For its next dinner supporting local arts and innovation projects, Miami Soup will collaborate with Filmgate Miami, a collective aiming to redefine storytelling with immersive visual content. This pairing is just another sign of Miami’s emergence as a hotspot for developing filmmakers.

“Filmgate Miami has an initiative to highlight the local talent here in Miami within the film industry,” said Carl Hildebrand, director of Miami Soup. “Those filmmakers are addressing the needs, or great stories, of people who are helping our community.”

Miami Soup’s fifth dinner will occur June 25 at Whole Foods market in downtown Miami.

Each of the Miami Soup events has taken place in a different locale, ranging from a nightclub to a restaurant to a professional conference. The format, however, remains consistent: a community gathering focused on creating positive change. With the purchase of a meal ticket, each participant can vote for a proposal from one of three local ventures. The profits create a microgrant awarded at the end of the evening to the project the guests choose.

Past winners have been as varied as the event’s settings. The Front Yard Theater Collective created the interactive theater production, “History on Wheels,” featuring an actor as Julia Tuttle riding a bicycle through time. Miami Marine Stadium Mural Project produced limited-edition photographs of the stadium to fund protective efforts. Urban Paradise Guild purchased a water pump for an urban farm providing produce for low-income families.

“I am not making the decisions; the public is,” Hildebrand said. “I am curating these events so people can network. It is more than fundraising; it is ‘friendraising.’”

For this edition, three independent filmmakers representing Filmgate, a Knight Arts Challenge winner, will compete for funding to support projects journaling the needs of their local communities. Short films of each artist, representing Mission 22, House of Healing and the “color” of Miami, will air throughout the night. The three filmmakers will individually pitch their projects at stations throughout the supermarket. The meal will feature soup, salad, bread, dinner and dessert with a wine pairing.

Tickets are $30. To register for the event, visit Eventbrite.

Alec Schwartzman is an editorial intern for Knight Foundation. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @AMSchwartzman.

Video: Filmgate on YouTube.