BFI Development Funding
BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
The main public route for developing a British fiction feature, from treatment through to a screenplay ready to finance.
VariesGrant or repayableany time
Regional fund United Kingdom, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund
Run by Northern Ireland Screen
Content money for programs and short digital work in or about Ulster-Scots culture and language, run by Northern Ireland Screen with BBC Northern Ireland as its main partner. The current open call is for small digital projects; the scripted shorts call shows the fund will back drama with new writers from Ulster-Scots communities.
Grant or repayable, up to £40,000Open to writers in United KingdomA production company
Applications taken any time
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
- Up to £40,000The 2026-27 Open Digital Call pays up to 75 percent of a small digital budget. The closed 2026 BBC NI calls set tariffs of GBP 5,000 for animation development and GBP 40,000 for a series of four five-minute scripted horror shorts. Television funding depends on a broadcaster wanting the program.
- What it is
- Grant or repayable
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A production company
- Where you write
- In United Kingdom
- Rules
- Production companies with a proposal rooted in Ulster-Scots culture, heritage or language, in any genre. The digital call needs a confirmed route to an audience instead of a broadcaster; television calls need BBC Northern Ireland or another broadcaster on board. Ulster-Scots consultants must be engaged at every stage.
- Stages
- Development and production
- Formats
- Series, Short, Animation, Documentary
- Language of the application
- English
When to apply
Applications are taken at any time; decisions follow in the fund's own rhythm. The Open Digital Call runs through the 2026-27 financial year and may close early. The television, animation and drama calls for 2026 are closed.
Also open to writers in United Kingdom
BFI Doc Society Fund: features development and production
Doc Society for the BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
The UK's National Lottery money for feature documentaries, run by Doc Society.
range£150kGrantcloses in 50 days
BFI Filmmaking Fund: Discovery and Impact feature funding
BFI (British Film Institute), National Lottery
Production money for British features in two strands split by budget and by the director's experience.
up to£1.3MGrant or repayablecloses in 45 days
Made of Truth (BFI Doc Society short film fund)
Doc Society for BFI NETWORK (British Film Institute), National Lottery
A yearly grant for short documentaries by UK filmmakers at the start of their careers, in live action or animation.
up to£25kGrantbetween rounds
More development funding elsewhere
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.
range$2.5kGrantbetween rounds
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…
up to$10kGrantpaused
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.
range$100kInvestmentbetween rounds
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…
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.