Documentary Development Program
Screen Australia
Development money for documentaries headed for cinemas, television or direct-to-audience platforms such as YouTube and VR.
up toA$30kRepayableany time
National fund Australia, Sydney
First Nations Documentary Development
Run by Screen Australia, First Nations Department
Treatments, draft scripts, research and sizzle shooting for documentaries by First Nations key creatives, including emerging producers. The credit bar is lower than for the drama strands: one qualifying documentary of thirty minutes or more. Before a second tranche is released, a platform has to have put its interest in writing.
Grant up to A$30,000Open to writers in AustraliaA writer alone or a writer with a producer
Next deadline Jan 14, 2027 (closes in 74 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
- Up to A$30,000Up to AUD 30,000 for a feature or series aimed at a commissioning platform, AUD 20,000 for a one-hour or an online series
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer alone or a writer with a producer
- Where you write
- In Australia
- Rules
- Applying alone means being a writer, producer or director who is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. One eligible documentary credit is enough for writers and directors; producers need two unless an experienced producer stands beside them. Where the request pays for shooting, a director has to be attached.
- Stages
- Development
- Formats
- Documentary
- Language of the application
- English
When to apply
The next closing date is Jan 14, 2027. The dates below are the current cycle's, as the funder states them. Deadlines fall at 5pm Sydney time; decisions take about six weeks
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| Round | Jan 14, 2027 |
| Round | Mar 11, 2027 |
| Round | May 6, 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 Australia
Documentary Production Program
Screen Australia
Three lanes for documentary production: Producer First for films still closing finance, Platform First for commissioned programs, and Direct-to-Audience for work released on YouTube…
up toA$500kInvestmentcloses in 95 days
First Nations Feature Development
Screen Australia, First Nations Department
Draft money for feature screenplays by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers with a track record.
up toA$45kGrantcloses in 74 days
First Nations Feature Production Fund
Screen Australia, First Nations Department
Production and post-production investment for low-budget features written and directed by First Nations filmmakers.
VariesInvestmentany 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.