Media Projects grants support the following formats:

• interactive digital media;
• film and television projects; and
• radio projects.

Interactive digital media may be websites, games, mobile applications, virtual environments, streaming video, podcasts, or other digital formats.

Film and television projects may be single programs or a series addressing significant figures, events, or ideas and drawing their content from humanities scholarship. The programs must be intended for national distribution. The program welcomes projects ranging in length from short-form to broadcast-length video.

Radio projects may involve single programs, limited series, or segments within an ongoing program. They may also develop new humanities content to augment existing radio programming or add greater historical background or humanities analysis to the subjects of existing programs. They may be intended for regional or national distribution.

NEH encourages projects that feature multiple formats to engage the public in the exploration of humanities ideas. Proposed projects might include complementary components that expand or deepen the audience’s understanding of a subject: for example, museum exhibitions, book/film discussion programs, or other formats that engage audiences in new ways. Media Projects grants may not, however, be used to support programs’ general operating costs.

Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare programs for production. Grants should result in a script or a design document and should also yield a detailed plan for outreach and public engagement in collaboration with a partner organization or organizations.

Program Statistics

In the last five competitions the Media Projects: Development Grants program (formerly known as America's Media Makers; Development Grants) received an average of 45 applications. The program made an average of three grants per competition, for a funding ratio of 7 percent.