Money: Funding Docs Beyond the Box

When Channel 4 shut its acclaimed Independent Film and Video department at the end of last year, doc-makers, especially those in the u.k., took it as a blow. The unit was widely thought to embody the innovative spirit that initially established C4 in the TV market, and was responsible for much of the channel's most creative and authored docs. C4's latest initiative, however, should help bring the factual community's mourning to an end. Set to launch by the end of June, C4 has formed a new grant-making foundation to fund docs that - wait for it - can't find a home on television.

June 1, 2005

When Channel 4 shut its acclaimed Independent Film and Video department at the end of last year, doc-makers, especially those in the u.k., took it as a blow. The unit was widely thought to embody the innovative spirit that initially established C4 in the TV market, and was responsible for much of the channel's most creative and authored docs. C4's latest initiative, however, should help bring the factual community's mourning to an end. Set to launch by the end of June, C4 has formed a new grant-making foundation to fund docs that - wait for it - can't find a home on television.