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 Finishing Grant
Run by 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. The cut must be locked or close to it. It is the commission's route in for films that financed themselves.
Grant up to NZ$60,000Open to writers in New ZealandA 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$60,000Up to NZD 60,000 per project
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer with a producer or a production company
- Where you write
- In New Zealand
- Rules
- New Zealand filmmakers with a fiction or documentary feature at locked or late cut, made for under NZD 1 million without NZFC production money and carrying significant New Zealand content. The film needs an invitation from NZIFF, DocEdge or the Resene-backed Architecture and Design Film Festival; a major international festival also counts if a New Zealand release is planned.
- Stages
- Completion
- Formats
- Feature, Documentary
- Language of the application
- English, Māori
When to apply
Applications are taken at any time; decisions follow in the fund's own rhythm. No deadline on the page; book a pre-application meeting with the production team, then apply through the portal
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 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 post-production and completion funding elsewhere
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
BPM Open Call
Black Public Media
Public television's fund for Black nonfiction stories runs one call a year: five projects get USD 20,000 and a place at PitchBLACK, where one leaves with up to USD 150,000 of production…
range$150kInvestmentbetween rounds
Media Fund and Shorts Fund
Pacific Islanders in Communications
Pacific Islander stories for public television, in two sizes: an hour or half-hour documentary with up to USD 65,000, or a short of any genre with up to USD 25,000, including…
up to$65kInvestmentpaused
Open Call
ITVS, Independent Television Service
The largest sums in American documentary funding come from public television's co-production arm, which has backed 659 films through this call.
up to$400kInvestmentpaused
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.