Firelight Media & Firelight Films

Firelight is a premier destination for non-fiction cinema by and about communities of color, co-founded by filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith. Firelight Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting emerging filmmakers of color and cultivating audiences for their work. Firelight Media’s artist programs include the Documentary Lab, an 18-month fellowship that supports emerging filmmakers of color; and Groundwork Regional Lab, which supports early stage filmmakers in the American south, midwest, and U.S. Territories. Most recently, Firelight Media has launched the William Greaves Fund, its first international fund, which supports mid-career BIPOC filmmakers in the research and development stages of their second or third feature-length documentary; and the Impact Campaign Fund, which addresses a resource gap in the nonfiction space for impact and audience engagement-related projects by and for communities of color in the U.S. Other new initiatives include Beyond Resilience, a series of curated conversations that explore the challenges, strategies, and experiences of creating and distributing work during a time of crisis; and In the Making, in partnership with PBS American Masters, a series of 8 short documentary films directed by BIPOC filmmakers – most of whom are Firelight Media Documentary Lab alumni – highlighting the work of emerging BIPOC artists. Firelight Films is a documentary production company founded by award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson. Firelight Films documentaries have garnered multiple Primetime Emmys, Peabodys, and Sundance awards. Among them, Attica; Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre; Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy; Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool; and The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution. In addition to a focus on excellence in filmmaking, Firelight Films develops strategies, partnerships, and materials to reach and engage diverse audiences and maximize the impact of documentary films.