THE 2025 $50,000 GRANT RECIPIENT:

Rebel Nell, Detroit, MI - Rebel Nell is a jewelry company that employs, educates, and empowers women with barriers to employment. They transform meaningful materials — like fallen graffiti — into powerful, wearable art, while providing a pathway to self-sufficiency through equitable opportunities. They’re not just making jewelry — they are rewriting the narrative for women who’ve been overlooked.

2025 $10,000 GRANT RECIPIENTS:

• Seen Nutrition, Ithaca, NY
• That Good Good Shea, Raleigh, SC
• Mozzie Style, Norman, OK
• Sipwell Wine Co., Encinitas, CA
• Todo Verde Products, Los Angeles, CA

ABOUT FUND HER FUTURE: One annual recipient receives a $50,000 grant, and five runners-up receive $10,000 each; all six also receive expert assistance with everything from their small business taxes, an analysis of their business structure, and bookkeeping and payroll guidance through Block Advisors.

Be sure to check out last year's video on $50K grant recipient Allégorie Design for a sense of tone and style.

Building a business is no easy task, but Block Advisors by H&R Block exists to help micro and small business owners handle the hurdles and find stability and long-term success. Female small business owners face even more challenges, which is where Block Advisors' Fund Her Future initiative comes into play. Through this grant program, now in its second year, Block Advisors provides $100,000 in grant funding and a year of small business services, to a few deserving US-based women small business owners through the Fund Her Future initiative. H&R Block wants to help celebrate 2025's recipients with video content to show the impact of Block Advisors' year-round small business services on their success, elevate the visibility of the Fund Her Future program, and support and promote their businesses.

We're looking for a highly organized creative team that can produce both docu-style hero video content and social-first videos about this year's Fund Her Future $50K grant recipient, based in Detroit, MI, while also overseeing satellite productions capturing social video with the five $10K recipients. You can read more about the 2025 grant recipients in the Background. You'll be responsible for production and post-production for the shoot in Detroit, as well as guiding pre-production and handling all post-production on video for all five satellite shoots with the other recipients. The satellite shoots themselves will be conducted by other filmmakers around the country, working with separate budgets, although you'll need to collaborate with them to ensure consistent tone and style for the campaign; we'll be launching the brief for that early next week (week of 10/6) so keep an eye out for that, too, if interested.

For all Fund Her Future grant recipients, we're looking to capture the following:

• hero interviews and b-roll, shot cinematically in 16x9 but framed to optimize 9x16; 
• side-by-side social-first interviews and b-roll, captured in 9x16 on an iPhone on a gimbal, and delivered as raw files with a LUT applied;
• 11 still photos, including a portrait-style headshot of the recipient shot vertically on an iPhone and 10 candid shots pulled from your hero video footage

You'll then create a cinematic :60 docu-style hero video on the $50K grant recipient, along with a :60-:90 vertical supercut showcasing all of the 2025 recipients, and four :60 social-first videos per recipient. H&R Block will provide guiding concepts/outlines for the social videos, and your docu-style hero video on the $50K grant recipient should highlight her journey as a small business owner, and what being a female small business owner means to her. Your shoot should be a lower-touch and nimble docu-style production – think about using a bounce versus a full lighting package – and all of the shoots should all feel stylistically similar. All recipients will provide their own wardrobe, and we'd like to see them in different outfits for their interviews vs their workplace b-roll, to create a little variety. For the $50K grant recipient, you should plan to bring on an HMU stylist to help ensure she's looking her natural best on camera. 

H&R Block will work with you in pre-production to align on interview questions and social video direction for each recipient, ensuring you highlight the professional journey of her business and how the Fund Her Future grant has been a source of growth and support. As campaign director, you should expect to join Tongal, the satellite filmmaker, and H&R Block on pre-interview calls with each recipient to further inform each shoot. Above all, the videos should all be relatable to the audience, illustrating the ups and downs of small business ownership – but also how Block Advisors is the best resource for small business owners to grow their businesses and build confidence for long-term success. 

Please note you do NOT need to be based in Detroit to pitch on this project, but there is no additional travel budget available, and any crew travel or lodging should be covered under your production budget. As campaign director, you'll oversee pre-production and create interview and shotlist templates for the satellite productions, but you will not need to be on set for any satellite shoots. After each shoot, the satellite directors will ship you a hard drive of all footage to create the various videos If you think you're able to handle any of the satellite shoots for any of the $10K grant recipients, you're welcome to raise your hand, but the expectation is that those will be handled by other local teams.

For any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.

DELIVERABLES: Across all six Fund Her Future recipients, there will be a total of 29 edited video assets and 16 still photos:

• 1x :60 $50K grant recipient hero video (16x9, 9x16)
• 24x :60 Social-First videos (4x per recipient) (9x16)
• 1x :60-:90 2025 Recipients Social Supercut (9x16)
• 1x :30 $50K grant recipient cutdown (16x9, 9x16)
• Raw social footage, shot natively 9x16 on an iPhone, with a LUT
• 1x portrait-style headshot per recipient (9x16, shot on iPhone)
• 10x candid 'day in the life' stills pulled from the $50K grant recipient's hero video content (16x9)

EXPECTED TIMELINE: HERE. Please note this timeline currently maps out anticipated timing for production with the $50K grant recipient; separate timelines will be added for the five $10K grant recipients and your broader Campaign Director duties.

EXPOSURE: We expect content will be used on the platforms below, but if casting talent, be sure they review our required Talent Release before they're cast, as it is NOT limited to these platforms. You should also review our Music providers in the Project Requirements, as well as the platform best practices.

• H&R Block sites, including Block Advisors and Fund Her Future; owned social, including YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Small business owners, especially females 20-50.

TONE/FEEL:  Warm, inspiring, relatable 

EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES: 

• Please do NOT contact any of the Fund Her Future recipients during the Pitch Phase. Any filmmakers infringing on this will be removed from consideration.
• You should feature the business owner's branding, but avoid any third-party logos or mentions of H&R Block competitors
• Must be able to oversee five satellite productions, including setting a consistent tone/style in pre-production and handling post and revisions on their social video content

By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a submission. Though most projects do move forward, we'll notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any submissions via the Project Forum. Regardless of the result, all submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and project team.

In order to be considered, include the below materials in your submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery. All Pitches remain private, even after a Pitch is selected, and Tongal strives to have Pitch selections made by the end of the Evaluation period, but additional time may be required by the Sponsor, depending on any number of factors. Unless specifically requested, there's no need to include a budget with your submission.

• TEXT (REQUIRED): Up to 500 characters synopsizing how you plan to approach and produce the content listed in the Deliverables.
  
  
• TREATMENT (REQUIRED): A more detailed and specific description of how you propose to execute all of the content listed out in the Deliverables. Explain what we can expect to see, and how you'll make it. If it's helpful, we've provided a treatment template HERE.
  
  
• LINKS (REQUIRED): To your previous video work. Please specify your role (producer, director, editor, artist, etc.) but do not include links to your showreel. Please link to individual videos.
  
  
• PITCH VIDEO (Optional): This is your opportunity to be face-to-face with the Sponsor and show what you're capable of. Consider a video in which you tell the Sponsor what they can expect, or consider test videos, proof-of-concept edits, animatics, etc. For examples of effective Pitch videos, check out this gallery.
  
  
• APPRENTICESHIP ADVISOR (Optional): The Tongal On-Set Apprenticeship Program is an opportunity to support new & emerging talent in production positions with hands-on on-set experience. Please indicate on the pitch submission form if you would be interested in overseeing an apprentice on your production; your answer will neither increase nor decrease the likelihood of your pitch being greenlit. The Tongal On-Set Apprenticeship Program is an opportunity to support new & emerging talent in production positions with hands-on on-set experience. Please indicate on the pitch submission form if you would be interested in overseeing an apprentice on your production; your answer will neither increase nor decrease the likelihood of your pitch being greenlit. Tongal will cover the apprentice's day rate outside of your project budget, and if you are matched with an apprentice, your Tongal producer will reach out with more information. To learn more about the On-Set Apprenticeship Program and the responsibilities of an advisor, please click HERE.

1. In addition to the standard Tongal W-9, Winner Affidavit, and IP Assignment, greenlit Video creators MUST also provide Talent, Location, Music (or other) Releases for all assets appearing in their Videos, as well as a photograph/headshot OR copy of a photo ID for all On-camera Talent releases. You must also provide all project files, editing sequences and a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec to claim your earnings. Tongal also reserves the right to request all raw files associated with the project.
   
   
2. Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.
   
   
3. In the event you utilize any third-party materials, such as music provided by a third-party music provider not provided by Tongal, you must obtain full written license and consent from the owner of such third-party materials and provide such license and consent forms to Tongal.
   
   
4. The Sponsor will be entitled to reasonable revisions on the finished Videos without providing additional compensation. Remember it's easier to re-edit than re-shoot so try to get as much coverage as possible.
   
   
5. Preferred format for upload to the Tongal website is HD 720p and formatted for the aspect ratios listed in the Deliverables (e.g. 16x9). Acceptable file formats are .mov, .avi, .mp4, .wmv. Acceptable codecs are H.264 (MP4), MPEG-4, H.263, MPGV, WMV, DivX. Should your submission be greenlit, you will also be required to provide a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec.
   
   
6. BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TONGAL OR ITS ASSIGNEES - SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEBSITE OR VIDEO HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.
   
   
7. You may not contact any employees or members of the Sponsor's organization, their affiliates, or any of their partners. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in disqualification of your entry in the project.
   
   
8. In addition to the judging criteria stated in the OFFICIAL RULES, Pitches will also be evaluated on that member's ability to execute the final Video based on their prior work and experience as a creator.
   
   
9. Videos must be in the English language or subtitled.
   
   
10. Submissions must not portray Sponsor in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Sponsor, nor can Submissions contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.
    
    
11. You must be at least thirteen (13) years or older to enter.
    
    
12. The Sponsor reserves the right to repost the contest.
    
    
13. See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.