The Art of Film Funding

Send us Fan Mail

Dr. Dawson Church is the author of several influential books, including The Genie in Your Genes, Mind to Matter, Bliss Brain, and Spiritual Intelligence. His work explores how our thoughts, emotions, stress responses, and states of consciousness influence our lives.

He's also the founder of EFT Universe and the National Institute for Integrative Healthcare. His research has explored meditation, stress reduction, and Emotional Freedom Techniques, commonly known as EFT tapping. His book The Genie in Your Genes has been updated in a special twentieth-anniversary edition, bringing together new research on the relationship between our emotional experiences and biology.

_________________________

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

What if you could stop waiting for Hollywood to discover you and learn how to fund your films, pitch investors and buyers, protect your creative vision, and build a successful filmmaking career on your own terms? Our guest is Nicki Micheaux, an accomplished actress, award-winning writer and director, producer, and founder of Elevate Creative Talents. Nicki built a remarkable acting career starring in the television series Lincoln Heights, earning three consecutive NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

After successfully bringing her own feature film to audiences, Nicki recognized something important: Creative talent is only part of what filmmakers need to succeed. They must also understand funding, producing, pitching, distribution, and the business of entertainment. That realization inspired her to establish Elevate Creative Talents, where she teaches and mentors creatives who want to take greater ownership of their careers.
_________

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Steven Lifshey, an award-winning editor, director, and filmmaker with more than 30 years of professional post-production experience. Steven has worked with major television networks, including A&E, AMC, Discovery, Showtime, Comedy Central, and Food Network. His credits include editing episodes of Hoarders, Tiny House Nation, and Cold Case Files, along with promotional work for acclaimed television series including The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Dexter, and Chopped.

(https://stevelifsheyeditor.vids.io/videos) Steven’s videos and email: LifsheyS@gmail.com
_______________

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Dana Protsyshak is the founder of Dana Productions, the LA Vertical Drama Market, and Vert-I-Go Media, a vertical drama platform designed with creators and community in mind.

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Apple TungFong is the founder and CEO of CineLot, a technology platform designed to connect the many stages of the film-festival process—from submissions and judging to programming, screenings, filmmaker communication, and opportunities beyond the festival. Today, through CineLot and its partnerships, Apple is also helping bring professional film-identification and content-protection tools within reach of independent filmmakers.

We are also joined by Marc Gray who is Chief Executive Officer of SonicOrigin, the provenance infrastructure company. A serial entrepreneur with a proven track record. Under his leadership SonicOrigin was named a Fast Company World Changing Ideas winner in 2026 for digital content authentication.

This is an important conversation because making a great film is only part of our job. We also have to protect it, position it and find a way for audiences to see it.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Send us Fan Mail

Garrett Patten is a versatile actor, director, and filmmaker known for his work on Self Custody. As an active force in the West Coast creative community, Garrett builds projects at the intersection of independent film, visual storytelling, and contemporary culture. He explores narrative depth both in front of and behind the camera, bringing fresh creative energy and strong industry connections to every project.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Send us Fan Mail

Today we have an important conversation about one of the most critical aspects of film funding. Your trailer. This is by far your most important funding asset. Our guest today is Carole Joyce, Vice President of From the Heart Productions and Director of our Roy Dean and the Carole Dorothy Joyce Grants. Carole has the unique opportunity to see over 500 trailers a year from applications for the Roy W Dean grant. She knows what impact a trailer has on a judge and winning grants.

Carole Joyce is an award-winning film and television producer, documentary filmmaker, and nonprofit executive with more than thirty years of leadership in independent film. She serves as Vice President and Director of the Roy W. Dean Grants at From the Heart Productions, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit she has helped steward since its earliest years, and as Chief Executive Officer of Authentic Vision Consulting, Inc.

A graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors, Ms. Joyce launched her career as a student documentarian with the award-winning film Survivors. She is the granddaughter of Roy W. Dean, the producer whose legacy is preserved in the grant program she now directs.

As a television producer, Ms. Joyce has overseen production of more than 150 cable programs, including the series Healthstyles, which featured guests such as Deepak Chopra and Dr. Andrew Weil, and Filmmakers, now preserved in the National Archives. Earlier in her career, she developed projects at the Garamella/Fitzgerald Advertising Agency for then-emerging directors David Fincher, Mark Romanek, and Jessie Dylan, pilot series for Joy Behar and Rita Rudner, and collaborated with Haim Saban and former Fox president Edgar J. Scherick. She subsequently served as Vice President of Studio Film & and Tape, with annual sales in excess of ten million dollars.

Her recent producing credits include the documentary Living UN DONE (2024), recipient of two 2026 Gold Telly Awards — for Documentary Film and Social Impact Film — as well as the Grand Jury Award at the Ethos Film Festival and Best Short Documentary at the Paris Film Festival. She is Executive Producer of the award-winning short Stairway to the Stars (2021), starring Sean Young and Quinton Aaron.

Through the Roy W. Dean Grant program, Ms. Joyce reviews hundreds of applications annually. Two named programs at From the Heart Productions bear her name: the Carole Dorothy Joyce Grant for Student Filmmakers and the Carole Joyce Award for Excellence in Documentary Storytelling. She co-instructs FTHP's Learn Producing class and serves as an Advisor to the Authentic Global Film Festival and a Judge for the Ethos Film Festival.

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Description:

Today we're talking with Simone Pero, an Emmy-nominated producer and the founder of For Impact Productions. Simone helps mission-driven artists move beyond traditional funding models and build real ecosystems of support around issue-driven work, through her signature Artists for Impact™ cohort program. She's also a sought-after public speaker and writer on the role of art and creative expression in social change. Her website is http://www.forimpactproductions.com/, and you can download her free guide “Your North Star for Social Impact" at http://www.forimpactproductions.com/guide/.

Send us Fan Mail

Our guest today is Carole Joyce, Vice President of From the Heart Productions and Director of our grant programs, including the Roy W. Dean Grants and the Carole Dorothy Joyce Grants. Carole has the unique opportunity to see grant applications from the other side of the table. She knows what makes an application memorable, what causes an application to lose momentum, and what filmmakers can do to communicate the heart, purpose, and potential of their projects more effectively.

Grant application: https://fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards

Setting goals & your mission as a filmmaker: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/n3m632njjeriwwgfdir2t/Your-Mission-and-Goals-as-Filmmaker.mp3?rlkey=21n33hxu3cbw2s46mvk6pdeyc&st=5u0fvooq&e=1&dl=0

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Today, we are talking with Irina Chernikina, producer/director/writer, about one of the most important—and often misunderstood—roles in independent filmmaking: the producer. What does an independent producer actually do? How does a producer guide a film from its earliest development through production and post-production?

The Film Funding Group event takes place Thursday, 8-6-26 at 4pm PT / 5 pm MT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET

Learn More at https://www.facebook.com/groups/filmfundinggroup

The Event Recording will be posted in "featured" section at https://www.facebook.com/groups/filmfundinggroup

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Over more than 30 years, Xackery Irving has produced hundreds of hours of nonfiction programming for The New York Times Television, History, and National Geographic. For his work on Brace For Oblivion, he was granted the p.g.a. mark by the Producers Guild of America. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Employment Committee of the Producers Guild of America.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when a neighborhood asks for one dangerous street to be made safer—and discovers that the fight is really about power, money and who gets to shape the future of a city? Stay with us as filmmaker Ben Wolf reveals how he transformed that battle into his feature documentary directing debut, Changing Lanes.

http://www.changinglanesdoc.com/

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Today, we are speaking with award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, and storyteller Betsy Murphy.

Her documentaries have screened at international film festivals and appeared on Hulu, Showtime, and Amazon Prime. Her projects have also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The UK Sunday Times, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and Sports Illustrated.

Betsy is also the author of eight books, including Autobiography of an Orgasm, Grief Glimmers Grace, and Write On: A Daily Writing Practice for Anyone with a Story to Tell.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Alternative ideas for Outreach distribution for the documentary, Third Degree Burnout – A Survivor’s Guide.

In 2020, Nivi Jaswal-Wirtjes lost her father to COVID-19 while struggling through her own burnout after 15 years in high-pressure global marketing and strategy roles across consumer packaged goods, life sciences, and media. That dual reckoning — grief and exhaustion — became the catalyst for her life’s new direction: uncovering the connections between personal well-being, food systems, and planetary health.

She founded The Virsa Foundation Inc., and. the JIVINITI Research and Advocacy Program, a Boston-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit uniting experts in anthropology, psychology, lifestyle medicine, and creative advocacy to design plant-powered, climate-conscious initiatives that prevent chronic illness and foster resilience. Nivi also led The GAIA Study, the largest U.S. nonprofit study on burnout, lifestyle, and nutrition, conducted with Ipsos Public Affairs.

Her research inspired the award-winning feature documentary “Third Degree Burnout – A Survivor’s Guide”, which won Best Documentary Feature awards at the 2025 Greenpoint Film Festival, 2025 Seatte Film Festival, 2025 Show Low Arizona Film Festival, and several others, and continues to screen internationally. As a speaker, she has shared her work at King’s College Hospital, Harvard Kennedy School, University of California Berkeley, University of California Santa Barbara and the University of the Arts London.

Through research, filmmaking, and advocacy, Nivi transforms personal loss into a mission to heal both people and planet.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Today, we're delighted to welcome Jessica Wrabel, a versatile and respected actress and producer with more than two decades of experience in television, film, and theater. Today we'll discuss Jessica's journey as a producer, how she financed her film, the unique opportunities, and challenges of faith-based filmmaking, and what she's learned about bringing an independent film from concept to audience.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Deborah Patz’s book, Film Production Management 101, has become one of the industry's most respected resources and is often described as the “essential roadmap to the business side of production.” The newly updated third edition covers everything from budgeting and scheduling to respectful workplaces and sustainable production practices. Deborah covers important producing skills in this podcast.

Deborah is also the author of “Write! Shoot! Edit!” for teens - both books published worldwide by MWP Productions. She has worked in the industry since the mid-80s, with a filmography that spans micro-budget to international co-productions, from family and children's programming to science fiction extravaganzas and feature films of various budget sizes with companies such as Disney, Lucasfilm, Alliance/Atlantis, Nelvana, MCA/Universal, and the IMAX space team. Currently she's working in business affairs at Telefilm Canada and teaches filmmaking skills based on her books. When not involved in books and films, she sails with her family in Pacific Northwest.

http://www.debpatz.com

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Rae Shaw is a Black female writer-director whose work has been evolving to stretch the boundaries of how Black women see and are seen in the world. Her work concentrates on lifting the experiences of Black women and women of color by telling stories that dimensionalize us in spaces that have sought to diminish, exploit and punish us through stereotypes. Her screenplays have won honors at top international screenwriting competitions, and her film work has screened at top film festivals. She is the author of the recent screenwriting book, THE SHORT, from MWP, the foremost publisher of independent filmmaking books.

Wicked Lovely Films - http://www.wickedlovelyfilms.com/

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Check out our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE!

This platform brings together all of From the Heart’s Courses, Classes, Services and Resources in one convenient central hub.

Learn more and sign up at https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Use Coupon Code AFFPOD10 for 10% anything in the platform.

Today, we’re talking about the next evolution of that mission: From the Heart THRIVE — a new educational and membership platform designed specifically to help independent filmmakers grow, connect, and succeed in today’s rapidly changing industry.

Adam Heyes is a multidisciplinary creative and business developer, working primarily with independent filmmakers. Adam serves as Director of Development at From the Heart Productions, and has been working with the company since 2012.

He helps the organization in many way, and supports our clients with pitch decks, design, editing, film and event production, website development, marketing, crowdfunding course design, and fundraising. Adam manages several programs for From the Heart Clients including our LargoAI reports and our Grant Advance donor research system. He designed our updated website and Fiscal Sponsorship Dashboard, and now our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE

As a producer, Adam is attached to multiple projects in development and release, including the forthcoming documentary I Believe You, and the feature film When the Voiceless Roar. Adam currently also currently serves as President of a new company called IndieHeart, which provides AI based services and proprietary platforms specifically designed for independent filmmakers.

Adam graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA’s Honors Program with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Human Complex Systems, and holds a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.

Send us Fan Mail

Joanne Butcher has shaped the careers of more than a hundred independent filmmakers as a Consulting Producer, helping them navigate the business realities that define success in the industry. Her deep experience in fundraising and distribution has supported the completion and release of dozens of feature films, and she has been directly involved in bringing over 25 features to screens around the world.

What sets her apart is the way she empowers artists to evolve into savvy industry professionals—storytellers who not only understand craft, but who can confidently communicate with investors, funders, and distributors. She has supported creators at every stage of their journey, from first-time short film directors to teams building multimillion-dollar productions that attract top-tier talent. Joanne is a relentless champion for diverse and emerging voices, pushing open doors and dismantling long-standing barriers within the filmmaking ecosystem. Through her leadership, guidance, and industry advocacy, she continues to help filmmakers transform their passion into sustainable careers—ensuring that the stories that need to be told find their audiences, globally.

Her 2024 book, *Getting Your Film Funded, Produced and Distributed Globally: A Seven Step System — The Film Box Office S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Formula, distills her two-decade methodology into a complete roadmap for indie filmmakers. http://joannebutcher.com/

Link to her calendar:
https://www.filmmakersuccess.com/book-a-call

Current Films In Distribution
https://www.filmmakersuccess.com/filmsindistribution-

Website
https://www.filmmakersuccess.com/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/joannefilm/

Facebook Group
Getting Your Film Funded, Produced, and Distributed Globally
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1588227901352330

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannebutcher/

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/

Send us Fan Mail

Carole Dean interviews her daughter, Carole Joyce — a two-time Telly Award–winning producer and Vice President of From The Heart Productions. With decades of experience helping filmmakers develop, finance, and promote independent films, Carole Joyce has guided countless projects from idea to screen and has become a respected mentor within the independent film community.

Together, they explore how filmmakers can create intimate, inspiring fundraising events that not only raise money, but also build relationships, generate momentum, attract new supporters, and help bring important stories to life.

Join our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE and get free classes on film funding: https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/