Regional fund Germany, Potsdam

Stoffentwicklung (script development)

Run by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

Berlin-Brandenburg's script money goes to the producer developing your screenplay, as a loan that comes back only if the film happens. Fees for the writer, a dramaturg and research up to EUR 10,000 are the eligible costs. Writers without a producer should look at the FFA or the Kuratorium.

Repayable, amount not statedOpen to writers in GermanyA production company

Submission Feb 2, 2027 (closes in 93 days)

The money

Amount
Amount not statedNormally up to 50 percent of the development costs, up to 80 percent in exceptions, as an interest-free loan repaid when the film is made or the rights sold. The producer brings at least 20 percent. No ceiling is stated.
What it is
RepayableA loan, an advance on receipts or a conditionally repayable grant: it is paid back only out of what the film earns.
To apply
FreeThe ILB bank charges 1 percent of the loan (at least EUR 500) when it pays out; the sheet names no fee to apply.

Who can apply

Applicant
A production company
Where you write
In Germany
Rules
Producers apply, not writers and not students. At least the sum granted must be spent in Berlin-Brandenburg unless the region has a special interest in the project. The application carries a treatment or early draft with a dialogue scene, a screenplay contract with the writer and a rights declaration or option.
Stages
Development
Formats
Feature, Documentary
Language of the application
German

When to apply

The next closing date is Feb 2, 2027. The dates below are the current cycle's, as the funder states them. A consultation at least two weeks before the date unlocks the online portal; one application per applicant per session.

RoundCloses
SubmissionFeb 2, 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

DevelopmentGermanyNational fund

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.

Next deadline Dec 15, 2026A production company or a writer aloneFeature, Documentary, Animation

up to€100kGrantcloses in 44 days

WritingGermanyNational fund

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.

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

up to€25kRepayablebetween rounds

More development funding elsewhere

See all development funding

WritingDevelopmentUnited StatesRegional fund

Grants for Artist Projects (GAP)

Artist Trust

Small, fast and plentiful: 65 Washington artists a year receive USD 2,500 toward a specific project, from research travel to a first draft.

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

range$2.5kGrantbetween rounds

DevelopmentUnited StatesBroadcaster

Incubator Fund

ITVS, Independent Television Service

ITVS's development door, replacing its earlier diversity development fund: a small first payment to shape a nonfiction feature or web series for PBS streaming, with a few months of…

Not taking applications this cycleA writer with a producerDocumentary, Series

up to$10kGrantpaused

DevelopmentProductionCompletionUnited StatesBroadcaster

Public Media Content Fund

Latino Public Broadcasting

Documentaries and limited series about Latino life for national public television, funded from first research through the final mix.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer with a producer or a production companyDocumentary, Series

range$100kInvestmentbetween rounds

DevelopmentUnited StatesFoundation or company fund

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grants at Film Independent

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…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Series

range$30kGrantbetween rounds

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.