PRESENTED BY THE ANNA & JOHN J. SIE FOUNDATION AND GLOBAL DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION
Festival funds and awards | SeriesFest: Season 12 Submissions
In 2024, the Anna & John J. Sie Foundation (AJSF), in partnership with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL), launched the Inclusive Creator Fund to support television projects that feature individuals with intellectual disabilities both in front of and behind the camera. The fund aims to champion and amplify inclusive storytelling by investing in promising projects that highlight the creative contributions of talent with intellectual disabilities in the development of original episodic content.
Creators that meet the eligibility requirements, and wish to be considered for this opportunity, can simply indicate such when submitting their project and they will automatically be considered for the Inclusive Creator Fund.
Applicants’ projects will be reviewed by the Anna & John J. Sie & Global Down Syndrome Foundation and fund recipients will be announced at the SeriesFest Awards Ceremony.
ELIGIBILITY
- Pilots or digital shorts must include at least one person with a diagnosed disability in the cast or crew with priority given to projects inclusive of people with intellectual or cognitive disability in the cast or crew.
- For Pitch-A-Thon submissions, the writer of the unproduced work must have an intellectual or cognitive disability.
- Examples of an intellectual disability include, but are not limited to:
- Down Syndrome
- Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cerebral Palsy
- Developmental Delay
- Fragile X Syndrome
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
- Tourette Syndrome
- Williams Syndrome
- Examples of a cognitive disability include, but are not limited to:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Dementia with Lewy bodies disease
- Epilepsy-related cognitive dysfunction
- Parkinson’s disease-related cognitive dysfunction
- Stroke-related cognitive dysfunction
- Traumatic brain injury
- The cast or crew member with the intellectual or cognitive disability must have a credited role.
- If the project features cast member(s) with intellectual disabilities, they must have a recurring role in the series.
- If the project features cast member(s) with intellectual disabilities, their disability may not be portrayed in a negative or disparaging light.
SERIESFEST FUND OVERVIEW
SERIESFEST FUND OVERVIEW
PRIZES & AWARDS
The creator(s) selected for this opportunity will receive funds to further their career in the television industry.
RIGHTS AND CLEARANCES FOR MUSIC OR OTHER COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
At the time of submission, you are not yet required to obtain all rights and clearances.
If your pilot is selected, you must clear all copyrighted materials before it can be publicly screened. It is the sole responsibility of the entity submitting the project to secure permission from the copyright holder of the material in question, whether it is music, stock footage, or any other elements that could violate an existing copyright Quite often, rights holders offer reduced rates for festivals, so you should contact them directly to avoid any potential rights infringements. You will be required to sign a release stating that materials used in the pilot do not violate any existing copyright.
FINAL SELECTIONS
If your work is selected, you must fulfill the following requirements by the date(s) designated by the SeriesFest:
(1) You must execute a release agreement wherein you:
Indemnify and hold harmless SeriesFest, LLC, its parent company, its affiliates, and subsidiaries and any of their respective directors, officers, employees, and representatives against any claim arising out of exhibition of your film at SeriesFest.
(2) Agree to participate in a reasonable number of customary promotional and publicity activities (including press junkets, telephone interviews, sending press packages, and public appearances to promote the SeriesFest)
(3) You own the project IP and have the rights to any affiliated source material
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
Anna & John J. Sie Foundation
The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation is a leader in funding programs and organizations that are dedicated to improving the lives of people who have Down syndrome. Since its inception in 2005, the Foundation has committed a majority of its corpus to Down syndrome-related grants and endowments, including funding for the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Crnic Institute’s Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome at the Children’s Hospital Colorado. The Crnic Institute is the first academic home that is exclusively dedicated to highest quality basic, clinical and developmental research, medical care, education and advocacy for people with Down syndrome.
Global Down Syndrome Foundation
The Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) is the largest non-profit in the U.S. working to save lives and dramatically improve health outcomes for people with Down syndrome. GLOBAL has donated more than $32 million to establish the first Down syndrome research institute supporting over 400 scientists and over 2,200 patients with Down syndrome from 33 states and 10 countries. Working closely with Congress and the National Institutes of Health, GLOBAL is the lead advocacy organization in the U.S. for Down syndrome research and care. GLOBAL has a membership of over 120 Down syndrome organizations worldwide, and is part of a network of Affiliates – the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the Sie Center for Down Syndrome, and the University of Colorado Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center – all on the Anschutz Medical Campus.GLOBAL’s widely circulated medical publications include Global Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome, Prenatal Testing and Information about Down Syndrome, and the award-winning magazine Down Syndrome World™. GLOBAL also organizes the Be BeautifulBe Yourself Fashion Show, the largest Down syndrome fundraiser in the world.
