Fritz's treatment of Wilson's song "Work" won the Prism Prize for best Canadian video in May 2018, earning a grand prize of $15,000. Now the pair are using winnings to create the Work Film Grant. The two had said as much at their acceptance speech May 13 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The remaining $5,000 has been donated by Wilson to Sistering, a women's drop-in centre in Toronto. Started in 1980, the Sistering shelter supports "women from across Toronto who experience first hand the impact of marginalization and poverty." Some of its many programs include harm reduction, health and well-being, the Sisters Kitchen, as well as crisis and emergency services.
"The music video for 'Work’ was created with the help of my community,” said Wilson in a statement. "This is my way of giving back and paying it forward."
Applicants for the grant are encouraged to link up with emerging musical acts, who must also be Canadian and agree to collaborate on a music video based on one of their songs.
Priority will be given to music video projects, but dramatic short films will be weighed in the mix.
Interested directors, either women or people whose gender is not exclusively male or female, should submit materials to info at workfilmgrant.com, starting on Sept. 4.
The guidelines are available for viewing at the Work Film Grant page. The submissions will be judged by a panel after the closing of the application period on Oct. 26, 2018.
One of the goals of the grant is to bring awareness to the void left by the 2017 cancellation of MuchFACT, a long-running funding source for directors of Canadian music video projects and the artists behind them.
"Many people in the filmmaking community here have supported me and my projects in one way or another over the years, and this grant is a small gesture of encouragement to someone new,” added Fritz.
Fritz and Wilson's "Work" video was released in January 2017 to coincide with the International Women’s March. It captures a succession of women and gender non-binary people coming down an escalator, seemingly on their way to or from work.
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Watch Charlotte Day Wilson's "Work"
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