Lights, Camera, Liberty Film Pitch Competition

Lights, Camera, Liberty

*Please apply now to register your interest in our new Lights, Camera, Liberty pitch competition and/or apply for travel support to attend the annual Lights, Camera, Liberty workshop.*

We invite think tanks from around the world to apply for the completely revamped Lights, Camera, Liberty program!

You and your organization make a considerable investment in time, talents, and resources developing and researching important public policy solutions. Through participation in this program, you will be more successful at reaching and engaging new and larger audiences in a way that impacts their thinking and transforms lives for the better. You’ll also compete for significant investment, through grants and consulting, in your priority film project for the year.

In 2022, our annual Lights, Camera, Liberty Workshop is the focus of our program. Participants will experience a four-day intensive storytelling and video production training workshop in Los Angeles, guided by industry experts. This workshop is ideal for those who are looking for expert guidance on messaging, marketing, and video production. Click here to register for the workshop and learn more.

Prior to the workshop, registered participants are invited to submit an expression of interest to participate in our brand-new film pitch competition. A shortlist of applicants will be selected before the workshop and will have the chance to pitch their film idea to a panel of industry experts during the program in Los Angeles.

At the workshop in Los Angeles, 10 winners will be selected to receive a US$5,000 grant toward their film project and will receive end-to-end consulting support for the development of their film. This will include creative and on-site consulting throughout the year—from the pre-production and development stages, all the way through to the marketing and metrics stages.

Please complete the application form on our grants portal to express your interest in the pitch competition and/or apply for travel support to attend the workshop. The deadline is December 15, 2022.

Past applicants and participants are welcome to reapply.

We favor organizations who participate in the Atlas Network Academy and, in particular, those who have completed Think Tank Fundamentals and Think Tank Theory & Practice, which are both free online courses offered within the Academy.

Our next deadline is December 15, 2022.

Questions? Contact Hunter Rauch at Hunter.Rauch@AtlasNetwork.org

Past winners and finalists:

Winner of the 2020 Lights, Camera, Liberty Film Festival Award:

Free the People: How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story

Finalists:

Bikalpa, an Alternative: Motorbike License

Center for Anti-Authoritarian Studies: Right to Work

Fundación Libertad y Progreso: Fables for Liberty

Pacific Legal Foundation: Seize This House

Winner of the 2019 Lights, Camera, Liberty Film Festival Award:

Pacific Legal Foundation: Quota

Finalists:

Free Market Foundation and Paradigm Institute: Pizza VAT

Georgia Center for Opportunity: The Success Sequence

Winner of the 2018 Lights, Camera, Liberty Film Festival Award:

Becket: Why There Aren't More Sikhs in the Military

Finalists:

Canadian Taxpayers Foundation: Beer in the U.S.A

Libertad y Desarrollo: 3 Razones para Apoyar Ana Inmigración Sustentable y Regulada


Winner of the 2017 Lights, Camera, Liberty Film Festival Award:

Libertad y Progreso: Why Argentina Fails

Finalists:

Bikalpa, an Alternative: Why is Nepal Poor?

Idaho Freedom Foundation: Hope Vetoed

Atlas Network showcases the winning videos at the Lights, Camera, Liberty film-festival, a competition open to the program’s grant recipients. Watch the compelling videos below.

2016 Winner - Foundation for Economic Education: Friedman vs. Sanders: Democratic Socialism Debunked

2015 Winner - Independent Institute: Love Gov

2014 Winner - Illinois Policy Institute: Coffee Run: Chicago Forces Out Entrepreneurs

2013 Winner - Foundation for Economic Education: The Truth About Savings and Consumption

2012 Winner - The Mackinac Center for Public Policy with Stealth-Unionization Scheme Bleeds Medicaid

2011 Winner - The Maclver Institute with Wisconsin Doctors Hand Out Fake Excuses to Protestors