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
Foundation or company fund United States, San Francisco
Catapult Development Grant
Run by Catapult Film Fund
Seed money for documentaries at the point where nobody else will pay: a grant to shoot and cut the sample that raises the rest. Catapult has backed All That Breathes, Crip Camp and Sugarcane at this stage. Directors anywhere may apply, though an American fiscal sponsor must receive the funds.
Grant, $5,000 to $25,000Open to writers anywhereA writer with a producer
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
- $5,000 to $25,000USD 5,000 to 25,000, paid through a US fiscal sponsor
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer with a producer
- Where you write
- Anywhere
- Rules
- A director aged 18 or over, not enrolled in school, who owns the copyright and controls the project, with a prior principal credit in film or television. The documentary should still be at the development or first-shooting stage and meant to run 28 minutes or longer. The money is for making a fundraising sample, and it is paid to a US 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor rather than to a person.
- Stages
- Development
- 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 round is closed and its cohort is announced in fall 2026; the next deadline goes out by newsletter.
What it gives besides money
Editorial feedback, introductions and mentoring from the Catapult team through the grant period, with a progress call and a strategy call built in.
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 development 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
Development and Predevelopment Funding (Broadcaster Envelope Program, Development)
Canada Media Fund
Television and digital series development in Canada mostly runs through this fund, but a broadcaster has to commit first: the money follows a development deal rather than a pitch.
VariesRepayablecloses in 37 days
Development Program
Telefilm Canada
Canada's federal feature film agency pays for script drafts and packaging through a production company, from a first draft to the attachment of a director and distributor.
up toCA$100kRepayablebetween rounds
Development Program (ISO Story Fund)
Indigenous Screen Office
An Indigenous writer can apply here alone, without a producer or broadcaster, for research, script drafts, story editing, knowledge keepers and pitch materials.
up toCA$40kGrantbetween 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.