Colin Higgins Foundation partners with film festivals to offer LGBTQ+ youth filmmakers grants to support their professional development.
In 2023, the Colin Higgins Foundation will partner with Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world. Colin Higgins Foundation will award three filmmakers with $15,000 grants to support their professional development in the film industry.
To be considered for the 2023 Colin Higgins Foundation Youth Filmmaker grant, LGBTQ+ youth 25 years old or younger can submit a short film for consideration to Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival here. The Late Submission Deadline is February 12, 2023. The Extended Submission Deadline is March 1, 2023.
2023 Winners
Stay tuned! Winners will be announced at the Frameline film festival in June 2023.
2022 Winners – in partnership with the Outfest Film Festival
Eliana Pipes is a queer, Black/white/Puerto Rican artist based in her hometown of Los Angeles. She is a playwright, filmmaker and performer who wrote and directed the animated short film ¡Nails! which was originally a live action project that she reimagined after COVID halted production. She has been awarded the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and her play DREAM HOU$E had a world premiere triple co-production with the Alliance Theater, Long Wharf Theater, and Baltimore Center Stage.
Alexis G. Zall is 24 years old, self identifies as queer and resides in Los Angeles. She is a young & cutting-edge creator who wrote and directed the short film the beginning & the middle. Her work explores the central question of: what now? with characters who have experienced life-changing situations, such as coming out or preceding trauma. She began posting YouTube videos when she was 13 years old and cultivated an audience over a decade that has grown to more than one million subscribers and over 81 million total views on her self-titled channel. She directed and starred in a branded commercial for Google, developed a half-hour comedy for FX and an original pilot with Kay Cannon producing. In front of the camera, Zall had a memorable guest star on RAMY’s first season, heavily recurred on THE GOLDBERGS and was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Digital Series for her work on ZAC & MIA.
Jacob Roberts is 25 years old, self identifies as a bisexual man and lives in Los Angeles. Jacob’s films tell off-beat stories about sex and sexuality. Jacob wrote, directed, and performed in Half because he was upset that pop culture “sucks at showing what it’s like to be bisexual.” He wanted to see a story that went beyond stereotypes of bi people as confused or promiscuous and portrayed the reality of being bisexual. So, he decided to write that story himself.
