Applications open for Method M Film Fund, with grants up to $100,000 for documentary projects from Murray Center graduates
COLUMBIA, Mo. (Jan. 8, 2026) — The Murray Center for Documentary Journalism has launched the first-of-its-kind Method M Film Fund, which offers grants of as much as $100,000 to Murray Center alumni working in top-line roles on documentary film productions. Applications close on Jan. 21, and grant recipients will be announced in late February.
In keeping with the scope of the center’s documentary program — which is based at the Missouri School of Journalism — the Method M Fund’s selection committee is open to a wide range of film projects.
“We at the Murray center have carved out a niche of documentary films that try to push the envelope, challenge people’s expectations of what doc film can be and really experiment with the form. The Murray Center grads have been schooled in that tradition.”
Sebastián Martinez, supervising producer, Murray Center for Documentary Journalism
“We at the Murray center have kind of carved out a niche of documentary films that try to push the envelope, challenge people’s expectations of what doc film can be and really experiment with the form,” said Sebastián Martinez, the center’s supervising producer. “The Murray Center grads have been schooled in that tradition and have pursued so many different paths, so there aren’t many restrictions other than the filmmakers having specific and thought-out ideas for their films.”
Martinez and Robert Greene, the center’s filmmaker-in-chief, will be joined on the selection committee by Tabitha Jackson, former director of the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. Martinez said the inclusion of Jackson reflects the center’s emphasis on not only providing financial assistance to graduates as they develop documentary projects but helping them forge important connections in the industry.
Distinct grants are available for films undergoing each of the three main phases of film production; namely, pre-production, active production and post-production. Pre-production and post-production grants offer a maximum $50,000 award, while the maximum for production grants is $100,000. Applicants may only apply in one of these categories and should include the following in their applications:
- Film pitch deck, including:
- Film treatment with logline, topic summary and film summary
- Comprehensive, line-item budget
- Visual sample
- Financing strategy
- Completed application questionnaire
For more information and to apply, click here.
This novel grant program was made possible by reality television pioneer Jonathan Murray’s $10.3 million gift last February. The gift from the center’s founding donor, who has now given $17 million to the documentary program, also enabled the hiring of full-time alumni coordinator Adam Dietrich, BJ ’17. Dietrich and the Method M Film Fund are just the latest examples of the Murray Center’s steadily growing presence in the industry since its launch in 2014.
Updated: January 8, 2026