What we do
Bigger than the grant.
Once a year we work to fund a short film. The rest of the year we build the community around it.
Mission
Our mission
The Shawn Regruto Cinematic Foundation helps emerging New York filmmakers get their films made, and keeps the community Shawn built meeting face to face.
The grant One a year
The grant
Each year we work to put $10,000 behind an emerging filmmaker with a connection to New York City. Working filmmakers read every script and pick one. Then we write the check.
The first one went to Bradley Sheen in 2025, for his short film Bonobos: $9,000 for production and $1,000 for festival submissions.
How the grant worksCommunity All year
Community
Between grants, we get people together. Starting in February, we show a film at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn once a month: movies that inspired Shawn, obscure films about New York, and a few that aren’t about New York but feel like they belong here. After the movie, we go to the bar. There’s a holiday party, an art auction pop-up and other nights through the year, plus a T-shirt or two. Some of those nights pay for the next grant. All of them are for people who love the arts and love this city, whether or not they make films.
Next up, in December: a screening of Bonobos, with food and drinks.
Events and merchImpact So far
Impact
One grant reaches one filmmaker. The screenings and parties around it reach everyone who walks in, and every new film gives us a reason to throw another one.
Support
Keep the story going.
One city. So many stories left to tell. Help the next filmmaker take the next step.
Support SRCF