Aotearoa Scripted Series Initiative
NZ On Air with Sky and Dynamic Television
A new co-development fund, announced October 29, 2026, for up to three one-hour New Zealand drama series with international legs.
up toNZ$75kGrantcloses in 32 days
Screenwriting grants and film funding in New Zealand
25 funds a writer based in New Zealand can apply to: 8 at home and 17 from Europe and the world. 7 take an application from the writer alone.
25 listed.
Nothing matches. Try another stage, or leave the country on "any country": international funds are listed under every country they are open to.
Based in New Zealand
National and regional funds, broadcasters and foundations at home.
Diverse Content funding rounds (Ngahau, Whāngai, Kura Pounamu, Mōhiohio, Reo Māori Content Co-Fund)
Te Māngai Pāho (Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency)
The Māori broadcasting agency funds te reo Māori content by language level rather than platform, through themed rounds: Ngahau for entertainment, Whāngai for learners, Mōhiohio for factual…
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Feature Film Development Fund
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's single development door, folded from the old Early and Advanced schemes, and one a writer can walk through alone.
up toNZ$35kGrantany time
Feature Film Finishing Grant
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
Finishing money for low-budget New Zealand features made outside the commission's production funding: grading, sound, effects polish and festival costs, once a festival has said yes.
up toNZ$60kGrantany time
Feature Film Production Investment
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's main production money for features with significant New Zealand content, as equity up to NZD 2.5 million or a grant up to NZD 500,000, decided by the board five times a…
up toNZ$2.5MGrant or repayablecloses in 8 days
He Kauahi, Catalyst Short Film Funding
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's short film grant, up to NZD 90,000 for narrative shorts with festival prospects, judged on talent development, critical potential and innovation.
up toNZ$90kGrantbetween rounds
He Pounamu Te Reo Māori Feature Film Production Investment
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
A dedicated production lane for dramatic features told in te reo Māori and led by Māori filmmakers, on the same money terms and calendar as the commission's general feature investment.
up toNZ$2.5MGrant or repayablecloses in 8 days
Scripted and Non-fiction funding (Creation stream)
Irirangi Te Motu, NZ On Air
New Zealand's public media fund backs local television, on-demand and online content through three rounds a year, and sets aside about NZD 1 million of it for content development, mostly…
rangeNZ$50kGrantcloses in 88 days
Also open to writers in New Zealand
European and international funds, and funds from other countries that take applications from here.
Catapult Development Grant
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.
range$25kGrantbetween rounds
Documentary Film Support
Perspective Fund
A private documentary funder that reads inquiries all year and writes checks of USD 25,000 to 150,000 without taking rights or credits below USD 150,000.
range$150kGrantany time
IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund
International Documentary Association, with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
A production fund for documentaries built on reporting, created in 2017 as an answer to misinformation.
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JustFilms
Ford Foundation
The foundation behind much of American social-issue documentary takes direct proposals from filmmakers through a periodic open call, scored on fit with Ford's justice themes…
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Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The best known paid year of writing in American film: a USD 35,000 stipend to finish a new feature screenplay, open to unproduced writers anywhere in the world.
range$35kGrantbetween rounds
Research & Development Grant
Chicken & Egg Films
Paid thinking time for women and gender-expansive documentary directors between films: a USD 10,000 research grant or a USD 20,000 development grant, with the stage chosen by the applicant.
range$20kGrantbetween rounds
Roy W. Dean Grant
From the Heart Productions
Small cash, large bundle: the winner takes USD 3,500 and a package of donated post, music and consulting worth several times that, for a film meant to do some good.
range$3.5kGrant or repayablebetween rounds
SFFILM Documentary Film Fund
Post-production money for feature documentaries that are shot but not cut, from the San Francisco festival's foundation arm.
range$20kGrantbetween rounds
SFFILM Rainin Grant
SFFILM, with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation
One of the few American grants that pays a screenwriter directly to write, and it can also fund packaging or the edit of the same film later.
up to$25kGrantbetween rounds
Aide aux cinémas du monde (world cinema support)
CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, with the Institut français
The French door for filmmakers from anywhere else: a grant of up to EUR 300,000 for a feature co-produced with a French company, and a smaller sum to finish a film already shot.
up to€300kGrantcloses in 8 days
Bourse d'écriture cinéma long-métrage (feature film writing bursary)
Association Beaumarchais-SACD
A writer alone, writing in French from anywhere in the world, can win EUR 5,000 for a first or second fiction feature.
range€5kGrantbetween rounds
Bourse d'écriture télévision (television writing bursary)
Association Beaumarchais-SACD
The television twin of the Beaumarchais feature bursary: EUR 5,000 to an emerging writer for an original series or single drama in French, with web series welcome.
range€5kGrantbetween rounds
Film Fund (Trentino Film Commission)
Trentino Film Commission, Trentino Sviluppo (Provincia autonoma di Trento)
A production fund for works shot in Trentino, with the committee meeting about every three months and approved projects listed on the portal back to 2011.
up to€400kGrantpaused
Fondo Grandi Produzioni (large productions fund)
Regione Autonoma della Sardegna and Fondazione Sardegna Film Commission
Money for bigger films that bring a shoot to Sardinia, in three categories by budget size, with a documentary strand. The round was reopened in autumn 2026 for the remaining funds.
up to€338kGrantcloses in 8 days
FVG Film Fund (Friuli Venezia Giulia regional production fund)
Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, through Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission
A production fund scored on how much of the film happens in the region, with three closing dates a year and a ranking issued within 30 days of each.
up to€350kGrantbetween rounds
IDM Film Fund Südtirol Alto Adige (production, development and short film funding)
IDM Südtirol Alto Adige, Film Fund and Commission
Open to producers from any country, which is rare for a regional fund, as long as the shoot touches South Tyrol.
VariesGrantcloses in 72 days
Doha Film Institute Grants Programme
A rare worldwide grant for a first or second feature at the development stage, with real money behind it: up to USD 20,000 to write and package a narrative feature, more later for…
up to$100kGrantbetween 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.