The Sun Valley Film Festival attracts Oscar-winning actors, directors, screenwriters and producers, and showcases films that go on to win critical and audience acclaim. But one of the true highlights each year is discovery, embrace and uplift of the next generation of filmmakers.
“We’re so excited to be able to bring 1 Potato back this year,” said Celeste Matika, Programming Manager of the Sun Valley Film Festival. “Yes, we get to uplift and promote not only emerging filmmakers, but film production in Idaho.”
The 1 Potato grant, which includes $5,000 in seed money and — more importantly — connection to Idaho-based crew (grips, gaffers, directors of photography, line producers and so much more).
“It’s amazing how the national film industry knows how much that Idaho has fantastic crew,” said Matika. “We get incredible raves about how easy it is to shoot here, how talented our crew is, and how supportive the community is.”
The 1 Potato grant competition is open to all U.S.-based filmmakers who are invited to submit scripts for fiction or non-fiction short films.
“This year, we’re going to accept documentaries,” said Matika. “The festival has had a long history of supporting documentaries, and our audiences love them. We’re really looking forward to seeing what people come up with.”
The deadline is August 31; and the winning project will be announced at the 2025 Sun Valley Film Festival and will premiere at the 2026 festival.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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