing

— A Creative Producer to keep you accountable on dates and deadlines and to support you through design, editing, feedback, and expertise

— Access to our network to help unlock doors that may be locked to you right now

— Distribution through indie promotional channels

— Inclusion within our freelancers community

— Permission to start

What we Offer

How to Apply

To be considered for a grant, send us an overview of the thing you’d like to create and a portfolio highlighting any of the past work you’ve done that will inform your pitch.

Get Started

FRequently asked questions

  • You have an idea for something you want to make and a story you want to tell that you just can’t shake.

  • You getting started. We’ll want to see a completed project by the end, but what you need to get there is more or less up to you.

  • Accountability, advice, and a sounding board if you need it. We’re open to more support, but the project will need to warrant the work.

  • A blend of excitement about the idea, strength inherent in the portfolio of past work, and a dose of vibes.

  • Some ideas take longer than others to realize. We’ll expect progress on a weekly basis, but we’re not going to babysit you. If you are the type of person who needs external pressure to stay on top of making your dream thing, we’re not the right partner for you.

  • Work that proves you’re the right person to make your thing. Your excitement for the idea should be obvious and contagious.

  • If something is working, we’re open to partnering to take it further. If we can help monetize it, we’ll split the revenue 50/50.