CPB funds Jacquie Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund
Grants $300,000 to Help Diverse Filmmakers
NEW ORLEANS (May 8, 2018) — To honor the memory of pioneering filmmaker Jacquie Jones, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will provide a grant of $300,000 for the Jacquie Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund to help aspiring diverse filmmakers produce content for public media. Black Public Media will administer the scholarship program.
“Through the Jacquie Jones Scholarship Fund, CPB will be encouraging a new generation of storytellers inspired by Jacquie’s work to be brave, creative and innovative,” said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison. “We are looking forward to seeing their work on all platforms through public media.”
Jacquie Jones, who passed away in January at age 52, was an award-winning filmmaker who served as executive director from 2005-2014 of National Black Programming Consortium, what is now Black Public Media. She received two Peabody Awards for her documentary and television work, including one for 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School, part of CPB’s American Graduate initiative. She also founded the New Media Institute, which trained more than 500 professionals in using digital and web tools; and the Public Media Corps, which connected minority and low-income communities with broadband public media resources and social media tools.
Video: Remembering Jacquie Jones
The Jacquie Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund, announced at the PBS Annual Meeting in New Orleans, will award grants from $20,000 to $100,000 to support diverse producers of multi-platform content for public media distribution. Black Public Media will manage the fund and will include support for non-fiction shorts, feature length, web series, 360-VR and podcasts.
“This scholarship is inspired by the life and work of Jacquie Jones. It will help diverse content creators serving the public media audiences through programming that encourages dialogue, nurtures respect and promotes understanding,” said Leslie Fields-Cruz, Executive Director of Black Public Media.
Information on how to apply will be announced in August. To learn more, visit www.blackpublicmedia.org
About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn, and subscribe for email updates.
About Black Public Media
Black Public Media (BPM), formerly the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), is committed to enriching our democracy by educating, enlightening, empowering and engaging the American public. The nonprofit supports diverse voices by developing, producing and distributing innovative media about the black experience and by investing in visionary content makers. BPM provides quality content for public media outlets, including, among others, PBS and PBS.org and blackpublicmedia.org, as well as other platforms, while training and mentoring the next generation of black filmmakers. Founded in 1979, BPM produces the AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange documentary series and manages the 360 Incubator + Fund, a funding and training initiative designed to accelerate the production of important black serial and interactive content.
Media Contact: Tish King
202-879-9658