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
Regional fund Australia, Brisbane
Online Production Grants
Run by Screen Queensland
A rare production grant a solo writer-creator can hold alone: episodic series for YouTube, TikTok or Instagram, or one-off XR, with no IP taken and marketing costs allowed. Scripts for the series are read at application, and six past recipients are listed on the page with their creators.
Grant, a$50,000 to A$100,000Open to writers in AustraliaA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a 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
- A$50,000 to A$100,000A AUD 50,000 stream for three projects a round and a AUD 100,000 stream for one, the larger needing AUD 50,000 of secured co-funding; interstate IP owners capped at AUD 50,000
- 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 Australia
- Rules
- A creative team at least half Queensland residents, or a Queensland solo creative, who created and owns the IP. No broadcast credits are needed, but one key creative must have released work online. One application a round, no full-time students, and a project refused twice may not return.
- Stages
- Production
- Formats
- 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. Round three closed on May 18; the page does not give the next round
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 Documentary Development
Screen Australia, First Nations Department
Treatments, draft scripts, research and sizzle shooting for documentaries by First Nations key creatives, including emerging producers.
up toA$30kGrantcloses in 74 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
More production 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
Minnesota Film Production Grant
Jerome Foundation
The Minnesota twin of Jerome's New York City grant: up to USD 30,000 of production money for early career directors who take creative risks, applied for in two steps each fall.
up to$30kGrantcloses in 23 days
New York City Film Production Grant
Jerome Foundation
A production grant for New York City directors near the start of their careers, in any moving-image form from animation to documentary.
up to$30kGrantcloses in 23 days
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
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.