Grants and living expenses

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Rob Grauert] “If you get a big grant for a long term project, and this project requires you to quit your job so you can focus on this project, do you work your living expenses into the grant/budget? Or is that stealing/lying/cheating?”

It depends upon the grant, but I for the life of me cannot figure out how it would be underhanded to try to work fulltime on a project you are dedicated to — as is the grantor or they wouldn’t be putting up the money — and not need living expenses.

If you can ever master the art of spearheading a production project without need of food, shelter or any of the usual sundry necessities, there are plenty of people that will want to hire you. You will never be without work from that moment on.

Heck, Aaron might even finally get entrepreneurial and start that business he’s been pondering, and hire you for some of his jobs.

(With apologies to Mark Szusko for stealing his comedy routine.)

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
CEO, CreativeCOW.net

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
– Gandhi

Better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

[Rob Grauert]

Well that is good to hear. I’ve been interested in trying to generate my own content, and that will require a lot of hard work and long hours. So it’s nice to know that working living expenses into a budget is not out of bounds.

Thanks Ron

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com

[Ed Cilley]

What else would the grant money be used for if not to pay the people who work on the project (you or any others)? (Besides equipment rental, tape or other disposables, etc.)

It would not be out of bounds to pay a fair wage for work performed – which includes yourself. The important thing is to budget your project and make sure the funds will provide a finished product that meets the requirements of the grant.

Ed

Avid and FCP Preditor
_________________________________________________
Anything worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
– Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

[Rob Grauert]

“What else would the grant money be used for if not to pay the people who work on the project “

I dunno. I have never received a grant before. I figured grants would cover equipment, paying crew members, travel, etc. I just wasn’t sure if I’d be covered if the project was MY idea – not the person funding the project, ya know.

But hey, if you guys say I’m covered, im psyched.

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com

[Matthew Mcnulty]

I work in Government and have dealt with grants before… is it a Federal grant or private? Feds have very hard rules about do’s and don’ts and reporting on spending and accounting… there will be blood… i mean strings. Read the paper work!

[Rob Grauert]

“is it a Federal grant or private?”

I don’t have any grants yet. I was just wondering how they work in terms of me being able to pay my bills and such. In the future i will be sure to always read the paperwork though.

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com

[Chris Blair]

I spent 3 years in the early 90s making grant supported films. Most grant organziations, be they government, educational or corporate (and those in between), are ok with grantees paying themselves out of grants. However, most if not all granting organizations have unrealistic expectations about what filmmakers should pay themselves.

Time and again the only line item we were ever questioned about was salary for the two principal filmmakers (I had a partner). The National Endowment for the Humanities questioned it, the state arm of the same organization questioned it, Public Television even questioned it. I posted some tips on writing grants for films about a week ago.

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/17/869293

However, it’s probably the most important line item you SHOULD NOT trim. If you cannot live and pay your bills, you certainly won’t get the film made and the granting agencies will have nothing to show for their money. We were young and stupid and we agreed to trim when the granting agencies asked us to. It ended up taking us twice as long to get the films made and salary was a constant source of angst between me and my partner. I was on the side that we should be paid commensurate with producers who had the same level of experience we did (about 8 years at the time), while my partner would’ve lived in a hut and foraged for berries if it allowed her to get the film made.

There’s certainly something to be said for persistance and dedication, but most granting organizations understand that you have to get paid. It’s just that most (if not all) don’t have guidelines or pay scales to judge whether a filmmaker’s salary estimate is accurate and appropriate.

There are also some granting agencies (be they public or private) that will only allow you to spend their money on specific things, some of which are not salary related.

Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com

[Rob Grauert]

oops! i said thanks to Chris is the thread you linked to. Thanks again!

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com

[Bob Zelin]

Rob –
when you donate to a charity, do you think that all the money goes to the “good cause”. I have worked for UNICEF and Juvenile Diabeties when I was in NY, and I cannot believe how much money gets wasted, and thrown into CRAP, and full salaries, when the people that give think that it is going to medical research, and feeding starving children. Everyone is being so polite to you here – WAKE UP – don’t be such an innocent. My very first job ever, before I got into video, was as a volunteer at Einstein College of Medicine, where I saw doctors with grants sacrifice animals to what appeared to me needlessly – but hey, they were getting my grant money ! This is when I knew that that field was not for me. It was not until years later in the video biz that I saw the waste at charities like Unicef, and Juvenile Diabeties. Never in my entire career did I see anyone have custom made cherrywood racks, other than Juvenile Diabeties for their equipment.

Take the money and run – it’s part of the game.

Bob Zelin

[Ron Lindeboom]

I couldn’t agree more, Bob. I once did a print project for the United Way in which they were putting on a gala fund raising dinner and they were blowing through money like there was no tomorrow. They did things in print — multiple die-cuts, foil-embedded embossing — to degrees that I have never seen before or since. It scarred me against giving blindly to charities. I check them out now and find out what they do or do not give.

Later, I watched the Red Cross raise over a billion dollars during the 911 catastrophe, under the guise of helping the families, only to later announce that they were not chartered to assist the families *after* the event, and were only chartered to do emergency relief. They kept the money for “other needs.”

The Salvation Army was doing the work, while the Red Cross was busy fund raising and doing the photo ops.

I do not give a dime to the United Way or the Red Cross.

I do support the Salvation Army. They pass along 75% of the monies they raise to the causes they support. If you remember Hurricane Katrina, the news was showing the Salvation Army trucks on the scene almost immediately after the catastrophe, a couple of days before you saw the first Red Cross trucks. In my experience of nearly 60 years, it is always that way.

But hey, you can always count on the Red Cross to be there for the photo ops, and to crank up their PR machine to get on TV and all the news channels to beg for your money. ;o)

When we set the ground rules for the Creative COW Foundation, which is being set up as a federally registered 501c3 non-profit with a charter to raise money for scholarships and educational grants for students in the fields of film, broadcast and related fields, we set it up wherein ALL costs associated with the operation are borne by Creative COW LLC. The Foundation is separate and all its operational costs are the COW’s. The monies raised by the various programs supported by the Foundation, are 100% passed on — there will be no deductions from the funds whatsoever. Part of our commitment and donation to the Foundation’s operation will be to bear its expenses.

Why?

Because I think charities are largely a racket today. I think it’s time that people took back the causes they believe in and made some hard demands on the ones who are supposedly operating as charities.

Ron Lindeboom