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
Foundation or company fund United States, San Francisco
SFFILM Documentary Film Fund
Post-production money for feature documentaries that are shot but not cut, from the San Francisco festival's foundation arm. Grants of USD 10,000 to 20,000 go to a handful of films a year chosen from anywhere in the world; Honeyland, Writing With Fire and Ascension all passed through it.
Grant, $10,000 to $20,000Open to writers anywhereA writer with a producer
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
- $10,000 to $20,000USD 10,000 to 20,000 a project, three to six projects a year
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- PaidThe page gives two sets of figures, USD 25 and 45 in one place and USD 30 and 50 in another; waived for SFFILM members.
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer with a producer
- Where you write
- Anywhere
- Rules
- A producer or director aged 18 or over, not a full-time student, on a feature documentary of 60 minutes or more that is within about three months of starting its edit. Films driven mainly by interviews are not considered. Open to filmmakers anywhere; no Bay Area connection is needed.
- Stages
- Completion
- Formats
- Documentary
- 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. The 2026 round opened March 3 and closed July 7, 2026; the 2027 dates are not yet posted.
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| 2026 regular deadline | Jun 9, 2026 passed |
| 2026 final deadline | Jul 7, 2026 passed |
Dates are as the funder states them. Check the time of day and the time zone on the official page.
What it gives besides money
Membership of the SFFILM Makers artist development community.
Also open to writers in United States
Arts Innovator Award
Artist Trust
Two Washington artists a year receive USD 25,000 for pushing at the edges of their field, with no project report attached.
range$25kGrantbetween rounds
Creative Accelerator Fund
Illinois Arts Council
Illinois pays working artists USD 10,000 by lottery rather than by jury: show an active practice with two work samples and the state lottery draws the winners region by region.
range$10kGrantbetween rounds
Fellowship Awards
Artist Trust
Washington State's merit award for working artists: USD 10,000 with no strings, judged on the body of work rather than a project.
range$10kGrantcloses tomorrow
More post-production and completion funding elsewhere
Filmmaker Assistance Program (FAP)
National Film Board of Canada
Not cash for writing but help finishing a film: the NFB reimburses post-production bills or opens its own Montreal suites to independent English-language filmmakers.
up toCA$15kStipend or servicesbetween rounds
Production Program
Telefilm Canada
The main production financing for Canadian fiction features, sorted into windows by language and budget level.
VariesGrant or repayablecloses in 37 days
Theatrical Documentary Program
Telefilm Canada
Feature documentaries headed for cinemas have their own Telefilm program, separate from the fiction Production Program, with one intake each spring.
VariesGrant or repayablebetween rounds
Alberta Made Screen Industries Program (Project Script Development Grant and Alberta Made Production Grant)
Alberta Media Fund, Government of Alberta
Alberta's provincial fund pays for scripts in three phases and then for smaller productions, both as grants with fixed intake windows twice a year.
up toCA$125kGrantcloses in 76 days
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.