Grant Application #1

Dear American Express Philanthropy:

My name is Donald Rebar and I am currently researching materials for a documentary film on emerging masculinities in the United States for _________. Although targeted towards young males, it is our hope that this film will reach a wide, multi-gendered college audience. If brought to production, this film would encompass a brief history of masculinity in the United States, documentation of current dominant masculinities and their relationship to the past—a return to the 1960’s “Esquire Man”, subgroups of hegemonic masculinities that could range from the punk rock aesthetic to the hipster phenomenon, as well as masculinity’s relationship to the economy and technology—with special attention to online blogs and communities. The American Express Philanthropy program would be an exceptional fit for this project, as this film looks to document a culture that is both ephemeral and ever changing, and to inform choices and attitudes that future generations will make.

The execution of this film will take place in the New York City area and will include interviews with scholars, informed parties such as bloggers and heads of organizations, and the “on-the-street” male. Special attention will be paid to followers of television shows such as “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Mad Men”—two shows with a recent influence on menswear and culture and men and women who follow those lifestyles. Shooting will take place over one month, with post-production taking anywhere from one to two months. I am requesting $10,000 to cover equipment expenses, wages, transportation, and marketing to universities. At present we have no other pledged financial support, but are actively looking.

To be judged as a success, we intend to produce one 30-40 minute documentary film that will be shown on campuses throughout the United States. While the lasting effects of this film on young men and women is difficult to measure, it is our hope that by facilitating a greater understanding of history and current masculinities, a positive masculinity can be established for future generations.

Thank you for your consideration.

Krystle Grant 2: Relationship Of Space To Information. Do We Need College Walls?

This is just a rough draft of my proposed grants. I am looking for grants to support these projects.

As a senior, preparing to graduate from Stony Brook University, I am faced with this penetrating question, “Why did I spend all this money on college?” I am at the point of entering the real world and I feel as if I am not where I want to be academically. College has been more of a journey for me, leading me to a place of finding out what I really want to do in life. However while all of that is beneficial, I will have a degree in the Spring and giant loan dangling over my head, waiting to drop. In the winter I took an online class, and while it was mostly institutional, there was some form of free learning involved and I could not help but thinking if there is another way go through the journey of finding out what it is you want to do with your life while acquiring applicable academics to this path. Do we need the cold concrete walls of a college classroom to do this?

I would say that while the journey was essential to my life, most of what I want to do in the future was not learnt with the concrete walls of my university.

For this project, I intend to study and apply a critical and experimental study on space and information I want to investigate the real tensions between the information contained in brick and mortar environment of colleges and the recipients. I want to explore the relationship between learning in one’s own interior versus learning in expensive buildings. I want to look at the urbanized world in the U.S and investigate why we are still adhering to rigid rules about learning in such environments. A documentary film of students learning in an interior and exterior environment will be produced. After collecting data via observatory techniques, I propose to design a new learning space using Google SketchUp which will focus on using technological equipment as the major basis for learning.

In order to implement this study I am asking for an Ipad to use as the technological device that will be used for learning in a portable fashion. I will also need a grant budget of $5000 to cover the materials I need to construct and edit the documentary film (video camera, editing software). My travel expenses will also be covered by this budget, since I plan to carry out the study in the heart of New York City and Brooklyn.

Krystle Grant 1: The upside of the declining economy. A future for women, handmade and the economy.

This is just a rough draft of my proposed grants. I am looking for grants to support these projects.

In recent times the U.S economy has seen tremendous decline and has come close to being what is believed to be the second great depression since 1929. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics about 14.8 million people have become unemployed over the past year and many have faced foreclosure on their homes and personal property. In such difficult times it is almost impossible to look beyond the devastating problems in our country towards a prospective future. However, during the economic downturn, many local artists and crafters have seen growth in business since many consumers have steered away from goods that came with a very mainstream price tag. Importance was placed on handmade with an increase of handmade forums popping up in cyber world.

For this project I would like to investigate the mash up of the economy, handmade goods, technology and women. It may seem to be a rather complex mash up, but these terms and concepts are very much intertwined with each other. The project’s goal is to produce a documentary film that will look at the way , specific web hosting companies such as Etsy and Artfire are being used by women (they make up the majority of sellers on Etsy according to NEED TO FIND RESEARCH) to drive the economy. It will also focus on social networking sites (blogger, facebook, twitter and flickr) that many of these artists use in collaboration with their online shops. The goal is to understand the roles these platforms play in the future of our economy while looking at the future position of women in the socioeconomic sector of society.

I am a senior undergraduate at Stony Brook University Majoring in Women’s Studies with a minor in Theater Arts. My interest in this topic came after starting up my own Etsy shop and communicating with other artists via blogs and other social networking sites. I have always been an enthusiast of the handmade culture and believe that this will be one of the driving forces in economic growth in the U.S.

In order to expand this project, I am requesting a grant of $5000 to cover expenses needed to produce a documentary film and cover personal expenses. I will use the funds to purchase a video camera, editing software and cover necessary expenses while producing this film.

Mainstream has failed us with its highly inflated prices and is also responsible for the exploitation of women in and out of the U.S. I believe that many of these Etsy stores are the new small business and will drive the economy into the future, placing women in non-exploitive positions.