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, Los Angeles
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grants at Film Independent
Run by 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 market. You apply to the program with a science-driven script and the grant rides on selection. Past grantees include Cloak and Data and The Plutonians.
Grant, $20,000 to $30,000Open to writers in United StatesA writer alone or a 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
- $20,000 to $30,000USD 20,000 to a project in the Episodic Lab, USD 30,000 to one in the Fiction Producing Lab, USD 20,000 to one at the Fast Track finance market
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- FreeThe labs and Fast Track have their own application terms, not read here.
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer alone or a writer with a producer
- Where you write
- In United States
- Rules
- Fiction projects with a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a lead, or with science, mathematics or technology driving the plot. Science fiction and documentaries are out. The money goes to a project selected into one of Film Independent's artist development programs, so the application is to the lab or market itself.
- Stages
- Development
- Formats
- Feature, Series
- 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 grants follow the application calendars of Film Independent's Episodic Lab, Producing Lab and Fast Track; the next dates were not on the grant page.
What it gives besides money
A science advisor reviews the project with the grantee, and every grantee gets a profile on Science and Film, the Sloan-funded site published by New York's Museum of the Moving Image.
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.