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, Melbourne
Development On Demand
Run by VicScreen
Victoria's open-door development scheme for fiction, documentary and VR, with no closing date. A Victorian writer can apply once without a producer, which makes it one of the few state funds that pays a writer directly for draft-to-draft work. Treatment-to-draft writing is excluded, so arrive with a screenplay or pilot.
Repayable, up to A$50,000Open to writers in AustraliaA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production company
Applications taken any time
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$50,000Up to AUD 50,000 depending on project type and market interest, repaid from the production budget if the project is made
- 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
- Writers and producers who are Australian individuals or companies. A writer applicant must be Victorian and may receive one round without a producer; later rounds need one. Non-Victorian producers must engage a Victorian writer. Everyone must meet one of four pathways: a credit on a commercially released project, prior agency development support, the Key Talent Placements Register, or a letter of interest from the market.
- Stages
- Writing and development
- Formats
- Feature, Series, Documentary
- Language of the application
- English
When to apply
Applications are taken at any time; decisions follow in the fund's own rhythm. Apply at any time; outcomes within about ten weeks
What it gives besides money
Program managers give feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
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 writing grants elsewhere
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
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
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.