AFS Grant
Austin Film Society
Texas filmmakers have their own state fund: cash for features and shorts in production or post, with camera and finishing packages on top.
up to$20kGrantbetween rounds
Broadcaster United States, New York
BPM Open Call
Run by Black Public Media
Public television's fund for Black nonfiction stories runs one call a year: five projects get USD 20,000 and a place at PitchBLACK, where one leaves with up to USD 150,000 of production money. The deal is a license for public media rights rather than a grant, and the applicant must be a US citizen with a few years of credits.
Investment, $20,000 to $150,000Open to writers in United StatesA writer with a producer or a production company
Next dates not yet published
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
- $20,000 to $150,000Up to five projects receive USD 20,000 and a pitch slot at PitchBLACK in June 2027, where one wins up to USD 150,000 more; paid as a public media licensing agreement
- What it is
- InvestmentThe fund takes a share of the film and recoups from its earnings.
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer with a producer or a production company
- Where you write
- In United States
- Rules
- A producer or director who is a US citizen, with three years of professional credits or a senior producer attached, on a nonfiction feature of 60 minutes or more that is being prepared, shot or in its first months of editing. The applicant must own the copyright and keep editorial control, and domestic broadcast and streaming rights must be free. Foreign-owned entities and student films are out.
- Stages
- Production and completion
- Formats
- Documentary
- Language of the application
- English
When to apply
The fund opens once a year. The next cycle's dates are not yet published; we add them when they are. The 2026 call closed October 1, 2026. The 2027 call is expected in late summer.
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| 2026 Open Call deadline | Oct 1, 2026 passed |
Dates are as the funder states them. Check the time of day and the time zone on the official page.
What it gives besides money
A pitch at the PitchBLACK forum and public television distribution, with BPM holding the premiere window for four years.
Also open to writers in United States
Arts Innovator Award
Artist Trust
Two Washington artists a year receive USD 25,000 for pushing at the edges of their field, with no project report attached.
range$25kGrantbetween rounds
Creative Accelerator Fund
Illinois Arts Council
Illinois pays working artists USD 10,000 by lottery rather than by jury: show an active practice with two work samples and the state lottery draws the winners region by region.
range$10kGrantbetween rounds
Fellowship Awards
Artist Trust
Washington State's merit award for working artists: USD 10,000 with no strings, judged on the body of work rather than a project.
range$10kGrantcloses tomorrow
More production funding elsewhere
CMF Indigenous Development, Predevelopment and Production Programs (administered by the ISO)
Indigenous Screen Office with the Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund's Indigenous money is handed to the Indigenous Screen Office to run, with higher contribution rates than the general programs: up to 84 percent of a predevelopment…
up toCA$750kGrant or repayablebetween rounds
Explore and Create: Artistic Creation
Canada Council for the Arts
Since 2026 the Council's Artistic Creation grant stands in for two retired components, Concept to Realization and Research and Creation, and it is the arts council route for a screenwriter…
VariesGrantany time
Indigenous Funding streams
Telefilm Canada
Three ring-fenced streams inside Telefilm's feature programs: development, production and a Talent to Watch component for a first micro-budget feature.
VariesGrant or repayablecloses in 100 days
POV Program
Canada Media Fund
Single, authored documentaries have a selective CMF round of their own, in English and in French, each spring.
VariesGrant or repayablebetween rounds
Also useful
Fellowships and labsPrograms that pick a few writers and work with them for months, on the events pages.Where Creative Europe's development money goesEvery MEDIA development grant since 2014, by country, company and year.How to write a treatmentThe document a development application is built on, step by step.Screenwriting eventsContests, labs, festivals and conferences, with their deadlines.