U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi Offers TV Co-Op Grant for US-Georgia Military Partnership Documentaries

The Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia encourages U.S. organizations to apply for the Television Cooperative Program (TV Co-Op) for a Georgian television company to be identified/confirmed by the Public Diplomacy Section to film feature stories under the generic working title US-Georgia Military Partnership. Applicants must have a demonstrated expertise in developing and implementing assignments/contracts related to designing, planning and carrying-out short-term filming tours for foreign/non-American television crews in the United States. The TV Co-Op assignments envisage an American producer facilitate location scouting and shoots, identifying relevant interviewees, taping interviews, B-roll shoots and all the necessary logistical support for a Georgian TV crew. PDS expects the selected Georgian TV crew to produce three 10-minute feature stories or a short documentary back in Georgia to be placed on-air of the crew’s parent company during primetime. The Grantee is expected to coordinate the travel arrangements, other logistics, the U.S. domestic travel itinerary, shooting plan and line-up of interviews with the Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia. A PDS staffer will escort the crew and provide interpretation as necessary. The tour should also support professional development of Georgian journalists. 

The applicant should work closely with PDS throughout the grant period to implement the TV Co-Op to highlight various components of the US-Georgia military partnership: State of Georgia National Guard partnership with the Country of Georgia’s National Guard, US Assistance to Georgia for building a Wounded Warrior Rehabilitation Center, US Green Berets and Navy Seals Training Georgian Special Operations Forces. Benefits of the partnership will be reflected in TV stories produced as part of the program. The project will award $50,000 to defray the costs of three-week intensive filming tour for two Georgian participants – a reporter and a cameraman. Applicants should include provisions that facilitate filming at different locations and interviews in the United States. A PDS staffer will escort the crew and provide interpretation as necessary.