Distribution Advocates , a collective that aims to reclaim power for independent storytellers, has launched the FilmADE Fund. The program seeks to support up to 30 independent film releases a year by offering financial support, skills training and industry collaborations for U.S. theatrical and non-theatrical releases.

Applications for the fund open on Thursday, offering grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to finance marketing strategies and distribution experiments. The initiative is committed to fostering a fundamental shift in the industry to enhance how independent films reach and engage their audiences.

FilmADE, which stands for Film Audience Development and Engagement, operates through three initiatives: providing grants for audience development and distribution experiments, film team training and data reporting for field-building.

The program also provides strategic training sessions to equip filmmakers with essential skills such as audience design, social media engagement, visual asset creation, and publicity strategy development. Grantees will subsequently report on their experiments, which the program administrators will synthesize into case studies, podcast episodes, and field reports.

“We are incredibly proud of the filmmaker-focused efforts of Distribution Advocates that led to the creation of this fund’s structure,” said Amy Hobby, co-founder of Distribution Advocates. “We recognized the need for an ecosystem-level intervention that leverages the creativity, humor, and boldness of independent filmmaking and transforms that energy into audience development and engagement, and we took action.”

Partnerships and educational sessions will be launched throughout the fall and winter of 2024, with a first set of data being released by mid-2025. Information about applying for the grants can be found on the FilmADE Fund website .

(Pictured at the top: Distribution Advocates co-founders Karin Chien, left, Avril Speaks, Carlos Gutierrez, and Amy Hobby host a workshop on distribution innovations .)