Aotearoa Scripted Series Initiative
NZ On Air with Sky and Dynamic Television
A new co-development fund, announced October 29, 2026, for up to three one-hour New Zealand drama series with international legs.
up toNZ$75kGrantcloses in 32 days
National fund New Zealand, Wellington
Scripted and Non-fiction funding (Creation stream)
Run by Irirangi Te Motu, NZ On Air
New Zealand's public media fund backs local television, on-demand and online content through three rounds a year, and sets aside about NZD 1 million of it for content development, mostly drama and comedy. Platform-supported development is split with the platform; unsupported development is rarer and credit-gated. Decisions are published by title and company.
Grant, nZ$25,000 to NZ$50,000Open to writers in New ZealandA production company
Next deadline Jan 28, 2027 (closes in 88 days)
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
- NZ$25,000 to NZ$50,000Content development is usually NZD 25,000 to 50,000 a project, split half and half with an attached platform; production amounts are set case by case and run to millions for drama
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A production company
- Where you write
- In New Zealand
- Rules
- Production companies registered on the NZ On Air portal, usually with a qualifying New Zealand platform nominated in support. Development without a platform is possible once a year for teams that meet credit requirements and show early draft material, with one such round per project.
- Stages
- Development and production
- Formats
- Series, Documentary
- Language of the application
- English, Māori
When to apply
The next closing date is Jan 28, 2027. The dates below are the current cycle's, as the funder states them. Three rounds a year; Round Toru opens December 10, 2026 with decisions due April 9, 2027; development applications are generally accepted in any round, unsupported ones in about one round a year
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| Round Toru 2026/27 | Jan 28, 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 New Zealand
Diverse Content funding rounds (Ngahau, Whāngai, Kura Pounamu, Mōhiohio, Reo Māori Content Co-Fund)
Te Māngai Pāho (Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency)
The Māori broadcasting agency funds te reo Māori content by language level rather than platform, through themed rounds: Ngahau for entertainment, Whāngai for learners, Mōhiohio for factual…
VariesGrantcloses in 32 days
Feature Film Development Fund
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's single development door, folded from the old Early and Advanced schemes, and one a writer can walk through alone.
up toNZ$35kGrantany time
Feature Film Finishing Grant
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
Finishing money for low-budget New Zealand features made outside the commission's production funding: grading, sound, effects polish and festival costs, once a festival has said yes.
up toNZ$60kGrantany time
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
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.