Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Sep 2000.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
77 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Who runs it and what they're paid
15 people listed on the 990; $1.5M paid to officers and key staff.
Marcia Smith’s $300K as Co-President (until 12/25) is at the 94th percentile of top reported officer pay among 797 $1–10M civil rights & advocacy nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcia Smith | $299,627 | $299,346 | $273,364 | — | — | — |
| Leticia Peguero | — | — | $207,939 | — | — | — |
| Marcia Smith | — | — | — | $207,805 | $190,000 | $190,000 |
| Stanley Nelson | $173,314 | $173,314 | $151,410 | — | — | — |
| Loira Limbal | $169,101 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stanley Nelson | — | — | — | $164,235 | $150,000 | $150,000 |
| Justin Sean Sherwood | $159,670 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rafiah Vitalis | $159,004 | $151,787 | $134,035 | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Firelight Media INC executive salaries →Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role
Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Supports and funds underrepresented documentary filmmakers through fellowships, grants, and production labs to tell stories overlooked by mainstream media.
This section is blank until Firelight Media INC claims this page.
Know this organization? Claim it to add your story
Since its inception, firelight media has supported 250+ documentary filmmakers through our fellowship and grant programs, 100+ documentary feature films have been funded through our documentary lab, 40+ documentary short films have been produced, and 15 documentary feature films have been co-produced and distributed for public media in…
Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $5.9M | $4.2M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $1.4M | $7.8M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $4K | $7K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $16.1M | $15.3M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.6M | $751K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $14.5M | $14.5M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $462K | $462K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $85K | $85K | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $150K | $150K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $750K | $439K | $214K | $98K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.4M | $1.0M | $316K | $106K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $26K | $19K | $5K | $2K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $371K | $247K | $89K | $34K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $195K | $130K | $47K | $18K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $124K | $122K | $2K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $52K | $52K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $330K | $10K | $312K | $8K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $7K | $5K | $2K | $650 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $52K | $34K | $12K | $5K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $93K | $33K | $56K | $5K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $234K | $156K | $57K | $22K |
| TravelLn 17 | $164K | $109K | $40K | $15K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $224K | $149K | $54K | $21K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $4K | $4K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $56K | $56K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $2.3M | $2.3M | $5K | $2K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $7.2M | $5.5M | $1.3M | $335K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $8.4M | $6.8M | $1.6M | $14.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $6.5M | $7.2M | −$731K | $12.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $11.1M | $6.3M | $4.8M | $12.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $5.1M | $3.7M | $1.3M | $7.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $3.4M | $3.2M | $183K | $5.9M | 990 PDF |
Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $8,301,486 across 5 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $7,158,607 across 20 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $15,288,596 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $14,537,129 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit
Names, privacy, and removal requests More
The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.
Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.
Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.
If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.
Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.
If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.
If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context
Made it to the end? Claim this organization