Sony has just announced a successor to the “Alpha Female” program. The new program titled as Alpha Female+ offers more than $90,000 in total funding to help women filmmakers to break the glass ceiling. Read the highlights down below.

Grant winners will receive $5,000 to fund the project, a Sony full-frame camera and lens to shoot on, Adobe software to edit with, and the opportunity to have your project seen worldwide by countless creators who will be inspired to create alongside you.

Sony

Women as filmmakers: Breaking the glass ceiling

Here, in Y.M.Cinema Magazine we’ve written a decent amount of articles about the power of women and their contribution to our industry. We truly think that women can work and participate as outstanding cinematographers and storytellers. For instance, read the article: Women Cinematographers and The Oscar: Time to Break the Ceiling Glass, which describes the tough pathway women have been going through in order to reach impressive achievements in the most demanding professions in the content creation industry (directors, cinematographer, etc). Panavision is being recognized as one of the enhancers in regard to helping and assisting females to make progress and success in the industry. And now, Sony has joined the party as well with its Alpha Female+ program.

Sony’s Alpha Female program

According to Sony, from its beginnings in 2018, the Sony Alpha Female program has grown into a community of diverse creators rallying around common goals of inclusion and representation. As the extraordinary events of 2020 amplify the voices for these goals, change how we work, create and stay connected, it’s time for the Alpha Female program to evolve with plus to enhance the female and minority perspective in photography, videography, and film. Based on the success of the program, sony has now initiated part II, titled Alpha Female+. Scroll down to learn more about it. 

Introducing Alpha Female+ with a renewed focus on the rapidly-growing community, more grants, and sponsored projects, and more opportunities to engage and connect. With a renewed commitment to our goal of providing resources and a platform to creators of all genders to further the female and minority perspective in photography, videography, and film.

Sony

Alpha Female+: More than $90,000 in total funding

As stated by Sony: “Introducing Alpha Female+ with a renewed focus on the rapidly-growing community, more grants, and sponsored projects, and more opportunities to engage and connect. With a renewed commitment to our goal of providing resources and a platform to creators of all genders to further the female and minority perspective in photography, videography, and film, Alpha Female+ is poised to reach and support more people than ever”. Watch the program’s commercial video below:

Prizes and funding

Twelve $5,000 Project-Based Grants With an Additional $3,000 In Sony Equipment, which makes a total of more than $90,000 in funding.

How to apply

These are the instructions by Sony: “If you have a photo or video project idea that you believe in, we want to help you bring it to life. We will be awarding 12 grants to 12 photographers or videographers that demonstrate a clear vision and purpose of a project that supports the Alpha Female+ mission and can be completed in one month. Grant winners will receive $5,000 to fund the project, a Sony full-frame camera and lens to shoot on, Adobe software to edit with, and the opportunity to have your project seen worldwide by countless creators who will be inspired to create alongside you.”

Schedule of the program

Applications are open now and rolling submissions are accepted until February 2, 2021. Grant winners will be announced every two weeks beginning mid-late September. Click this link to get to the program’s page.

Alpha Female Community

To contribute to the Alpha Female+ Community, you can join the Alpha Female Facebook group, create a public Creator Profile on alphauniverse.com, follow @sonyalphafemale on Instagram and tag your posts with #sonyalphafemale for a chance to have your work featured.

Initial thoughts

First of all, Alpha Female is a great initiative to encourage and amplify the presence of women in our industry. The funds constitute a major incentive for female content creators to utilize their talent and vision. Make no mistake, our industry is comprised of 99% men, without any logical reason. It’s time that more camera companies will follow this kind of initiative, and to help motivate women to get their foot in the door and become influencers in the filmmaking world.