FAQs

The Media Arts Grant, or MAG, is a production grant administered through the Department of Radio/Television/Film (RTVF) to support student-driven media-making experiences. These grants are given to individual RTVF majors through a competitive process to support the creation of various types of media production in the department. This includes films, games, animations and other forms of new media.

To apply, you submit information about yourself and your project through one of the application portals:

Small Production

Large Production

Along with other basics about the form of your project, its size, and your role in the production, you submit planning documents such as a script or treatment, a budget, and statements about your artistic and social intentions for the project and practical aims for achieving it, as well as links to past work on which you have taken a key creative role.

MAG production grants are awarded in Spring with an application deadline for 2026 of Tuesday, April 21st.

Notifications will go out no later than the middle of May, and all applicants will receive committee feedback for their projects upon request.

Director/creators are only eligible to receive one MAG production grant within a single academic year. Producers may participate on up to three MAG applications.

No. If you have been accepted to the module, you are NOT eligible for additional MAG production awards since the module comes with its own substantial funding.

As the RTVF department continues to diversify in its offerings, and the media landscape continues to witness new forms and technologies emerging, what can be considered for a MAG grant also continues to evolve, so you are not limited to proposing short films. Podcast, web-based projects, installations and other interactive media projects can be considered for MAG grants, but keep in mind that these grants were developed originally for theatrical/television-style storytelling, which can quickly become expensive. For other kinds of media projects, think carefully about how you will spend your money and what are appropriate expenditures.

MAGs are awarded based on the clarity and originality of the project proposal, the quality of previous work samples, the rationale for the project, and its feasibility-- the promise of the project’s completion (including scale/scope of production, budget, equipment, etc.).

Each application will be reviewed by multiple members of the MAG selection committee and given a score, based on the project’s creativity and feasibility for production. Applications with the highest scores are awarded grants. If there are multiple projects with the same score, or if the scores are very close, a committee discussion may take place to choose the final recipients.

The committee is composed of faculty and graduate students that have taken an active interest in undergraduate student work. The committee is not made public to keep the process fair and to prevent lobbying of committee members. The committee members change annually. This process is similar to how many professional grants panels are conducted.

As you embark on your careers, you may find yourself competing for grants and awards with countless other applicants, with no access to or knowledge of who is choosing the winners. Often these grants are awarded based on short proposals and the strength of previous work. The MAG process is structured to emulate this and help prepare you for fundraising after graduation.

Students have success with general crew petitions, word of mouth, and postings to the student listserv. Reach out to classmates whose work has impressed you. You probably don’t need a big crew to make an impressive film. A small group of collaborators who are passionately dedicated to the project is much more important to success than an army of helpers. If any extra-curricular student organizations are open to sponsoring MAG projects, you may be able to partner with a group that can help with logistics, organizing a crew and providing other kinds of support.

Students volunteer to work on one another’s projects as part of their overall learning experience at NU and as a contribution to our community of artists and scholars. For reasons of fairness, equity, and preventing conflicts of interest, students may not be paid as employees or contractors from these funds. Students have hired professional actors or professional technicians from outside the Northwestern community to work on student projects, performing roles or tasks that students cannot be expected to do.

All MAG projects have Cage access for the first five weeks of the quarter, with a maximum of two weekends of shooting. MAG projects shot within the context of a class can shoot any/all weeks of the quarter, over a maximum of two weekends.

MAG winners are welcome to produce their projects within the context of an appropriate class (and with professor’s approval), in which case they can shoot for two weekends any time during the quarter. Provided your film works for the subject of the class, this can be a very good way of completing a MAG project with additional instructional supervision and help.

No, but students MUST be enrolled during the quarter they receive a grant as well as the quarter they shoot the project. Students are expected to complete their projects within an academic year.

Your faculty mentor can advise your project from their own expertise and experience. They can serve as necessary references or contacts and provide any required proof that your project is officially supported by Northwestern. They can aid with planning and help recognize potential dangers or challenges offered by your material or your ideas for execution. Mentors can help in many different ways, depending upon the needs of the project.

Yes. We encourage you to make the most of Cage equipment and use Northwestern’s resources to stretch your money as far as it will go, but some projects may require special equipment that the Cage does not have. Students frequently use local equipment rental companies such as Filmgear, Eleven04 Productions, Camera Ambassador, and Magnanimous, to rent additional equipment.

No. Students volunteer to work on one another’s projects as part of their overall learning experience and as a contribution to our community of artists and scholars. For reasons of fairness, equity, and preventing conflicts of interest, students may not be paid as employees or contractors from these funds. As mentioned above, professional actors or professional technicians from outside the Northwestern community are sometimes paid for their work from these funds, but under no circumstances may a MAG be used to pay you or other students for work on your project.

Northwestern students, staff, and faculty may not be paid to work on student media project in any capacity. Members of the Northwestern community may freely donate their time and labor on student media projects, but any payment constitutes a conflict of interest. Only actors and crew members and technicians from outside the Northwestern community may be paid.

Yes, you can supplement your MAG budget, whether with your own funds, donations from family and friends, or through other fundraising activities. PLEASE NOTE: RTVF cannot act as a bank for any funds raised by your production. It is up to you to manage and spend these funds independent of the department.

Should you partner with a student organization, those groups have access to a Northwestern crowdfunding platform through SOFO (Student Organization Financing Office, called Catalyzer. It works on a similar model to Kickstarter or GoFundMe, but also makes it possible for donations to be counted for tax purposes as charitable contributions to Northwestern. Information about Catalyzer can be found on the SOFO website: https://www.northwestern.edu/norris/services/sofo/sofo-updates.html

Remember that working within a budget is part of your learning experience, and spending more does not necessarily translate into a better project. Determine a manageable size that allows you to do your best artistic work, with maximum focus on the project itself. Fundraising is an essential aspect of filmmaking, but it can also unnecessarily sap your energy and enthusiasm in relation to what the additional money can actually do for the film.

MAG applicants may partner with relevant student groups to produce their projects. Student groups provide infrastructure support to help student members and MAG grantees assemble crews, access Cage equipment resources and other university facilities, and help one another learn all aspects of the filmmaking process. Additionally, some student groups have a mandate/agenda and can help MAG recipients bring out these elements in their work and/or can support filmmakers who fall within their mandate (i.e. female filmmakers or stories with strong female characters).

RTVF sponsors several student groups devoted to filmmaking. Organizations that have sponsored MAG projects in the past include Studio 22, Northwestern University Women Filmmakers Alliance (NUWFA), and Multicultural Filmmakers Collective (MultiCulti). These officially sponsored student groups are allowed to use Cage equipment in the first five weeks of the quarter and are asked to submit a budget to the departmental administration for their activities each year. These groups sometimes supplement MAG funds when MAG recipients apply to them for additional grants.

Rules regarding sponsorships and additional funding for sponsored projects are up to group leadership and subject to change, learn more.

In addition to their work producing and sponsoring student films, groups foreground issues associated with filmmaking leaders in important movements (female filmmakers, LGBTQIA filmmakers, minority filmmakers, social action filmmakers), organize workshops around common interests, produce relevant screenings, and bring esteemed visiting artists to campus. Each group is evaluated annually to make sure its processes are fair, that it contributes to a positive culture in RTVF, and that it does not replicate other groups’ activities.

Student groups may hold calls for their own grants or projects to sponsor, but you can also reach out to them directly to inquire about whether they are sponsoring projects receiving MAG awards and their selection process for sponsorship.

No. You are not required to partner with a student group. This sort of production collaboration is similar to the model that is used in the contemporary professional world, where several groups partner resources for funding and talent to produce work. But it’s up to you

Consider whether your project is aligned with a student group’s mission, or whether you feel an affinity with the work they produce. Ask: Is there good chemistry at a personal level? Does the kind of work the production company (i.e. student group) creates match your vision? What particular skills and resources can they bring? How dedicated are they to your project? Is there a shared vision? These are all the kinds of questions you will ask about potential partnerships with creative collaborators, agents, granting agencies, and production entities in the professional world.

Many RTVF production classes offer opportunities to make films, including both exercises and original short films, providing various levels of equipment access, depending on the class, as well as supplemental production resources in some cases. Additionally, most student filmmaking groups also sponsor or generate projects that have not received MAG grants. Get involved and find out their processes for pitching projects. Finally, writing and directing your own films is not the only way to get essential filmmaking experience at Northwestern. Working in various capacities on other students’ crews not only gives experience and perspective on the process, but can help you make relationships with essential collaborators and prepare you for projects you write and direct.

Yes. Student groups generate their own projects and accept applications for grants that they award directly to student media projects. The following student groups offer grants from the pool of MAG funding, which they accept petitions for:

• MultiCultural Filmmakers Collective
• NUWFA
• STUDIO 22

These MAGS and other grants are awarded and distributed through the student groups and SOFO, not the RTVF department. Please contact the student group leadership for additional information.

No. Production-based Independent Studies do not receive access to Cage equipment, and so are inappropriate for completing projects submitted for the MAG.