MISSION STATEMENT:

The Nashville Film Institute mission statement is to train students for a career in the film industry. Women are highly underrepresented in film - In the 92 year history of the Academy Awards women have been grossly underrepresented. Best Director: Only 5 women have been nominated; and only one (Kathryn Bigelow) has ever won the award. This works out to be ~1% of nominations and wins. Best Cinematographer: Only one woman has ever been nominated. This works out to be ~0.2% of nominations. Best Sound Editing: Only 15 nominations (of which only 3 were standalone; others were shared with men) and 5 wins. Best Visual Effects: Only 3 nominations (all shared with men) and 2 wins. As we look into the future, NFI wants to play an active role in supporting the increased representation of women and it begins with education. NFI has created the Women in Film Scholarship program that will award one full-scholarship and five $3,000 partial-scholarships to eligible students.

AWARDS

The Mary Francis Rudy Scholarship for Women program will award up to

• One (1) full scholarship of $21,800 per year
• Five (5) partial scholarships of $3,000 per year (total scholarship pool of $15,000)

MINIMUM ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

In order to be eligible for consideration, those applying for a Mary Francis Rudy Scholarship for Women must:

• Identify as a female
• Have applied for admission as a new student to NFI’s Cinema Production program
• Have met the entrance requirements for the Cinema Production program
• Graduated (or in the process of graduating) high school with a minimum 3.0/4.0 GPA or equivalent
• 2 Letters of Recommendation from 2 different people unrelated to the applicant. One letter must come from a member of the Film Industry (i.e: mentor, client (current or former, coworker).

HOW TO APPLY

• Prospective students can apply for the scholarship online at www.NFI.edu/scholarships
• Scholarship applications must be submitted a minimum of 4 weeks (28 days) prior to the intended start date at NFI.

AWARD NOTIFICATION

• Recipients will be notified by the Financial Aid Officer prior to beginning their program, provided eligibility requirements above are met.
• Scholarship will be disbursed throughout students’ academic year, equally divided between payment periods as applicable.

PROVISIONS

• Applicants must have applied as a new student to NFI.
• An interruption of training, or withdrawal may result in a cancellation of scholarship award and disbursement(s). Students must understand that a change of student status may impact student eligibility.
• Scholars will need to meet standards greater than what is required by Satisfactory Academic Progress upon the midpoint (2nd payment period). The requirement for scholars to maintain their scholarship is 95% attendance and 85% GPA before 2nd disbursement is applied. If the student is not meeting that requirement they will lose eligibility for the 2nd half of the scholarship and will need to speak with the Financial Aid Officer.
• The final award of the scholarship is contingent upon receipt of all required Admissions and Financial Aid documents by your start date.
• Students who delay their start date may forfeit eligibility.
• Funds from the Women in FIlm Scholarship may be used only toward the tuition for the Cinema Production program.
• The scholarship is nontransferable and has no redeemable cash value.
• Financial aid is available for those who qualify.
• SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS ARE LIMITED AND WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE UNTIL DEPLETED.