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
Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
Run by 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. From 2026 the route in is a recommendation from a partner program or one of two public portals, each with a cap on entries and a reading fee.
Grant, $35,000Open to writers anywhereA writer alone
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
- $35,000Up to five fellowships of USD 35,000 a year, paid in quarterly installments while the fellow writes a new feature script
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- $100 to applyThe Writers Guild Foundation portal charged USD 100 for the first 750 scripts and USD 120 after that; the Black List portal's charge was not read.
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer alone
- Where you write
- Anywhere
- Rules
- Writers aged 18 or over, alone or as a pair who wrote the script together, whose lifetime earnings from film and television writing stay under USD 25,000. One original feature screenplay in English, 80 to 125 pages recommended. Entry is through a public portal or a partner program, not through the Academy itself.
- Stages
- Writing
- Formats
- Feature
- 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. Since the 2026 to 2027 cycle the Academy takes no direct entries: two public portals (the Black List, June 8 to July 6, 2026, and the Writers Guild Foundation, June 22 to July 20, 2026) and about fifty partner programs recommend scripts. The 2027 windows are not yet published.
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| 2026 Black List portal closed | Jul 6, 2026 passed |
| 2026 Writers Guild Foundation portal closed | Jul 20, 2026 passed |
Dates are as the funder states them. Check the time of day and the time zone on the official page.
What it gives besides money
A mentor from the Academy's membership and an invitation to the awards week events in Los Angeles. The Academy takes no rights in the script.
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 writing grants elsewhere
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
Explore and Create: Artistic Creation
Canada Council for the Arts
Since 2026 the Council's Artistic Creation grant stands in for two retired components, Concept to Realization and Research and Creation, and it is the arts council route for a screenwriter…
VariesGrantany time
Create
Manitoba Arts Council
A general creation grant open to every discipline, so a Manitoba screenwriter applies as a writer or media artist for time to write or to develop a work in progress.
up toCA$15kGrantcloses in 139 days
Creation (research, creation, exploration and production grants for artists)
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec (CALQ)
Quebec's standing creation grant takes applications any day of the year, which is rare among public arts funders.
VariesGrantany time
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.