Firelight Media and AMERICAN MASTERS are partnering to produce the third season of In the Making, a documentary short film series about emerging masters in the fields of art and culture. Films from this innovative series have premiered at Sundance Film Festival and Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and have been nominated for multiple Webby Awards. The show’s first season was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Short-form Series — Reality/Nonfiction.

In the Making — Season 3 seeks cinematic and character driven shorts that have a running time of 15 minutes or less and profile artists from diverse and underrepresented communities. Projects can vary in scope, artistic approach, and subject matter. We are particularly interested in stories that explore how the arts reflect American culture, employ innovative approaches to non-fiction storytelling, dig deeply into the artistic process, have unique access, and feature complex characters with unexpected trajectories.

In the Making — Season 3 will focus on the intersection of art and social movements and the critical role that artists play in reflecting, shaping, and giving form to culture and society.  Firelight and AMERICAN MASTERS invites BIPOC filmmakers to create short films that profile BIPOC artists from any artistic discipline, from music to visual art, poetry to dance. The artist’s work must be deeply engaged with socio-cultural issues and the artist must currently be on the rise – the series aims to feature artists who could very well become future “American Masters.” These short films should emphasize artistic process and each subject’s immersion into their community as active working artists.