New York · Nonprofit
THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC
THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC (New York) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,729,891 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,458,900). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $9.3M
- Funders on record
- 62
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $6.1M
What The Ghetto Film School Inc does
Mission
The mission of the ghetto film school is to equip students for top universities and careers in the creative industries through two tracks: an instroductory education program for high school students and early career support for alumni and young professionals.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Fellows program - is a visual storytelling course for high school students. Fellows receive more than 1,000 hours of immersive, college-level training, learning both the art and business of cinematic storytelling and production training while getting the preparation and guidance to advance their education at top universities. The programs are free of charge for all students. The programs are offered in both new york and los angeles.
$2,816,459 spentof which $451,810 as grants$125,305 earned by the program71% of program spendingRoster - provides the next generation (18-34 years old) of young professionals including writers/directors, below the line talent and executives, access to everything needed to advance their film, television or digital careers.
$1,172,742 spent$974,750 earned by the program29% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,989,201.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $3.9M to $6.9M (+75%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 8% · 2018 -1% · 2019 4% · 2020 8% · 2021 9% · 2022 5% · 2023 5% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Montea Robinson
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Neal Arthur
Chair/director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $615k → $1.2M.
9 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 40% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
67% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 20% · 2019 71% · 2020 29% · 2021 21% · 2022 15% · 2023 29% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
43% of THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
56% of THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $6.0M that is directly attributable, 58% of it comes from funders outside New York, across 12 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $290k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$290k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC?
- THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC (New York) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,729,891 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,458,900). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC have?
- IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $13,729,891 in grants to THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC, 40 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $5,458,900 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE GHETTO FILM SCHOOL INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Ghetto Film School →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 62 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing