Four local film-makers are currently shooting a pilot film and raising funds for a fortnightly Boston-area newsreel scheduled to begin next September.

Co-producers Jim Gutman and David Helpern said yesterday that they have submitted a prospectus for the six-month series to Polaroid and to the National Endowment for the Arts, both of whom have indicated interest in helping to finance the newsreel.

Local secondary schools. International Ministries in Cambridge, and area colleges and film societies have agreed to buy the newsreels for $20 an issue, Gutman said, Cyrus I. Harvey '47, owner of the Harvard Sq.-Brattle-Central Cinemas, and the Orson Welles Cinema Complex, also plan to show the newsreel as part of their regular programs. Helpern said.

The newsreels, each about 15 minutes long, will concentrate on local events in the context of national news. A pilot film on the subject of day care is now being shot at day-care centers and elsewhere in Cambridge. The pilot also includes interviews on the day care issue with Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D.N.Y.). Presidential candidate, and Florence Kennedy, a leader in the woman's movement.