Front Office Creative Community Hardship Grant

TheFrontOffice Foundation, the charitable arm of Director/Producer Wendy C. Goldberg’s TheFrontOffice (an entertainment company) is awarding a limited amount of hardship grants to mid-career theater artists, administrators, and production staff in need of aid. The additional purpose of the grant is to support creative inspiration and dreaming during this period of industry shut down. Although the grant will help cover essential living costs and needs during this time, we are hopeful that by relieving some of that burden, creativity can be further cultivated and explored. We want to hear about your dreams and be sure those remain active during this time of industry closure.

WHO: Founded in 2019, Wendy C. Goldberg’s TheFrontOffice is an entertainment development company that specializes in cross over content from live theater to new media. Fueled by the intersection of Goldberg’s 20 years in the theater and her experiences as a Performance Director for Rockstar Games worldwide phenomenon, Red Dead Redemption 2, TheFrontOffice develops content and stories for our times.

TheFrontOffice Foundation was established in 2020 to support the live theatrical community in this time of industry shut down. Our support will happen in a multitude of ways over the course of this season, including direct artist relief, commissions, and grants. To date, we have partnered with TCG and SDCF on relief efforts. Now, TheFrontOffice Foundation will lead this charge singularly.

HOW: The applications will be reviewed by a small panel of evaluators, all of whom are theater artists, administrators, and production staff–the panel is two designers, a director, an artistic director, and a choreographer. Our goal is to award these funds within a month from closing the application window, thus the last week in March.

The funding process is part of a pilot program with Payment As Lifeline, which issues loaded up debit cards that can be used to pay bills, buy food, and cover essential life needs during this time. It also allows the neediest of candidates who may not have established bank accounts to have quick access to these funds. It also allows us to track the spending and have a sense of accountability to our fiscal sponsor as well as donors regarding the use of funds.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a need based grant. We will assess need when we review your financial information. In preparation for your application, you should have current information on your assets as well as liabilities. We have no interest in creating additional stress for you, however, this is standard for need based grants of this nature and we are held accountable to our partners in these granting efforts.

WISH TO DONATE: Our donors come from all sectors and are primarily individuals who care about supporting theater artists. For further donation information: https://give.cornerstone.cc/frontofficefnd

Requirements

Applicants need to have been in the professional theater workforce for at least 10 years to be considered mid-career.

Application Instructions

Interested and eligible applicants should email thefrontoffice19@gmail.com for information. You can email us beginning the morning of Feb 22nd for an application.

Applications will be available on Feb 22nd at 9am. The application window will close on Feb 26th at 6pm.