Doc Dev't Fellowship - Women in Film & Video DC

Doc Dev’t Fellowship

Women in Film & Video DC ⟩ Doc Dev’t Fellowship

Women in Film & Video (WIFV) provides a Documentary Development Fellowship program, exclusively available to members of WIFV. This program will give documentary filmmakers a safe space to learn about the ecosystem for indie docs during a nine-month program of 3-4 workshops/month to support fellows in taking a documentary idea from early stages to closer to production. Among the topics presented will be Producing, Budgeting, Building Crews, Raising Funds, Securing Licenses, Distribution. This program embeds accessibility as part of the framework for the filmmaking process, while also providing access to top-notch programming, networking, and mentorship support.

Congrats to the 2026 Fellows

Ted Everett, HEY, THIS IS ADAM!
Sara Pearl Kenigsberg, NOT OKAY
Alexandra Korba & Jacob Miller, ALL THE LAND’S A STAGE
Loren Noble, INTO THE CANYON
Kara Panowitz, UNJUST COMPENSATION
Khadijah Wilson, CARE AT THE CRISIS POINT

Congrats to the 2025 Fellows

Samantha Aben, PINBOY (wt)
Mia Boccella, BLIND EQUESTRIANS
Valeria Massarelli, DISTRICT OF PUPUSAS
Erin Powell, STRANDS OF RESISTANCE
Amelia Ross, THE AMERICAN DREAM INTERRUPTED

Congrats to the 2024 Fellows

Lorraine M. Blackwell, HEMP LADIES ON THE GROW
Linda Harris, DOODLING FOR DEMOCRACY
Jackie Perez, LA TAMALADA OF LOMA PARK
Kimberley Spire-Oh, A BAD DAY

From April-December fellows will receive individual feedback on their project in addition to engaging in fellowship with their cohort. Every Tuesday, fellows will receive programming and networking with doc experts or time for reflection within their cohort on core principles in documentary filmmaking. Those programs not consisting of individual feedback will be open to the public.

Requirements and Eligibility:

-Fellows must be 18 years of age or older
-Fellows must be proficient in English, both written and spoken
-Fellows must be a member of WIFV or FWD-DOC
-Fellows must commit part-time (about 8 hours a week) to the fellowship throughout the nine-month term, from April 2027 to mid-December 2027.
-If selected as a WIFV Documentary Development Fellow, you must remain a WIFV member in good standing for the duration of the fellowship.

The application deadline for 2027 is 5:00 pm on Monday, February 15. There is a $50 application fee. After paying the application fee, you will receive a link to the application form in your payment confirmation. You will submit required documents as an attachment to the application form. Get started with your application here. If you have application questions or accessibility needs, email Melissa Houghton, WIFV Executive Director, at director@wifv.org.

2026 Schedule

March 2026 – Fellows were notified of their selection. They should plan to devote 15-20 hours/month to the program including meetings and revisions. Meetings will be held via Zoom. Expect to block out Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 pm eastern time! Mentors and Fellows will provide feedback monthly to identify additional subject matter needs.

April 2026 – Think Like A Producer Masterclass; Identify Your Audience; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

May 2026 – Prepare a Doc Common Core Application; Develop a Letter of Inquiry and your Pitch; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

June 2026 – Budgeting Masterclass; Prepare and Review Budgets; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

July 2026 – Legal Issues: Releases, Life Rights, Archival Licensing, Fair Use; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

August 2026 – Film Safely Masterclass; How to Build Your Crew and Lead Your Team; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

September 2026 – Distribution Masterclass; Planning for Film Festivals; Distribution Ecosystem, including film markets and public television; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

October 2026 – Pitch Deck Masterclass and revisions; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

November 2026 – Refine and Practice Pitches; cohort meeting; mentor check-in.

December 2026 – Make Your Pitch; Mentors review final presentation materials; final evaluations; congratulations and networking.

Who’s Involved?

Cathie Saadeh, Esq.

Day Al-Mohamed, Producer

Laura Seltzer-Duny, Impact Producer

Libby Richman, Producer

Patricia Aufderheide, Scholar on Fair Use in media creation

Judith Snyderman, Archival Researcher

Andrea Passafiume, Film Festival Consultant

Kate Pearson, managing director, MPT Programming & Acquisitions Division

Seed and Spark

Sara Elizabeth Timmins, Life Out Loud Productions

and others TBA

Application Process

Application process starts here. There is a $50 application fee. Applicants must be WIFV Members in good standing. Application deadline for the 2027 is February 15, 2027.

Applications are to be submitted electronically by 5:00 pm (eastern time) by the published deadline date. Application process starts here. The applicant must provide the following as one pdf attached to the application form: