The Lone Peak Film Institute is proud to announce that the call is now open for the second Lone Peak Filmmaker Fellowship. Open to early stage Montana-based filmmakers, the Lone Peak Filmmaker Fellowship is an opportunity for filmmakers within the first 5 years of their career to build their professional network and find advice and mentorship on a current film project. The Fellowship Program is designed to give filmmakers as much insight & perspective as possible, with the ultimate goal of advancing specific individual projects. We are not directly producing the films for filmmakers, but rather offering them different types of resources and guidance that help them to advance their own projects, foster career sustainability, and encourage self-driven initiative. The fellowship includes educational opportunities, career strategy counseling, feedback sessions and networking events throughout the Lone Peak Film Festival and the following year. The start of our program takes place during the Lone Peak Film Festival in Big Sky, Montana. It includes a filmmaker retreat with panels, Q&As, small group exercises and an outdoor activity. In addition to our film fellows, there will be up to 17 additional participating filmmakers whose films have been selected for exhibition at our festival. This creates opportunity for our fellows to build relationships with more established filmmakers, as our standards for film selection are high. The fellowship program also includes mentorship from established filmmakers from various backgrounds in the industry. Our second year mentors include: - Lily Gladstone, Writer and Academy Award-nominated Actress (Killers of the Flower Moon, Jazzy, The Wedding Banquet, Fancy Dance, Reservation Dogs, Certain Women) - Kiwi Smith, Screenwriter (Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, Ella Enchanted) - Kurt Lustgarten, Writer, Producer (Misfit City, The Deleted), and Professor of Screenwriting at DePaul University - Bradford Schmidt, Emmy-winning former lead of GoPro’s media department for 11 years, Director, Writer and Producer (I See Without Eyes) Beyond the festival, LPFI staff and select board members offer year-round mentorship for our fellows with monthly calls built to support each of the fellows’ projects. We will offer feedback on grant applications, budgets, scripts and outlines, facilitate introductions to producers and crew, and host guest mentors who can offer specialized learning opportunities. To submit, fellows must fill out the following application by May 31, 2026: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsCPfO2CKBl234rDYAfoIx2p9S50VqM4eiTVaWPz XNtZqIcg/viewform?usp=publish-editor Eligibility Summary: - Applicant must be a Montana resident - Applicant must be within the first 5 years of pursuing a career in filmmaking and working on their first or second film. - Applicant can be any age. - Applicant must have a film project that is uplifting or inspiring and fits into one of the following categories: Montana story, Indigenous story, conservation story, story of resilience.