What percentage of the Playboy Foundation’s overall budget goes towards individual film and video projects? Despite the power of film to serve as a catalyst for social change, some 20 years later there continues to be very few corporate or private foundations willing to support filmmakers. At that time, there were very few foundations awarding grants to media projects. We began providing grants for postproduction and distribution for documentary films in 1979. How has the funding climate for independent media changed since the Foundation’s inception? The driving philosophy behind the Playboy Foundation is…?įostering open communication about human sexuality, reproductive health and rights, protecting and fostering civil rights and civil liberties in the United States for all people, and protecting freedom of expression. In 1965, in response to letters that the magazine had received from victims of draconian and antiquated laws, Hefner established the Playboy Foundation “to pursue, perpetuate, and promote the principals of freedom and democracy.” The Philosophy caused many people to begin writing to the magazine. The first installment appeared in Playboy’s ninth anniversary issue in December 1962 and ran to 25 installments, the last published in January 1966. Continually called upon to explain his editorial beliefs, Hugh Hefner decided to write the Playboy Philosophy, an analysis of the social and moral questions arising in a changing society.
When and why did the Playboy Foundation come into being?Īs Playboy magazine rose in prominence in the late ’50s and early ’60s, its aims and outlook were given considerable comment in the press, particularly journals of social, philosophical, and religious opinion. The Playboy Foundation is governed by a board of directors made up of employees who are senior managers in the company, including the company Chairman and CEO Christie Hefner the Foundation’s first executive director, Burton Joseph, who now serves as chairman of the board of directors and its current executive director, Cleo Wilson. The Playboy Foundation is not a foundation, but in fact an operating department and charitable giving program of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.