Regional fund Germany, Düsseldorf

Creative Development (exposé, treatment, screenplay)

Run by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia film and media foundation)

A ladder of grants from a five-thousand-euro exposé to a twenty-thousand-euro screenplay, with the first rung open to NRW writers on their own and no producer required. Debut and second films get special consideration, and short-form and vertical drama are a 2026 to 2027 focus.

Grant, €3,000 to €70,000Open to writers in GermanyA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production company

Screenplay Jan 21, 2027 (closes in 81 days)

The money

Amount
€3,000 to €70,000Stage 1 exposé EUR 5,000 (EUR 3,000 for a talent without a company), stage 2 treatment EUR 15,000, stage 3 screenplay EUR 20,000, at most EUR 45,000 per project across the three. Project development for documentary or animation and a screenplay rewrite with a company go up to EUR 70,000. Producers outside NRW get a loan instead of a grant.
What it is
Grant
To apply
Free

Who can apply

Applicant
A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production company
Where you write
In Germany
Rules
Stage 1 takes professional writers and film school graduates with a main residence or business in NRW, alone. Stages 2 and 3 are applied for through a producer with a seat in Germany, or alone by a writer with a track record (around four exploited features, head writer or creator credits). Current students use the graduation film scheme.
Stages
Writing and development
Formats
Feature, Series, Documentary, Animation
Language of the application
German

When to apply

The next closing date is Jan 21, 2027. The dates below are the current cycle's, as the funder states them. Three dates a year; stages 2 and 3 need a consultation a week before the deadline.

RoundCloses
ScreenplayJan 21, 2027
Exposé, treatment, rewriteFeb 3, 2027

Dates are as the funder states them. Check the time of day and the time zone on the official page.

Also open to writers in Germany

See every fund for Germany

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Jurybasierte kulturelle Projektentwicklungsförderung (jury-based project development funding)

FFA, Filmförderungsanstalt (German Federal Film Board)

Development money for the stage after the script: rights, further drafts, casting, budgeting. A production company applies, except in documentary, where writers and directors may come alone.

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Stipendium Stoffentwicklung (story development stipend, Talentfilm)

Kuratorium junger deutscher Film (foundation for young German film)

Germany's talent fund pays a writer up to EUR 25,000 to develop an original idea from research to script over ten months, with a dramaturg attached.

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range$10kGrantcloses tomorrow

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Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

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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.