Firelight Media is a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
company founded by filmmaker
Stanley Nelson
Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. (born June 7, 1951) is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences.
He is a recipient of the 2013 N ...
and Marcia Smith. The company is located in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
History
Firelight Media began in 1998 as an independent non-profit documentary production company that produced stories on topics that are typically underrepresented in the mainstream media, with most films airing nationally on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
. In 2008, Firelight Media transitioned to focusing on supporting emerging filmmakers, while Firelight Films was launched as the new for-profit documentary production company led by Stanley Nelson.
The Documentary Lab
The Documentary Lab is the flagship program of Firelight Media. It is an 18-month fellowship program that offers support to emerging filmmakers of color to complete their films and gain national distribution. Participants receive a $25,000 grant toward their projects as well as customized mentorship from prominent leaders in the documentary world, professional development workshops, and networking opportunities.
Firelight Media films
* ''Freedom Bags'' (1990)
* ''Schools for A New Society'' (1993)
* ''Puerto Rico: A Right to Choose'' (1994)
* ''The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords'' (1999)
* ''
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind'' (2000)
* ''Running the Campaign for City Council'' (2002)
* ''
The Murder of Emmett Till'' (2003)
* ''A Place of Our Own'' (2004)
* ''Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise'' (2004)
* ''
Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice'' (2005)
* ''Faces of Change'' (2005)
* ''
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple'' (2006)
* ''CNN Presents High Stakes'' (2006)
* ''Wounded Knee'' (2009)
* ''Immigration Part 1: Battleground Arizona'' (2009)
* ''Immigration Part II: Raid in New Bedford'' (2009)
* ''Immigration Part III: Guest Workers in the Gulf'' (2009)
* ''Arise: the Battle over Affirmative Action'' (2010)
* ''
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions ''Morgan v. Virginia' ...
'' (2010)
External links
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Film production companies of the United States
Documentary film production companies
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