Mentorship Program Guidelines & Code of Conduct
Effective Date: August 1, 2026
These guidelines set shared expectations, professional standards, and practical guidance to help each mentorship be respectful, focused, and productive. By participating in the mentorship program, participants acknowledge they have read and agree to abide by these guidelines.
Program Purpose
The First Frame Foundation mentorship program helps emerging filmmakers clarify professional goals, better understand the motion picture and television industry, identify practical next steps, and benefit from the perspective of an experienced industry professional. Mentors provide guidance, feedback, and professional perspective. Mentees remain responsible for their own creative, educational, career, business, and legal decisions. Mentorship is not professional representation, counseling, therapy, legal or financial advice, or a guarantee of employment or other opportunity.
Program Structure
Each mentorship pairs one emerging filmmaker with an industry mentor for three one hour virtual sessions, ordinarily held over about three months. Sessions are conducted by Zoom, Google Meet, or other platforms as may be designated by First Frame Foundation. The program is virtual by design and does not sponsor or require in person meetings, though nothing about the program prohibits it, it's simply not part of what's expected or arranged. Because the program consists of only three sessions, participants are expected to arrive prepared and make good use of the time available.
Eligibility, Inclusion & Accessibility
The mentee program is open to emerging filmmakers ages 18 through 24. Applicants do not need to be current students or graduates. First Frame Foundation administers the program without discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. The Foundation will consider reasonable accommodation requests. Requests should be directed to give@firstframefoundation.org.
Applications, Review & Matching
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Matches are made based on mentor availability and a reasonable alignment of the mentee's goals, interests, experience, and areas of guidance requested. Submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance or a match. An applicant for whom no mentor is currently available may be placed on a waitlist and contacted if a match becomes available. Before the first session, each participant receives basic information about the proposed match. Either participant should promptly raise any concern that could affect the match.
Shared Expectations
Both participants are expected to:
Attend and actively participate in all three scheduled sessions
Respond reasonably promptly to scheduling and program communications
Join sessions on time, prepared, and from an environment reasonably suitable for a professional conversation
Give as much notice as possible for a scheduling conflict and cooperate in rescheduling
Communicate candidly, listen respectfully, and remain open to differing experiences and viewpoints
Contact the Foundation promptly if scheduling, communication, fit, or conduct is interfering with the mentorship
Mentee Responsibilities
Mentees are expected to take an active role in directing and preparing for the mentorship:
Identify one to three goals for the mentorship before the first session
Take the lead on proposing session dates and completing scheduling promptly
Come with a brief agenda, focused questions, and any materials the mentor has agreed to review, shared with enough advance time to prepare
Consider feedback thoughtfully while retaining responsibility for all professional and creative decisions
Respect a mentor's right to decline material, questions, or requests outside their experience, role, or availability
Mentor Responsibilities
Mentors are expected to provide constructive, good faith guidance within the limits of their experience and availability:
Review the mentee's stated goals and any materials agreed to in advance
Offer candid, constructive, respectful guidance based on relevant professional experience
Ask questions, listen actively, and help the mentee identify practical next steps rather than directing the mentee's choices
Be clear when a question falls outside their experience, availability, or professional obligations
Avoid presenting personal preference or one person's industry experience as the only acceptable approach
Avoid promising employment, introductions, representation, financing, or other career outcomes
Suggested Session Framework
Participants may adapt sessions to the mentee's goals, but this progression is a helpful starting point:
Session 1: Goals & Direction - Establish goals; discuss the mentee's background, interests, and current challenges; identify priorities and next steps.
Session 2: Progress & Development - Review progress; discuss an agreed-upon topic or work sample; refine strategies and practical action items.
Session 3: Roadmap & Closure - Consolidate lessons; identify future actions and realistic next steps; conclude the mentorship positively.
At the end of each session, it may be helpful to briefly confirm any agreed-upon preparation or topics for the next session.
Scheduling & Rescheduling
Participants should schedule sessions with reasonable advance notice. If a reschedule is needed, provide as much notice as possible, emergencies and unforeseen circumstances will always be considered with flexibility. Repeated cancellations, missed sessions without reasonable notice, or persistent difficulty scheduling may lead the Foundation to end the match. The Foundation will weigh illness, emergencies, and other relevant circumstances before taking that step.
Communication & Relationship Boundaries
Mentorship through this program is limited to the three scheduled sessions. Communication outside of sessions should ordinarily stay focused on scheduling, sharing agreed-upon materials, or brief follow up on session topics. Neither participant is expected to provide ongoing informal advice, availability, or contact after the program concludes. A participant may decline any request for contact outside the scheduled sessions, and neither should pressure the other to continue the relationship beyond the program. Any contact after the program ends is voluntary and outside the Foundation's supervision.
Respectful Conduct
Participants must maintain a professional relationship focused on mentorship. Prohibited conduct includes:
Harassment, discrimination, bullying, intimidation, threats, or demeaning conduct
Sexual or romantic advances, or other conduct inconsistent with a professional mentoring relationship
Requests for money, loans, investments, passwords, sensitive financial information, or gifts of material value
Abusive, profane, or deliberately disruptive communication
Participating while materially impaired by alcohol or drugs
Misrepresenting credentials, experience, or the Foundation's endorsement
Employment, Representation & Financial Relationships
The program is educational, not an employment, talent representation, financing, or project submission program. Mentors are not expected or required to provide employment, introductions, representation, or any particular professional opportunity, and participants may not use the mentorship to pressure, solicit, or induce the other into an employment, representation, investment, or other financial relationship. A mentor is not presumed to be accepting a pitch or submission by participating. Creative materials may be shared only if the mentor agrees in advance to review them, and doing so does not create an agency, representation, or business relationship of any kind.
Confidentiality & Creative Work
Participants must treat nonpublic personal, professional, and creative information shared during the mentorship as confidential, and may not disclose, reproduce, or claim credit for another participant's creative work or confidential information without permission. This doesn't apply to information that's already public, already known to the recipient, or independently developed. Participants may share information with the Foundation as needed to get program support, report a concern, or resolve an issue. The Foundation handles such information discreetly but can't promise absolute confidentiality when a review or disclosure is genuinely required.
Ownership of scripts, concepts, and other creative work always remains with its owner.
Privacy, Technology & Recording
Personal information collected through the application and program administration is handled in accordance with First Frame Foundation's Privacy Policy, available on the Foundation's website. A session may be recorded, transcribed, or processed by an AI meeting assistant only with the advance consent of both mentor and mentee, and only for the purpose that consent was given for. Either participant may decline recording without penalty, in which case the session proceeds without it. Participants are responsible for disabling automatic transcription or recording features when consent hasn't been given.
Program Evaluation
Mentees and mentors are expected to complete a brief evaluation after the third session. This helps First Frame Foundation assess the program and improve future mentorship cycles.
Ending a Match
Participation is voluntary. Either participant may ask the Foundation to end a match at any time, and isn't required to continue a mentorship that feels unproductive or inappropriate. When practical, participants should notify the Foundation rather than simply going quiet.
Reporting a Concern
Participants are encouraged to report conduct that may violate these guidelines. Reports may be made to Mark Maxey, Executive Director, at give@firstframefoundation.org. The Foundation will review reports promptly and as discreetly as reasonably possible. Retaliation against anyone who raises a good faith concern is prohibited. Depending on the circumstances, the Foundation may issue a warning, modify or end a match, remove a participant, or take other appropriate action. The Executive Director's decision on any resulting action is final.
Changes to This Policy
First Frame Foundation reserves the right to update or modify these guidelines at any time. Changes are effective upon posting to this site. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated when changes are made.
Agreement
By applying to the mentorship program, you agree to comply with these guidelines. You understand that mentorship matches are made on a best effort basis, participation is not guaranteed, and communication is limited to the scheduled sessions. Mentors may not offer employment, accept pitches, or promise specific career outcomes. All parties are expected to conduct themselves respectfully and professionally. First Frame Foundation may remove any participant from the program at any time for failure to follow these guidelines.
Contact
Questions, requests, or concerns regarding these guidelines should be directed to:
First Frame Foundation
8401 Mayland Drive, Suite 7673
Richmond, Virginia 23294
Phone: (703) 936-7888
Email: give@firstframefoundation.org
Website: https://firstframefoundation.org