Regional fund Switzerland, Bern

Berner Filmförderung: Entwicklungsförderung Stufe 1 und 2, Produktionsförderung (Bern film funding)

Run by Kanton Bern, Amt für Kultur (canton of Bern)

A cantonal fund with a writer-first first step: a Bern author gets CHF 5,000 or CHF 10,000 to write a treatment, paid out as soon as it is granted, then up to CHF 30,000 for the script. Production grants follow for Bern companies. The commission sits four times a year and past grants are listed on the canton's site.

Grant, cHF 5,000 to CHF 750,000Open to writers in SwitzerlandA writer alone or a production company

Next dates not yet published

The money

Amount
CHF 5,000 to CHF 750,000Stage 1 treatment grants are a flat CHF 5,000 or CHF 10,000 to Bern authors; stage 2 script development up to CHF 30,000; production up to half the recognized costs and at most CHF 750,000 for a fiction feature, CHF 300,000 for a documentary and CHF 70,000 for a short.
What it is
Grant
To apply
Free

Who can apply

Applicant
A writer alone or a production company
Where you write
In Switzerland
Rules
Authors and directors with their legal main residence in the canton of Bern for at least two years, and production companies based there. Stage 1 is open to Bern authors only, with no limit on format or length and one idea per year; stage 2 is open to authors or producers who meet the formal criteria. Commissioned work is excluded.
Stages
Writing, development, production and distribution
Formats
Feature, Documentary, Animation, Short
Language of the application
German, French

When to apply

The fund works in fixed rounds. The next dates are not yet published; we add them when they are. Four deadlines a year, six weeks before each commission (2026: January 30, April 30, July 24, October 23); 2027 dates are not yet published.

Also open to writers in Switzerland

See every fund for Switzerland

WritingDevelopmentProductionSwitzerlandNational fundNames no past recipients

Selektive Filmförderung: Drehbuch, Projektentwicklung, Herstellung (federal selective film funding)

Bundesamt für Kultur, BAK / Office fédéral de la culture (Swiss Federal Office of Culture)

Switzerland's federal money, with a CHF 30,000 screenplay grant at the writing end and production grants that reach CHF 1.2 million.

First 2027 deadline Mar 1, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short

up toCHF1.2MGrantcloses in 120 days

ProductionSwitzerlandRegional fund

Aide sélective à la réalisation (selective production aid)

Cinéforom, Fondation romande pour le cinéma (the fund of French-speaking Switzerland)

The production money of French-speaking Switzerland, four sessions a year with 2027 dates already fixed.

Next deadline Jan 18, 2027A production companyFeature, Documentary, Short, Series, Animation

VariesGrantcloses in 78 days

WritingSwitzerlandRegional fund

Soutien complémentaire à l'écriture (complementary writing support)

Cinéforom, Fondation romande pour le cinéma (the fund of French-speaking Switzerland)

A top-up rather than a competition: when a Romand producer puts its own success credits into paying a writer, Cinéforom adds 60 to 80 percent on top, up to CHF 25,000, with no deadline and…

Applications taken any timeA writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation

up toCHF25kGrantany time

WritingDevelopmentProductionDistributionSwitzerlandRegional fund

Zürcher Filmstiftung: Werkbeitrag, Projektentwicklung, Herstellung (Zurich Film Foundation)

Zürcher Filmstiftung (Zurich Film Foundation)

The richest regional fund in Switzerland treats the writer as an applicant in their own right: a CHF 30,000 stipend tied to the person rather than a project, and development money an…

Fiction and animation Jan 11, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short, Series

up toCHF1MGrant or repayablecloses in 71 days

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Where Creative Europe's development money goesEvery MEDIA development grant since 2014, by country, company and year.Fellowships and labsPrograms that pick a few writers and work with them for months, on the events pages.How to write a treatmentThe document a development application is built on, step by step.Screenwriting eventsContests, labs, festivals and conferences, with their deadlines.