BFI Doc Society Fund: features development and production
Doc Society for the BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
The UK's National Lottery money for feature documentaries, run by Doc Society.
range£150kGrantcloses in 50 days
National fund United Kingdom, London
BFI Development Funding
Run by BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
The main public route for developing a British fiction feature, from treatment through to a screenplay ready to finance. The producer's company applies, so a writer needs a producer attached first. Applications are taken all year apart from an April pause, and the same fund later considers production money.
Grant or repayable, amount not statedOpen to writers in United KingdomA production company
Applications taken any time
That closing date has passed. We check the funder's page every day and add the next dates once they are published.
The money
- Amount
- Amount not statedThe page states no amounts and does not say whether the money is recouped; the full guidelines hold the figures.
- What it is
- Grant or repayable
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A production company
- Where you write
- In United Kingdom
- Rules
- A producer applies through a limited company on the Companies House register. The project must be an original fiction feature, live action or animated, and the application is for development work up to the point where the film can seek production money. A writer cannot apply alone.
- Stages
- Development
- Formats
- Feature, Animation
- Language of the application
- English
When to apply
Applications are taken at any time; decisions follow in the fund's own rhythm. Open all year except an annual closure from April 1 to April 30, with other short closures announced in advance.
Also open to writers in United Kingdom
BFI Filmmaking Fund: Discovery and Impact feature funding
BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
Production money for British features in two strands split by budget and by the director's experience.
up to£1.3MGrant or repayablecloses in 45 days
Made of Truth (BFI Doc Society short film fund)
Doc Society for BFI NETWORK (British Film Institute), National Lottery
A yearly grant for short documentaries by UK filmmakers at the start of their careers, in live action or animation.
up to£25kGrantbetween rounds
UK Global Screen Fund: International Co-production
BFI (British Film Institute) for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Government money, administered by the BFI, for UK companies joining international co-productions as the smaller partner.
up to£300kGrantcloses in 23 days
More development funding elsewhere
Grants for Artist Projects (GAP)
Artist Trust
Small, fast and plentiful: 65 Washington artists a year receive USD 2,500 toward a specific project, from research travel to a first draft.
range$2.5kGrantbetween rounds
Incubator Fund
ITVS, Independent Television Service
ITVS's development door, replacing its earlier diversity development fund: a small first payment to shape a nonfiction feature or web series for PBS streaming, with a few months of…
up to$10kGrantpaused
Public Media Content Fund
Latino Public Broadcasting
Documentaries and limited series about Latino life for national public television, funded from first research through the final mix.
range$100kInvestmentbetween rounds
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grants at Film Independent
Film Independent, with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Science on screen pays here: three cash grants a year for fiction projects about scientists or technology, awarded inside Film Independent's Episodic Lab, Producing Lab and Fast Track…
range$30kGrantbetween rounds
Also useful
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.