Jewish Story Partners

What Jewish Story Partners does

Jewish Story Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit film grantmaking organization founded in 2021 and headquartered in Los Angeles at 357 S. Fairfax Ave, Suite 406. The organization was established following the 2014 closure of the Lynn and Jules Kroll Fund for Jewish Documentary Film — previously the only dedicated funder of Jewish filmmaking — and was launched with $2 million in founding anchor donations from Steven Spielberg, Kate Capshaw, and the Righteous Persons Foundation, supplemented by a lead grant from the Maimonides Fund. JSP's mission is to stimulate and support independent documentary films that use fresh, nuanced perspectives to tell stories about the diverse spectrum of Jewish experiences, histories, and cultures.

JSP awards grants ranging from $5,000 to $75,000 to U.S.-based documentary features through three core grant vehicles: Jury Grants (open competitive cycle with annual fall call closing in January), Reprise Grants (second-round investments in previously funded projects showing progress), and Discretionary Grants (smaller strategic awards). Beyond direct funding, JSP operates a Continuum of Support program that has delivered over 375 hours of bespoke mentorship, editorial feedback, and strategic guidance to grantees, plus an Education-Impact Program that distributes select films and discussion guides free of charge nationwide through partner Good Docs, underwriting hundreds of screenings per film. Additional offerings include the Film Circuit (community screenings in LA at temples, museums, and cultural institutions), the JSP Film Club (donor engagement at $25,000+ annual gift level), the JFI/JSP Momentum Award partnership with the Jewish Film Institute, and two restricted special funds for Holocaust and antisemitism-themed documentaries.

The business model is nonprofit fundraising, not commercial revenue generation. JSP is funded by a tiered base of foundation and corporate grants (Righteous Persons Foundation at the $1,000,000+ founding tier, Klarman Foundation, Mickey Shapiro Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Schusterman Foundation, and others) combined with individual donations and major donor engagement. The organization has funded approximately 71 projects in its first two years and over 100 documentary films in total by 2024, with approximately $1.1 million disbursed annually. A core staff of 11 (including Co-Executive Director Roberta Grossman and Principal Consultant Caroline Libresco, a former 19-year Sundance lead programmer) is supported by a 13-member Board of Directors. Geographic focus is the United States; international documentary features are not eligible.

Name

Jewish Story Partners

Legal name

Jewish Story Partners

Website

https://jewishstorypartners.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Jewish Story Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2021 that awards approximately $1.1 million annually in grants to independent U.S. documentary filmmakers exploring Jewish experiences, supplementing funding with mentorship, educational distribution through Good Docs, and special funds for Holocaust and antisemitism-themed films.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Film Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Grant Funding & Public/Nonprofit Financing (MPADAAAO), Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

Keywords

• Documentary film grants
• Jewish arts philanthropy
• Independent film funding
• Nonprofit grantmaking
• Educational film distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

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, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Corporate Grants: Jewish Story Partners receives significant funding from foundations including Righteous Persons Foundation, Klarman Foundation, Mickey Shapiro Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and others at various giving levels from $1,000,000+ down to under $5,000.
2. Individual Donations: The organization accepts monthly or one-time donations from individual donors. Major donors at $25,000+ annually join the JSP Film Club.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Jewish Story Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit grantmaking organization that awards $5,000–$75,000 grants (Jury Grants, Reprise Grants, Discretionary Grants) to U.S.-based independent documentary feature films exploring Jewish experiences, histories, and cultures. Beyond financial grants, JSP provides a Continuum of Support mentorship program offering over 375 hours of strategic, editorial, and distribution guidance to grantees, supplemented by an Education-Impact Program that distributes selected films free in schools and community settings through partner Good Docs.

Product overview

Jewish Story Partners is a 501(c)(3) non-profit film granting organization that provides financial support and qualitative programs for independent documentary films about Jewish experiences. The organization operates a multi-faceted offering centered on Direct Granting (Jury Grants, Reprise Grants, and Discretionary Grants ranging from $5,000-$75,000), supplemented by the Continuum of Support mentorship program. Additional programs include the Education-Impact Program for educational distribution, the Momentum Award partnership with Jewish Film Institute, and special funds for antisemitism and Holocaust-themed documentaries. The organization also runs a Film Circuit for community screenings in Los Angeles and a JSP Film Club donor benefits program for major donors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Antisemitism Film Fund: A special fund supporting JSP documentaries directly exploring antisemitism and connections between antisemitism and other group-based hate.
• Holocaust Film Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 documentary films supported since 2021
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Good DocscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGood Docs serves as the distribution collaborator for Jewish Story Partners' Education-Impact Program. Each year, select JSP-supported films and accompanying discussion guides are distributed free of charge in educational and community settings nationwide through Good Docs.
• Jewish Film Institute (JFI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJewish Film Institute and Jewish Story Partners have joined together to present the annual JFI/JSP Momentum Award, selecting one participant in JFI's Filmmaker in Residence program to receive additional financial and advisory support. Winner receives financial award, advisory support from JSP leadership, and promotional support.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Good Docs: Educational distribution company that licenses curated documentary films to schools, libraries, and community organizations. Existing distribution partner for JSP's Education-Impact Program; operates a closely adjacent function in the documentary value chain.
• The Bertha Foundation: Family foundation funding documentary and investigative journalism projects focused on social justice. Comparable funder model — restricted thematic mandate + grants to filmmakers + emphasis on impact distribution — though with a different thematic focus than JSP's Jewish storytelling.
• Cinereach: New York-based nonprofit grantmaker and producer supporting independent documentary and narrative films with social impact. Highly comparable funding model (grants + creative support), comparable scale, and shared focus on independent film with thematic curation.
• Chicken & Egg Pictures: Nonprofit that provides grant funding, mentorship, and creative support to emerging documentary filmmakers, with a focus on women and gender-nonconforming directors. Comparable support architecture (financial + bespoke creative support) and comparable organizational scale.
• Doc Society: International nonprofit supporting the documentary sector through grants, mentoring, and impact strategy programs (formerly Britdoc). Comparable support-plus-grants model targeting social-issue documentaries, with comparable organizational scale to JSP.
• Catapult Film Fund: Nonprofit that provides early-stage catalytic grants and ongoing mentorship to independent documentary filmmakers. Closely mirrors JSP's grant-plus-mentorship model and direct-granting + continuum-of-support structure for feature docs in production.
• Maimonides Fund: Private foundation supporting Jewish causes including Jewish media and arts. Provided lead launch grants alongside Righteous Persons Foundation for JSP's founding in 2021–2023 and is a directly comparable Jewish-aligned film/media funder.
• Jewish Film Institute: San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to Jewish cinema that curates the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, supports Jewish filmmakers, and co-presents the annual JFI/JSP Momentum Award with Jewish Story Partners. Most direct programmatic peer given overlapping mission and existing partnership.

Broad incumbents

• Sundance Institute: Much larger and more established nonprofit supporting independent storytelling across film and theater, including the Sundance Documentary Fund and artist labs. Overlapping mission and grantee pool but operates at substantially greater scale and broader thematic scope than JSP.
• Independent Television Service (ITVS): Publicly-funded nonprofit that commissions, produces, and distributes independent documentary films for PBS. Caroline Libresco previously worked at ITVS. Shares the documentary-funder-and-distributor model but operates at meaningfully larger scale and broader topical scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/jewishstorypartners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jewish-story-partners
• Instagraminstagram.com/jewishstorypartners/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Jewish Story Partners