Women Make Movies is a left-of-center nonprofit organization based in New York City that provides funding, support, and distribution for women-produced independent films and documentaries. The group was founded by two female filmmakers in the 1970s. Since its founding, the group has helped distribute or fund over 700 films made by over 2,800 filmmakers. Films produced or promoted by the group cover a variety of topics including left-of-center social and political stances on abortion, the environment, and LGBT issues. ¹

Funders of the group include the National Endowment for the Arts, the governments of New York State and New York City, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ^{2 3 4}

Background

Women Make Movies was founded in 1972 by Ariel Dougherty, Sheila Paige, and Delores Margowski. The group initially conducted programs teaching women how to become filmmakers. The group’s work later grew to include financing and distributing films, working with both U.S.-based filmmakers to promote films at festivals and with international partners to allow for the distribution of foreign films in the United States. ⁵

The group has over 700 films in its catalog, and it states it has participated in nearly 60,000 screenings with over 2,800 filmmakers in 28 countries. From 2018 to 2013, the group reported that it raised $22 million in production funds and returned $2.5 million in royalties. ^{6 7}

Political Advocacy

Women Make Movies has distributed over 700 films and documentaries since its founding and promotes a feminist and left-of-center worldview in many of the films and documentaries it has funded or promoted, which cover topics including abortion and LGBT issues. In 2022, following the leak of the draft of the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson that overturned the federal right to abortion under Roe v. Wade, the group made “a selection of films available that shed light on the history of reproductive rights in the U.S. and set forth what’s at stake as abortion access is rolled back.” ⁸

The group’s film catalog includes many LGBT-centric titles, and the group screens an annual “virtual film festival” during June, the LGBT Pride Month. ⁹

In 2023, the group acquired U.S. distribution rights for Bye Bye Tiberias, a 2023 Academy Award entry from the Palestinian territories that explored the documentary maker accompanying “her Palestinian-French actress mother Hiam Abbass back to the Arab village within Israeli borders, which she left in the 1980s to pursue her acting career in Europe.” ¹⁰

Production Assistance Program

Women Make Moves operates a production assistance program that, among other benefits, offers filmmakers fiscal sponsorship to raise funds for a project utilizing the organization’s charitable status to solicit tax-deductible contributions. The program requires projects to have at least a $50,000 budget and be based in the United States. International filmmakers can participate in the program by invitation only. ¹¹

The group states that its production assistance program from 2018 to 2023 helped 136 films and assisted in raising more than $28 million from government, foundation, corporate, individual, and crowd-funded sources. Since its inception, the program has been a part of raising almost $100 million and helping make more than 1,000 films. ¹²

Funding

Funders of Women Make Movies include the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Cultural Affairs, the Golden Globe Foundation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Jerome Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. ¹³

1. “About us.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.wmm.com/about-us/
2. “About us.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.wmm.com/about-us/
3. “Congratulations to Abortion: Women’s Rights 1970s for winning best creative short at the women’s voices now film festival. Accessed June 9, 2024.  https://www.wmm.com/congratulations-to-abortion-womens-rights-1970s-for-winning-best-creative-documentary-short-at-the-womens-voices-now-film-festival/
4. “Production Assistance Program.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024.  https://www.wmm.com/pa-program/
5. “About us.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.wmm.com/about-us/
6. “About us.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.wmm.com/about-us/
7. “Home.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.wmm.com/
8. Kendra Hodgson, Emily Abi-Kheirs. “Nine (Free) Films for Understanding What’s at Stake with the Impending Loss of Roe v. Wade.” Ms. Magazine, May 13, 2022. https://msmagazine.com/2022/05/13/roe-v-wade-abortion-films-movies/.
9. “WMM Pride Month Virtual Film Festival: Last Week!”  WMM Pride Month Virtual Film Festival: LAST WEEK! Accessed June 20, 2024. https://mailchi.mp/wmm/pridevff2023_2.
10. Goodfellow, Melanie. “Palestinian Oscar Entry ‘bye Bye Tiberias’ Secures U.S. Distribution with Women Make Movies.” Deadline, December 8, 2023. https://deadline.com/2023/12/palestinian-oscar-entry-bye-bye-tiberias-us-distribution-with-women-make-movies-1235659269/
11. “Production Assistance Program.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024.  https://www.wmm.com/pa-program/
12. “Production Assistance Program.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024.  https://www.wmm.com/pa-program/
13. “Home.” Women Make Movies. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.wmm.com/