Agility Award
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon (Ireland)
A first-rung grant for artists the Arts Council has never funded as individuals, to develop their practice, work or skills.
up to€5kGrantbetween rounds
National fund Ireland, Galway
First Stage Documentary Development
Run by Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann
Seed money for a documentary feature or series from an Irish company, with rights paperwork needed before any funds are drawn. The first-stage ceiling is modest; further development comes through a second scheme once the project has shape. Rounds are highly competitive.
Repayable, up to €15,000Open to writers in IrelandA production company
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
- Up to €15,000Up to EUR 15,000 for the first stage; a separate Additional Documentary Development scheme funds later stages.
- What it is
- RepayableA loan, an advance on receipts or a conditionally repayable grant: it is paid back only out of what the film earns.
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A production company
- Where you write
- In Ireland
- Rules
- An Irish-registered independent production company with an office and staff in the country, developing either a feature documentary for festivals or cinemas or a series for international broadcast, with rights or letters of interest from the director and contributors in hand.
- Stages
- Development
- Formats
- Documentary, Series
- 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. Four rounds a year closing at 1pm: in 2026 on January 26, March 30, May 25 and October 30. The 2027 dates are not yet published.
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| 2026 final round closed | Oct 30, 2026 passed |
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 Ireland
Animation Development Loans
Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann
Development loans for animated television series from Irish studios, applied for with a series bible, sample visuals and, if available, a full episode script.
up to€30kRepayablebetween rounds
Authored Works
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon (Ireland)
The largest of the Arts Council's film awards, for a feature-length film driven by its author's vision rather than a market.
up to€230kGrantbetween rounds
Completion Funding
Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann
Money to finish an Irish feature or feature documentary that was shot without Screen Ireland and has reached a rough cut.
up to€100kRepayablebetween rounds
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
Where Creative Europe's development money goesEvery MEDIA development grant since 2014, by country, company and year.Fellowships and labsPrograms that pick a few writers and work with them for months, on the events pages.How to write a treatmentThe document a development application is built on, step by step.Screenwriting eventsContests, labs, festivals and conferences, with their deadlines.