What Redford Center does

The Redford Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization co-founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and James Redford and headquartered in San Francisco. It is dedicated to environmental impact filmmaking, operating a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a single product line. Its flagship offerings are Redford Center Grants (providing $40,000 plus yearlong mentorship to environmental documentary filmmakers, now in its sixth cycle), a Fiscal Sponsorship program (which has channeled approximately $10 million to 50+ environmental film projects since 2015 through its tax-exempt status), Nature Connection (including a $50,000 pitch competition at DC/DOX), Environmental Fiction (anchored by the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship with $20,000 stipends), Films That Move (a free monthly screening series), in-house Redford Center Productions (three award-winning feature documentaries and 40+ short films), and civic engagement initiatives such as Power the Vote. Business model is donations and charitable contributions: the organization funds program activities through individual donations, foundation grants (notably a founding gift from New York Community Trust), corporate partnerships (REI Cooperative Action Fund, NBCUniversal, CAA Foundation), and pass-through fiscal sponsorship fees, while distributing more than $20 million cumulatively to environmental film projects. Its go-to-market is community-led: pitch competitions, screening series, partnerships with environmental NGOs, and festival circuits (Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes, Jackson Wild, DC/DOX) reach environmental filmmakers, climate fiction writers, student filmmakers, and frontline communities.

Name

Redford Center

Legal name

Redford Center, Inc.

Website

https://redfordcenter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Redford Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit co-founded in 2005 that funds, produces, and fiscally sponsors environmental impact films and climate storytelling, serving independent filmmakers, climate fiction writers, and frontline communities through grants, mentorship, and distribution partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Impact Film Production and Grantmaking

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (51211), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ)

Keywords

• Environmental impact filmmaking
• Documentary film grants
• Nonprofit fiscal sponsorship
• Climate storytelling
• Environmental media production

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The Redford Center operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate partners to fund its environmental filmmaking programs and grants.
2. Grant Disbursements: The organization disburses grants to environmental filmmakers. Since 2016, over $2 million has been awarded through the Redford Center Grants program. Total disbursements to environmental film projects exceed $20 million.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Redford Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports environmental impact filmmaking through grants, fiscal sponsorship, in-house production, mentorship, and impact campaigns. Its portfolio of programs includes Redford Center Grants ($40,000 per project with yearlong support), Fiscal Sponsorship (tax-deductible donation conduit for filmmakers), Nature Connection (films about people and the natural world), Environmental Fiction (climate storytelling in screenwriting), Redford Center Productions (in-house documentary production), Films That Move (free screening series), and Power the Vote (civic engagement films).

Product overview

The Redford Center is a nonprofit organization operating as a platform of interconnected programs rather than a single product. Its core offerings include: Redford Center Grants (funding for environmental documentaries), Fiscal Sponsorship (501(c)(3) status for filmmakers), Nature Connection (films about human-nature relationships), Environmental Fiction (climate storytelling through narrative films), Films That Move (free screening series), Redford Center Productions (in-house filmmaking), Power the Vote (civic engagement through film), and Our Nature Connection Film Series (partnership with REI). The organization has produced three award-winning feature documentaries and 40+ short films, supported 60+ grant projects, and disbursed over $20 million to environmental film projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Redford Center Grants Flagship grant program providing $40,000 in funding and yearlong support (mentorship, industry access, cohort fellowship, in-person convening, and impact-campaign training) for feature-length environmental documentaries and docu-series. Since 2016, the program has supported 60 projects and awarded more than $2 million in funding. Filmmakers apply via open calls.
• Fiscal Sponsorship Program Allows independent environmental filmmakers to connect with donors and solicit tax-deductible donations through The Redford Center's 501(c)(3) status. Since formation in 2015, the program has supported over 50 projects and distributed nearly $10 million to environmental stories.
• Nature Connection Program supporting films and filmmakers exploring how people and communities reconnect with the natural world. Includes the annual Nature Connection Pitch competition at DC/DOX, where five finalists compete for a $50,000 grand prize to produce a short documentary.
• Environmental Fiction Initiative shifting mainstream narratives around climate through scripted content. Includes the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship (each fellow receives $20,000, mentorship, and access to NRDC's Rewrite the Future environmental experts), Good Energy Playbook, and Hollywood Climate Summit sponsorship. Now in its sixth cycle.
• Films That Move (Free Screening Series) Free monthly screening series delivering independent, solutions-focused environmental films directly to audiences through email subscription.
• Redford Center Productions The organization's in-house film production arm that has produced three award-winning feature documentaries (Fighting Goliath, Watershed, and Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution) and more than 40 short films since 2005.
• Power the Vote Storytelling and civic engagement initiative featuring two short film series representing 11 US states, designed to mobilize environmental voters.
• Our Nature Connection Film Series Film series created in partnership with REI Cooperative Action Fund celebrating ways people find connection, meaning, and belonging in the natural world; spotlights REI Cooperative Action Fund grantees.

Quantifiable outcome

• Halted construction of over 200 coal plants across the United States
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship, minor and historical.

• REI Cooperative Action FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026Partnership for the 'Our Nature Connection' film series celebrating the many ways people find connection with the natural world. The series spotlights REI Cooperative Action Fund grantees whose work reinforces human-nature interdependence.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-partners in the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship, a program that awards funding to screenwriters developing climate-themed stories. Each fellow receives $20,000, mentorship from entertainment professionals, and access to NRDC's Rewrite the Future program experts. Now in its sixth cycle.
• The Black ListcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship, providing screenplay development expertise and platform for the climate storytelling initiative.
• CAA FoundationcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship, contributing mentorship from entertainment industry professionals.
• NBCUniversalcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship, providing industry support and potential distribution opportunities for climate-themed content.
• DC/DOXcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for the annual Nature Connection Pitch competition, hosted at the DC/DOX festival in Washington D.C. Five finalists pitch short documentary projects with the grand prize winner receiving $50,000.
• IF/THEN ShortscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the Nature Connection project supporting films and filmmakers exploring human relationships with the natural world.
• Film IndependentflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint launch of the Robert Redford Environmental Vision Award for the Spirit Awards, honoring filmmakers whose work demonstrates environmental leadership and vision.
• Hollywood Climate SummitcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerProud sponsors of the Hollywood Climate Summit, an annual conference for multi-sector media professionals working on climate action through storytelling, in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Television Academy, Netflix, NBCUniversal, CAA, UTA, and more.
• Grist (Climate Fiction Contest)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership supporting Grist's climate fiction short-story contest 'Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors' as part of environmental fiction programming.
• Sundance PreservehistoricalStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Redford Center's work began in 2005 as a companion to The Sundance Preserve, a nonprofit established by the Redford family in 1997 to maintain balance of art, nature and community.
• Raise the River CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition formed following the 2012 release of 'Watershed,' a partnership of US and Mexican NGOs working to restore the Colorado River Delta. Has restored over 1,000 acres and raised over $10 million for conservation.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Doc Society: Global documentary impact organization operating a Climate Story Unit that supports climate-themed productions and impact campaigns internationally. Closest direct peer in mission and impact-campaign methodology; advisor Megha Agrawal Sood directs Doc Society's Climate Story Unit.
• Catapult Film Fund: Provides research, development funding, and mentorship to launch documentary films on social impact themes. Direct functional peer to Redford Center Grants, sharing the same donor pipeline and documentary filmmaker audience; co-founded by Lisa Kleiner Chanoff, who sits on Redford's Board.
• Chicken & Egg Pictures: Nonprofit that provides grants, mentorship, and lab support to women and gender-nonconforming documentary filmmakers, including environmental stories. Closely comparable funding model and filmmaker-development approach.
• Good Energy: Climate storytelling initiative operating research, playbooks, and fellowships to embed climate into mainstream scripted TV/film. Direct overlap with Redford's Environmental Fiction program and the Good Energy Playbook co-development collaboration.
• Field of Vision: Produces short-form and feature documentary commissions for filmmakers, with strong overlap on environmental and social justice subjects. Caitlin Mae Burke previously co-directed IF/Then Shorts at Field of Vision, now a Redford advisor.

Broad incumbents

• Participant Media: For-profit social-impact film and media company behind impact campaigns for ROMA, An Inconvenient Truth, and Dark Waters. Operates a much larger production/distribution engine than Redford but shares the impact-campaign DNA; former board member Holly Gordon was Participant's Chief Impact Officer.
• Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program: Long-running nonprofit funder, lab and festival for independent documentary and narrative film. Overlaps with Redford on filmmaker grantmaking, lab-style support, and Sundance distribution, with substantially larger resources and brand presence, and shares the Sundance/Redford family heritage.
• ITVS (Independent Television Service): Public-media nonprofit that funds, produces, and distributes independent documentary to PBS. Comparable distribution-and-funding stack to Redford's PBS-focused distribution and Annelise Wunderlich's prior ITVS role indicates institutional overlap.

Emerging players

• NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): Environmental advocacy nonprofit co-running the NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship with Redford. Adjacent in environmental mission, overlapping in storytelling, with a much larger overall advocacy budget and corporate footprint.
• Exposure Labs: Impact production company behind climate documentaries such as Kiss the Ground (a Redford-supported film) and The Territory. Direct comparable on documentary-impact strategy; Megha Agrawal Sood previously led impact programming there.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/redfordcenter
• Facebookfacebook.com/theredfordcenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/redford-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Redford Center