Aotearoa Scripted Series Initiative
NZ On Air with Sky and Dynamic Television
A new co-development fund, announced October 29, 2026, for up to three one-hour New Zealand drama series with international legs.
up toNZ$75kGrantcloses in 32 days
National fund New Zealand, Wellington
Diverse Content funding rounds (Ngahau, Whāngai, Kura Pounamu, Mōhiohio, Reo Māori Content Co-Fund)
Run by Te Māngai Pāho (Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency)
The Māori broadcasting agency funds te reo Māori content by language level rather than platform, through themed rounds: Ngahau for entertainment, Whāngai for learners, Mōhiohio for factual and feature documentary, Kura Pounamu for children and youth, and a scripted Co-Fund with NZ On Air that includes development. Every award is published with its recipient.
Grant, amount not statedOpen to writers in New ZealandA writer with a producer or a production company
Ngahau Dec 3, 2026 (closes in 32 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
- Amount not statedNo caps on the page; recent awards listed there run from NZD 35,000 to 573,000, and the Co-Fund round had up to NZD 8 million to allocate
- What it is
- Grant
- To apply
- Free
Who can apply
- Applicant
- A writer with a producer or a production company
- Where you write
- In New Zealand
- Rules
- Producers and creators making content in te reo Māori that serves Māori language and culture outcomes. Each round has its own criteria document; the agency asks for an initial inquiry before an Industry Support application.
- Stages
- Development and production
- Formats
- Series, Documentary
- Language of the application
- Māori, English
When to apply
The next closing date is Dec 3, 2026. The dates below are the current cycle's, as the funder states them. Each round closes at 5pm New Zealand time; Ngahau decisions February 19, 2027, Whāngai opens February 1, 2027 with decisions June 18, 2027; the 2026 Kura Pounamu, Mōhiohio and Co-Fund rounds have closed
| Round | Closes |
|---|---|
| Ngahau | Dec 3, 2026 |
| Whāngai | Apr 1, 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 New Zealand
Feature Film Development Fund
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's single development door, folded from the old Early and Advanced schemes, and one a writer can walk through alone.
up toNZ$35kGrantany time
Feature Film Finishing Grant
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
Finishing money for low-budget New Zealand features made outside the commission's production funding: grading, sound, effects polish and festival costs, once a festival has said yes.
up toNZ$60kGrantany time
Feature Film Production Investment
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
The commission's main production money for features with significant New Zealand content, as equity up to NZD 2.5 million or a grant up to NZD 500,000, decided by the board five times a…
up toNZ$2.5MGrant or repayablecloses in 8 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.