TWO ARTISTS x SIX MONTHS

While Cinemaker is already radically affordable, and we deeply believe in the sustainability and impact of our membership model, we wanted to dig a little deeper.

Affordability alone doesn’t fully solve the problem. Even low-cost access can still be out of reach when artists are juggling unstable income, shrinking grants, and the rising cost of simply living in Austin. Media arts and filmmaking remain some of the most expensive creative disciplines—requiring ongoing access to space, equipment, and time just to stay in practice.

So in 2026, we’re running a focused experiment: granting two local media artists at a time, completely free access to Cinemaker for a six-month period.

No deliverables. No strings. No expectation beyond showing up for your own work.

As traditional funding sources continue to dry up, we’re staying committed to radicalizing access in the ways we actually can—by putting real tools in artists’ hands and trusting them to do what artists do best.

This experiment is about sustainability, curiosity, and care. It’s about asking a simple question: what becomes possible when access is truly free?

For more on this program experiment and how we’re selecting artists, please email Executive Director at Faiza@austinfilmschool.org.