he creator of the acclaimed P.O.V. documentary series and PBS, the network that carries the series, have created a grants program to finance new Web sites that mix innovation with social conscience.
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Illustration: Christine M. Thompson / CyberTimes
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The grants of up to $50,000 each, to be issued by a newly formed agency known as the Web Development Fund, are believed to be the first created specifically to encourage design innovation and social and political objectives in programming developed for the World Wide Web.
The development fund, which was scheduled to be announced on Friday, is already soliciting online proposals from both groups and individuals, from experienced Web creators and from neophytes who have a vision for a Web-based project, according to the solicitation note on the site.
All projects financed by the grants will be housed on the PBS Web site and will be given promotional assistance to maximize visibility.
The Web Development Fund grants are the brainchild of Marc Weiss, former executive producer of the P.O.V. television series, created to showcase independent nonfiction films that frequently reflect the point of view of the filmmaker, and now the head of P.O.V. Interactive, the series' Internet publishing arm.
The solicitation note states that the fund is seeking ideas for sites that maximize "the potential of the World Wide Web as a social, democratic medium capable of catalyzing new perspectives, new thinking, and new relationships between people."
While no specific categories are outlined, the solicitation states that projects must be "dynamic rather than static" and should explore "both personal and public issues in new ways."
Four to six projects will be chosen in the initial round of financing, which is being subsidized in part by PBS and in part by a private foundation for an undisclosed amount. Grants will range from $25,000 to $50,000, and as is often the case with such grants, those who are chosen will be asked to raise matching funds or in-kind donations of services.
The Web Development Fund is part of a new offshoot of P.O.V. Interactive, called WebLab, which Weiss says was designed to create and experiment with Web technologies.
Weiss, a veteran filmmaker and social activist, says he thinks the best part of the film often comes after it's over, when the discussion starts. That belief has been the cornerstone of his career, first as the creator of a group called Media Network in 1980, which brought social-issue films to groups and encouraged dialogs about their meaning.
The concept of the Web Development Fund is not unlike other grant-making bodies created to support independent filmmakers. Weiss says he feels it's important at this stage of the Web's development to encourage thoughtful works in the new medium.
Credit: Carrie Boretz
Marc Weiss in his office in Manhattan.
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"The Web is developing very quickly, and unless there's some sector doing it in a thoughtful way, it won't have much of an impact," he said from his office in New York.
Weiss likened the Web Development Fund to a pioneering effort by the Rockefeller Foundation in the early 1970's to support the then emerging field of portable video. In essence, he says, those grants were the "R&D for what later became network newsgathering."
To review proposals and offer expertise, Weiss has assembled an advisory board that includes Red Burns of New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program; Joan Konner, the publisher of Columbia Journalism Review; Maria Wilhelm, president of The Well, and Adam Clayton Powell 3d, vice president of technology and programs at the Freedom Forum.
In an interview this week, Powell said: "The WDF can and will continue the democratization of media by helping individuals and small groups of individuals to realize their dreams. And in the process, we will see proposed projects of all kinds, some of which might not have ever been formulated for lack of even the possibility of resources. It gives a new and fully democratic meaning to the old line, 'If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own.' "
John Hollar, PBS executive vice president, who oversees the network's online division, praised Weiss's work and said the fund would fit well with the network's goals.
"Two of the most exciting sites we've had on PBS online have been sites P.O.V. Interactive and Marc have done," Hollar said. "We want to encourage more of that kind of innovation. The digital future is upon us, and we've got a real commitment to using all these technologies to carry out a core mission of education, culture, and citizenship."
Weiss said he had been excited about the Internet ever since he set up the first mailing list to encourage discussion about "Dialogues With Madwomen," a P.O.V. film about mental illness that aired as part of the series in 1994. Another early mailing list, created in 1995 to discuss a documentary about Tourette's Syndrome, is still active today.
Weiss stepped down as the series' executive producer in 1995 to concentrate full time on interactive projects, creating award-winning sites like Regarding Vietnam: Stories Since the War. With the Internet, he says, "You feel like you've got a hold of a little thread. There's a whole lot of fabric there and you want to start pulling as quickly as you can."
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