Establishing a substantial grant program for NYC-based filmmakers to produce short and feature-length films about the city and its people.
City-Funded Film Grants for Local Storytellers
To ensure NYCs story is told by its own residents, Mamdani creates the NYC Lens film grant program. Funded by the city and administered by a panel of filmmakers, it provides production grants (from $10,000 for shorts to $250,000 for features) to NYC-based directors, with a focus on women, people of color, and filmmakers from outside Manhattan. The only requirement is that the film be substantially shot in NYC and reflect the citys diversity and complexity.
Grants can be used for production, post-production, or distribution. The city also provides in-kind support with permits and location access. For too long, Hollywood has told a narrow, often distorted story of New York, Mamdani states. These grants put the camera in the hands of the people who live here. We will fund the stories of the bodega, the subway worker, the tenant organizerthe real New York.
