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, Perth
Scripted Project Development Fund
Run by Screenwest
Development money for Western Australian features and television series that already have real material: outlines, a pilot, a bible or a draft screenplay. Four rounds a year. Early ideas go to the sibling Concept Development fund instead, and the two share a yearly cap of AUD 50,000 per project.
Repayable, up to A$35,000Open to writers in AustraliaA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production company
Next deadline Nov 2, 2026 (closes tomorrow)
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$35,000Up to AUD 35,000 per application, within AUD 50,000 a financial year for concept and project development together
- 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 writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production company
- Where you write
- In Australia
- Rules
- Western Australian residents with an ABN, or WA resident companies, controlling the rights. Someone on the team needs a credit from the past five years on a commercially released feature or series, earned in the same role as the application; otherwise the project has to show interest from a broadcaster, streamer, distributor or sales agent.
- Stages
- Development
- Formats
- Feature, Series
- Language of the application
- English
When to apply
The next closing date is Nov 2, 2026. The dates below are the current cycle's, as the funder states them. Deadlines at 5pm Perth time; Round 3 opens December 10, 2026 and Round 4 on April 2, 2027; outcomes within eight weeks
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| Round 2 | Nov 2, 2026 |
| Round 3 | Feb 1, 2027 |
| Round 4 | Apr 27, 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 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 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.