CCN's four partnership pathways emerge directly from the criteria by which we select cities: academic infrastructure, industry anchors, civic commitment, and global network connectivity. Each pathway represents a distinct role in the ecosystem — and together, they are what makes a CCN city activation possible. Pathways can be pursued independently or as a combined engagement, structured to match each partner's priorities.
Cinema Cities Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit sustained by the generosity of members, donors, institutional partners, and corporate sponsors. Whether your investment is financial, institutional, or community-based, there is a place for you in this network. Choose your path below.
CCN Society is the circle of people who believe film, technology, and the human voice can change how cities see each other. As a nonprofit sustained by the generosity of our community, members are not customers — they are participants in a cultural mission.
Society membership connects you to CCN's full programming year — screenings, workshops, leadership summits, and our annual CCN Exchange activation across culinary arts, live music, and visual arts. Membership tiers range from entry community access to leadership recognition, with Founding Circle level by invitation.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CCN depends on the generosity of donors who believe cultural diplomacy matters. CCN Circle is our named individual giving program — for those whose contribution is principally a philanthropic act, not a transaction.
Circle donors directly fund filmmaker grants through the CCN Stories Fund, underwrite city activations, and sustain the free public programming that is central to our mission. The CCN Exchange — our annual culinary arts, music, and visual arts gathering — is the CCN Circle event.
Giving levels range from Friend of CCN through Founding Circle. Every gift, at every level, is mission-critical. We are not a foundation with an endowment. We are built on the belief that the right people will choose to invest in this work.
The CCN Stories Fund is a grant program for undiscovered filmmakers in CCN network cities. It supports short films, documentaries, and narrative features from communities whose stories are rarely centered in global media. This is a program we operate — funded by our donors and supported by our corporate partners.
Founding Circle donors may designate their gift to a specific city's grant cycle. Every grant recipient enters the MWFI international filmmaker network, with pathways to festival distribution and US exposure. When you give to the Stories Fund, a film gets made that otherwise would not.
Filmmakers: Applications open with each city activation. Notify me when my city opens.
Donors & sponsors: Fund a grant cycle in a city of your choice.
CCN embeds in cities through a structured partnership model — not a touring event, but a lasting cultural infrastructure. Each city partnership is built collaboratively across four pathways: academic, industry, civic, and global network.
Partnerships are multi-year commitments. CCN brings its full programming suite — Fest, Labs, Summit, and Exchange — plus the MWFI international filmmaker network, IMDb recognition pipeline, and access to a growing global city community. Cities bring local knowledge, institutional relationships, and a genuine commitment to the SDG goals CCN is anchored in.
CCN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose work spans four program areas — film, innovation, leadership, and cultural exchange — across an international network of cities. Corporate partnerships fund the mission directly and connect your organization to an audience that is globally engaged, culturally informed, and hard to reach through conventional channels.
The CCN Exchange's three-part structure — culinary arts, live music, and visual arts — creates distinct partnership opportunities across three separate audience markets within a single event. Sponsorship proposals are custom-built. Contact us to receive our partnership deck.
Every city we open is a port. Every story we tell together is a passage toward something better.
LaVerne Daley, Founder & CEO · laverne@lbrand.global · 954-451-4254 · cinemacitiesnetwork.org