DIRECT SUPPORT
Rapid relief grants of up to $500 will be awarded to support our community, prioritizing the consortium of companies, venues, and individuals working in NYC independent theater (Off-Off-Broadway in theater houses of 99 seats or less), operating with budgets under $250,000. Applications from artists of color, LGBTQIA+, disabled and immigrant/undocumented artists will be prioritized. We will award grants on an on-going basis until our funds run out. Grants can be requested via a simple online application (LINK HERE: https://forms.gle/pLm7bLhKQE8AbpDn6) . We will do our best to turn review and processing of these applications around quickly. Grantees will be asked to give a short report about the use of funds.
EMERGENCY RELIEF
Based on responses to the impact of COVID-19 in our community, we are allocating our Community Resource Funding and Urgency Funding to support our indie theater community, including our 546 active members, in the following additional ways:
1- Supporting paid, digital Live-streaming of Independent Theater in order to keep our art practice alive, accessible and operational to support the living of NYC-based independent theater artists and companies. Technical and union-concerns are being addressed, but our goal is to facilitate such live-streaming ASAP. We also encourage our community to stay home and work virtually, using freely accessible platforms such as Jitsi Meet.
2- Creating an “Indie Theater-Makers Wellbeing Group” via Facebook to promote community-wide conversations, focused on well-being. Indie Theater Fund will seek professional counseling to facilitate these digital conversations.
3- Strategic fundraising advice is available in partnership with Sarah Benvenuti from Benvenuti Arts, who is available for 30 minute, initial calls at sarah@benvenutiarts.com.
4- Legal consultations TBD, to address the legal needs of our community following the cancellation of theater productions, (un)employment, and potential liability concerns related to the spread of COVID-19 in the sector.
5- While the economic impact of COVID-19 affects us all at an individual level, the Board of Indie Theater Fund has partnered with NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief Fund and allocated additional funds to support the needs of low-income, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary, queer artists and freelancers whose livelihoods are being affected by this pandemic in NYC. Financial support can be requested from NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief Fund through the following survey.
Despite the multiple, urgent needs of the community, the Board of the Indie Theater Fund has determined to allocate its resources (and additional raised funds) to these core, strategic priorities described above. We believe this is where we can provide the most systematic relief to our vast community.
As you know information is changing on an hourly basis. We will be responsive to those changes and will communicate with you throughout. If you have any questions please email info@indietheaterfund.org
