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
Feature Film Development Fund
Run by 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. It pays scriptwriting fees and, as the project grows, casting and packaging, in tranches of up to NZD 35,000 that are never recouped. A feature script, not a treatment, is the entry ticket.
Grant up to NZ$35,000Open to writers in New ZealandA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a 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 NZ$35,000Up to NZD 35,000 per tranche, more once a script has moved on, within NZD 140,000 of NZFC development money over a film's life; not recouped
- 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 New Zealand
- Rules
- New Zealand citizens or permanent residents who own or have optioned the rights, and who are a writer, director or producer with 80 minutes of released scripted work or a short at a listed festival, or an established novelist or playwright, or hold a project previously backed by devolved NZFC development money. Second tranches need a producer or a filmmaker with two released features.
- Stages
- Writing and development
- Formats
- Feature, Documentary, Animation
- Language of the application
- English, Māori
When to apply
Applications are taken at any time; decisions follow in the fund's own rhythm. Apply at any time after a 15-minute pre-application meeting with the development team; decisions in about eight weeks
What it gives besides money
A pre-application meeting with the funding team; assessment by staff and at least one external industry practitioner.
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 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
Feature Film Production Investment
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's main production money for features with significant New Zealand content, as equity up to NZD 2.5 million or a grant up to NZD 500,000, decided by the board five times a…
up toNZ$2.5MGrant or repayablecloses in 8 days
More writing grants elsewhere
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
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
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.