Screenwriting grants: money to write a script

WritingUnited StatesRegional fund

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.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingUnited StatesRegional fund

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.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingUnited StatesRegional fund

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.

2027 Fellowship deadline Nov 2, 2026A writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentUnited StatesRegional fund

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.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingUnited StatesRegional fund

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship

New York Foundation for the Arts, with the New York State Council on the Arts

An unrestricted USD 8,000 for the artist rather than the project, awarded by peer panels in rotating disciplines.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary

WritingUnited StatesFoundation or company fund

Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The best known paid year of writing in American film: a USD 35,000 stipend to finish a new feature screenplay, open to unproduced writers anywhere in the world.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature

WritingDevelopmentCompletionUnited StatesFoundation or company fund

SFFILM Rainin Grant

SFFILM, with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation

One of the few American grants that pays a screenwriter directly to write, and it can also fund packaging or the edit of the same film later.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature

WritingDevelopmentCanadaNational fund

Development Program (ISO Story Fund)

Indigenous Screen Office

An Indigenous writer can apply here alone, without a producer or broadcaster, for research, script drafts, story editing, knowledge keepers and pitch materials.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionCanadaNational fund

Explore and Create: Artistic Creation

Canada Council for the Arts

Since 2026 the Council's Artistic Creation grant stands in for two retired components, Concept to Realization and Research and Creation, and it is the arts council route for a screenwriter…

Applications taken any timeA writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentCanadaRegional fund

Create

Manitoba Arts Council

A general creation grant open to every discipline, so a Manitoba screenwriter applies as a writer or media artist for time to write or to develop a work in progress.

Spring 2027 intake Mar 20, 2027A writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentCanadaRegional fund

Creation (research, creation, exploration and production grants for artists)

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec (CALQ)

Quebec's standing creation grant takes applications any day of the year, which is rare among public arts funders.

Applications taken any timeA writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentProductionCompletionCanadaRegional fundNames no past recipients

Film and Video Individual Project Funding

Alberta Foundation for the Arts

Script or screenplay writing is named on the page as a phase this grant can pay for, which makes it one of the few provincial grants a screenwriter can take to the page stage alone.

Spring 2027 round Mar 1, 2027A writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentCanadaRegional fund

Grants to Individuals: Create

Arts Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia pays its artists to make new work across every discipline, media and literary arts included, and accepts script samples as support material.

November intake Nov 15, 2026A writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentProductionCanadaRegional fund

Independent Artists program (Creation grants)

SK Arts (Saskatchewan Arts Board)

Writing a script is an eligible creation project in Saskatchewan when the filmmaker who will direct it is the applicant; the guidelines use exactly that case as an example.

Spring intake Mar 15, 2027A writer aloneShort, Feature, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentCanadaRegional fundNames no past recipients

Programme d'aide au développement (Development Program), Component 1 writing assistance

SODEC, Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Québec)

Québec's cultural agency pays production companies to write fiction features and medium or feature documentaries, in a selective round twice a year, with a separate strand for animated…

Next deadline Mar 24, 2027A production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentChileNational fund

Guion original y adaptación literaria, Fondo Audiovisual (original screenplay and literary adaptation line)

Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio, Fondo de Fomento Audiovisual (Chile's Ministry of Cultures)

Chile's culture ministry runs a screenplay line inside its audiovisual fund, paying up to CLP 5 million to write a first draft of a feature or pilot and up to CLP 8 million to take a…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionCompletionDistributionColombiaNational fund

Convocatoria FDC, Estímulos por Concurso (Film Development Fund competitive grants)

Proimágenes Colombia, for the Fondo para el Desarrollo Cinematográfico and the CNACC

Funded by a levy on tickets and distribution, Colombia's FDC is the one national fund in the region with a plain screenwriting modality a writer can enter alone, beside development…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionCompletionDistributionDominican RepublicNational fund

Concurso Público FONPROCINE (Fund for Film Promotion public contest)

DGCINE, Dirección General de Cine (Dominican Republic's film directorate)

A small national fund with a clear yearly rhythm: one public contest each summer, DOP 17.5 million shared among about sixteen projects.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionCompletionDistributionUruguayNational fund

Fondo de Fomento Cinematográfico y Audiovisual and Programa Uruguay Audiovisual (film fund and national audiovisual program)

ACAU, Agencia del Cine y el Audiovisual del Uruguay (Uruguay's film and audiovisual agency)

Uruguay's agency groups its national money into a calendar of calls: script and project development, production of features, series and shorts, minority co-productions, plus the Programa…

Next deadline Nov 10, 2026A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingIrelandNational fundNames no past recipients

Agility Award

The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon (Ireland)

A first-rung grant for artists the Arts Council has never funded as individuals, to develop their practice, work or skills.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone

WritingDevelopmentProductionIrelandNational fundNames no past recipients

Film Project Award

The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon (Ireland)

The Arts Council's project grant for film as an art form, open to an individual filmmaker as much as to a company, with a ceiling of ninety thousand euro.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingIrelandNational fund

Screenplay Development Loans (Established Talent)

Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann

Ireland's writer-only development loan: a produced screenwriter takes an idea to a first draft with a script editor, and a producer attached makes the application ineligible.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Animation

WritingUnited KingdomRegional fund

BFI NETWORK England: Early Development Fund

BFI NETWORK (British Film Institute), National Lottery

One of very few British public grants a writer can hold alone, paid to write a treatment for a debut feature before any script exists.

2026 round closes Nov 11, 2026A writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Animation

WritingDevelopmentUnited KingdomRegional fundNames no past recipients

Feature Film Development

Ffilm Cymru Wales, National Lottery via Arts Council of Wales and BFI NETWORK

Development money for a single feature, documentary or animated film with a Welsh writer, director or producer at its head, and a lone writer may apply.

Review deadline Feb 2, 2027A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentUnited KingdomRegional fundNames no past recipients

First Features (Short Circuit)

Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK, delivered by Film City Futures with Glasgow Film

Development money for a first feature script in Scotland, paid to the writer rather than a company.

Applications taken any timeA writer aloneFeature

WritingDevelopmentUnited KingdomRegional fund

New Writer Focus

Northern Ireland Screen

Northern Ireland Screen's only door for an individual writer: up to four first-time feature writers a year join an eight-month development scheme and can then claim a small individual award.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature

WritingUnited KingdomRegional fund

Open Fund for Individuals

Creative Scotland, National Lottery and Scottish Government

Creative Scotland's general grant for individual artists and writers, paying for a period of research, development or making, with the applicant's own time an allowed cost.

Applications taken any timeA writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingUnited KingdomRegional fundNames no past recipients

Support for the Individual Artist Programme: Project Funding for Individual Artists

Arts Council of Northern Ireland, National Lottery

Northern Ireland's lottery grant for an individual artist's own project, covering new work, research, time to create, residencies or training.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone

WritingDevelopmentUnited KingdomRegional fundNames no past recipients

WRITE NOW early stage development documentary fund

Scottish Documentary Institute

A small grant for the writing phase of a first or second feature documentary by a director based in Scotland, before there is anything to shoot.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneDocumentary

WritingAustriaNational fund

Arbeitsstipendium Film (working stipend for a film concept)

BMWKMS, Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport, Filmabteilung (Austrian federal ministry for arts and culture, film department)

For the stage before a project can even apply for development: a few months of paid time to turn a rough idea into a treatment or concept.

Submission by 23:59 Jan 31, 2027A writer aloneFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingAustriaNational fund

Förderung von Drehbüchern (screenplay funding, innovative film)

BMWKMS, Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport, Filmabteilung (Austrian federal ministry for arts and culture, film department)

The federal arts ministry's screenplay stipend for the independent, low-budget end of Austrian cinema: features whose production the same department might later fund.

Submission by 23:59 Jan 31, 2027A writer aloneFeature

WritingAustriaNational fund

Stoffentwicklung (script and concept development)

ÖFI, Österreichisches Filminstitut (Austrian Film Institute)

Austria's national script grant for cinema features and documentary concepts, paid directly to the writer and exempt from income tax.

Submission by 17:00 Nov 24, 2026A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary

WritingAustriaRegional fundNames no past recipients

Arbeitsstipendium Film (working stipend for story development)

Land Niederösterreich, Abteilung Kunst und Kultur (Lower Austria regional government, arts and culture department)

Lower Austria pays four filmmakers EUR 6,000 each for a year of idea and story work: research, treatment, storyboard, shooting concept or screenplay, in any genre.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingBelgiumNational fund

Aide à l'écriture, longs métrages de fiction et d'animation (feature writing aid)

Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

French-speaking Belgium's writing aid for features pays a screenwriter up to EUR 15,000 and takes the application from the writer directly, with EEA nationals eligible alongside Belgians.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionBelgiumNational fund

Aides aux documentaires de création (creative documentary aid: writing, development, production)

Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

A full ladder for documentary in French-speaking Belgium, from EUR 10,000 to write a film through development to production grants that top out at EUR 120,000 for a series.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyDocumentary, Series

WritingDevelopmentProductionBelgiumNational fund

Commission Séries: aide à l'écriture, au développement et à la production (series commission)

Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

Series money in French-speaking Belgium flows only once a broadcaster has signed, and then it is generous: EUR 25,000 to start the writers' room, EUR 150,000 to develop and EUR 600,000 to…

Next dates not yet publishedA production companySeries, Animation

WritingBelgiumNational fund

Scenariosteun, VAF/Filmfonds (screenplay support)

VAF, Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (Flanders Audiovisual Fund)

The Flemish fund's entry point for a writer alone: EUR 15,000 to write a feature or documentary script, filed in Dutch, with the same money later deducted from any production grant.

Animation committee Nov 17, 2026A writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionBelgiumNational fund

VAF/Mediafonds: scenario-, ontwikkelings- en productiesteun voor series (series support)

VAF, Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (Flanders Audiovisual Fund)

The Flemish fund's television arm, where a series can start with up to EUR 25,000 of script money before any channel signs on, and climb to EUR 1.3 million for a high-end production.

Next deadline Nov 12, 2026A writer with a producer or a production companySeries, Animation

WritingProductionBosnia and HerzegovinaNational fund

Konkurs za sufinansiranje filmskih projekata (co-financing of film projects: screenplay development, production, minority co-productions)

Fondacija za kinematografiju Sarajevo (Cinematography Foundation, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Bosnia's federal film foundation runs one call a year that bundles everything, from a small screenplay development line a writer can claim as a natural person (BAM 3,000 to 6,000) to…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingDevelopmentProductionBulgariaNational fund

Финансиране на български филми (funding of Bulgarian films: screenplay writing and project development, pre-production, production)

Национален филмов център, НФЦ (Bulgarian National Film Center)

Bulgaria runs two general sessions a year for feature projects, plus one for co-productions with the national broadcaster BNT.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Series

WritingDevelopmentCroatiaNational fund

Razvoj scenarija i razvoj projekata audiovizualnih djela (script and project development for feature, documentary and animated films)

Hrvatski audiovizualni centar, HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre)

Croatia lets a writer apply alone for script money, and up to two co-writers may share one grant equally. Features need 70 minutes, documentaries 60, animation 24.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentCroatiaNational fund

Razvoj scenarija i razvoj projekata dugometražnih igranih i animiranih filmova za djecu i mlade (script and project development for children's and youth features)

Hrvatski audiovizualni centar, HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre)

A ring-fenced pot for family films.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Animation

WritingDevelopmentCroatiaNational fund

Razvoj scenarija i razvoj projekata televizijskih djela (script and project development for television series)

Hrvatski audiovizualni centar, HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre)

The television twin of HAVC's film development call, for series writers.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companySeries

WritingCzech RepublicNational fund

Kreativní vývoj první verze scénáře pro celovečerní hraný film (creative development of a first screenplay draft)

Státní fond audiovize (Czech Audiovisual Fund)

A rare European script grant paid straight to the writer rather than a producer.

Next deadline Nov 2, 2026A writer aloneFeature

WritingDenmarkNational fund

Arbejdslegater for film (working grants for film)

Statens Kunstfond (Danish Arts Foundation)

A personal grant from the Danish state's arts foundation for the artist's own practice, not for a particular film's budget. It pays for time to work, which for a writer means time to write.

Next deadline Feb 2, 2027A writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionDenmarkNational fund

Spillefilm, Konsulentordningen (feature film consultant scheme)

Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish Film Institute)

Denmark's main route for features judged on their artistic merit.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature

WritingDevelopmentProductionDenmarkNational fund

Spillefilm, Markedsordningen (feature film market scheme)

Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish Film Institute)

For Danish features expected to draw a larger cinema audience than the national average.

Next deadline Jan 13, 2027A production companyFeature

WritingDevelopmentProductionEstoniaNational fund

Audiovisuaalse kunsti sihtkapital (Endowment for Audiovisual Arts)

Eesti Kultuurkapital (Cultural Endowment of Estonia)

Estonia's second film funder, financed by excise taxes and run as an endowment with four deadlines a year.

Next deadline Nov 20, 2026A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Short, Animation

WritingEstoniaNational fund

Täispika filmi stsenaariumi arendus (feature film script development)

Eesti Filmi Instituut (Estonian Film Institute)

Estonia's script money comes in small steps: a treatment round, then stage I and stage II of script development at up to EUR 5,000 each, applied for by the writer's company or a producer.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Animation

WritingProductionFinlandNational fund

AVEK käsikirjoitustuki ja kohdeapuraha (script grant and target grant for individuals)

AVEK, Audiovisuaalisen kulttuurin edistämiskeskus (Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture), part of Kopiosto

Small, fast and personal: AVEK pays a writer EUR 3,500 to plan and write a documentary, short fiction, short animation or media art piece, with no company and no deadline.

Applications taken any timeA writer aloneDocumentary, Short, Animation

WritingFinlandNational fund

Käsikirjoitusapuraha (scriptwriting grant)

Suomen elokuvasäätiö (Finnish Film Foundation)

Finland pays its screenwriters a monthly allowance to write: EUR 2,000 a month for up to a year, with no producer or company needed.

Fiction and documentary Jan 13, 2027A writer aloneFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentFinlandFoundation or company fund

General grant call (working grants for artists)

Kone Foundation (Koneen Saatio)

Finland's largest private arts funder pays artists a monthly grant to work in peace, from six months to three years, and says yes to every art form, so a screenwriter applies on the…

Annual call closes Sep 15, 2027A writer aloneFeature, Short, Documentary

WritingFranceNational fund

Aide à la création de séries (series creation aid)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (French national film center)

A single EUR 40,000 payment for an experienced series writer to build a new show from scratch, with no producer required.

Next deadline Feb 1, 2027A writer aloneSeries

WritingFranceNational fund

Aide au parcours d'auteur (author's career aid)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (French national film center)

Not a project grant but time: EUR 20,000 for an author with a track record to think before writing the next thing, with no synopsis or producer required.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Short, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentFranceNational fund

Aides à l'élaboration et au développement de séries documentaires (documentary series writing and development aid)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (French national film center)

A newer CNC line for documentary series, paying the author EUR 15,000 to write a show of three or more episodes before any broadcaster is involved.

Writing Dec 6, 2026A writer alone or a production companyDocumentary, Series

WritingFranceNational fund

COCO-I, aide à la co-écriture de coproductions internationales (international series co-writing aid)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (French national film center)

Money for a writers' team that spans borders: a French author and a co-author of another nationality share EUR 50,000 to write the pilot of a series built as a co-production.

Next deadline Feb 1, 2027A writer aloneSeries

WritingFranceNational fund

Fiction : aide à l'écriture, Fonds d'aide à l'innovation audiovisuelle (television fiction writing aid)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (French national film center)

Flat-rate money for writing a television series or single drama before any producer is attached, paid straight to the author.

Next deadline Jan 8, 2027A writer aloneSeries

WritingDevelopmentFranceNational fund

Fonds d'aide à l'innovation en documentaire de création (creative documentary innovation fund)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (French national film center)

Documentary writers can start here alone with EUR 10,000 and stay in the same fund as a producer comes on board, up to a reinforced development sum that pays for a first shoot.

Writing Nov 2, 2026A writer alone or a production companyDocumentary

WritingDevelopmentProductionDistributionFranceNational fund

Fonds Images de la diversité (Images of Diversity fund)

CNC, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, with the Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires

A fund for stories about the France that mainstream screens miss, reformed in April 2026.

Next deadline Jan 4, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Series, Short, Documentary, Animation

WritingFranceRegional fundNames no past recipients

Aide à l'écriture de scénario, Cinéma et Audiovisuel (screenplay writing aid)

Région Île-de-France

The largest French regional writing bursary, paying an author EUR 8,000 to EUR 18,000 plus pitch coaching, in exchange for running a workshop with students.

Not taking applications this cycleA writer aloneFeature, Short, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingFranceRegional fundNames no past recipients

Aide au concept (concept aid for authors)

Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine

A small, early grant for the stage before a treatment exists: research, interviews, location visits.

Filing deadline Dec 8, 2026A writer aloneFeature, Short, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionFranceRegional fund

Fonds de soutien à la création et à la production pour le cinéma et l'audiovisuel (film and audiovisual support fund)

Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, run with ALCA (the regional book, film and audiovisual agency)

One of the biggest regional funds in France, covering writing, development and production for cinema and television across six genre committees.

Next deadline Jan 11, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Short, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingFranceFoundation or company fund

Bourse d'écriture cinéma long-métrage (feature film writing bursary)

Association Beaumarchais-SACD

A writer alone, writing in French from anywhere in the world, can win EUR 5,000 for a first or second fiction feature.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Animation

WritingFranceFoundation or company fund

Bourse d'écriture télévision (television writing bursary)

Association Beaumarchais-SACD

The television twin of the Beaumarchais feature bursary: EUR 5,000 to an emerging writer for an original series or single drama in French, with web series welcome.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneSeries

WritingFranceFoundation or company fund

Bourses de la Fondation Jean-Luc Lagardere (screenwriter, documentary and animation author bourses)

A media group's foundation has handed out bourses to young creators since 1990, and three of its twelve categories are for screen storytellers: TV screenwriter, documentary author and…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneSeries, Documentary, Animation

WritingGermanyNational fund

Jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung (jury-based treatment and screenplay funding)

FFA, Filmförderungsanstalt (German Federal Film Board), running the federal jury-based cultural film funding since 2025

The federal screenplay grant that writers apply for alone, since the 2025 film law moved the BKM's cultural funding into the FFA.

Children's film round Dec 15, 2026A writer aloneFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingGermanyNational fund

Stipendium Stoffentwicklung (story development stipend, Talentfilm)

Kuratorium junger deutscher Film (foundation for young German film)

Germany's talent fund pays a writer up to EUR 25,000 to develop an original idea from research to script over ten months, with a dramaturg attached.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentGermanyNational fund

Verwendung von Referenzmitteln für Autor*innen und Regisseur*innen (reference funds for writers and directors)

FFA, Filmförderungsanstalt (German Federal Film Board)

New under the 2025 film law: when a German feature scores reference points, its writer and director get their own pot to spend on the next script, from a first idea to a finished…

Applications taken any timeA writer aloneFeature

WritingDevelopmentGermanyRegional fund

Creative Development (exposé, treatment, screenplay)

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia film and media foundation)

A ladder of grants from a five-thousand-euro exposé to a twenty-thousand-euro screenplay, with the first rung open to NRW writers on their own and no producer required.

Screenplay Jan 21, 2027A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionGermanyRegional fund

Drehbuch- und Stoffentwicklung, Projektweiterentwicklung, Produktion (script development, project development, production)

nordmedia, Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen

Lower Saxony and Bremen's fund lets a writer apply for script development money alone, up to EUR 30,000, though the sum is a loan due if the film gets made.

Submission Jan 14, 2027A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingGermanyRegional fund

Drehbuchförderung (screenplay funding)

MFG Baden-Württemberg, Filmförderung (Baden-Württemberg film fund)

Baden-Württemberg's script line takes a writer's own application for a fiction feature, while documentaries and series need a company.

Submission Nov 3, 2026A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentGermanyRegional fund

NEST (development funding for ideas, scripts and concepts)

MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein

NEST replaced the treatment and screenplay schemes in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in favor of a residency plus tools model: EUR 7,500 for the idea, a week with Le Groupe Ouest, then a…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingGermanyRegional fund

Stoffentwicklung und Treatmentförderung (script and treatment funding)

FFF Bayern, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (Bavarian film and television fund)

Bavaria pays a fixed EUR 30,000 for a feature or series screenplay, and a writer can apply directly as long as a Bavarian producer signs a letter of intent.

Window closes Jan 25, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentProductionGermanyRegional fund

Stoffentwicklung, Projektentwicklung und Produktion (script development, project development and production)

MDM, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (central German media fund for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia)

Central Germany funds a writer's screenplay, series concept or storyworld with a loan of up to EUR 25,000, rising to EUR 30,000 through a company, then project development and production…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingDevelopmentProductionGermanyRegional fund

Stoffentwicklung, Projektentwicklung und Produktionsförderung (script development, project development and production)

MV Filmförderung (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern film fund)

A small northeastern fund with an unusual perk: script development is an outright grant of up to EUR 20,000, and a writer can apply with just a producer's letter.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingGermanyRegional fund

Treatment und Stoffentwicklung (treatment and script development)

HessenFilm und Medien (Hessen film and media fund)

Hessen hands writers a grant for a treatment on a rolling basis and up to EUR 30,000 for a screenplay three times a year, with the writer applying alone if they live in the state.

Script development Nov 24, 2026A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingGreeceNational fund

Βασικό Πρόγραμμα: Γραφή Σεναρίου (Main Program: Screenwriting)

EKKOMED, Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (formerly the Greek Film Centre)

Greece pays a writer directly to get from idea to first draft: EUR 4,000 to 7,000 against a logline, a 2,000 to 5,000 word treatment and a statement of intent, with the money returned if…

Period B Dec 31, 2026A writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingGreeceNational fund

Πρόγραμμα Πρώτης Ταινίας: Γραφή Σεναρίου (First Film Program: Screenwriting)

EKKOMED, Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (formerly the Greek Film Centre)

The same writing grant as the main program, reserved for projects whose director has never made a feature, with twelve months to deliver a first draft or a 2,500 word documentary treatment.

Period B Jan 31, 2027A writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentHungaryNational fund

Forgatókönyv-fejlesztési pályázat (script development call)

Nemzeti Filmintézet, NFI (National Film Institute Hungary)

Hungary's national money for scripts is on hold.

Not taking applications this cycleA writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series

WritingIcelandNational fund

Handritsstyrkir (script grants)

Kvikmyndamiðstöð Íslands (Icelandic Film Centre)

Iceland pays for scripts in two stages, a first draft and then its development, each worth up to ISK 1.5 million for features, with a combined ISK 3 million for writers who have done it…

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingItalyNational fund

Contributi selettivi per la scrittura di sceneggiature (selective screenplay writing contributions)

Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo, Ministero della Cultura

Italy's state money for a writer alone: EUR 10,000 to 20,000 to write a fiction or documentary screenplay for a feature or series over 52 minutes, for cinema, television or the web.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentItalyRegional fund

Bando per lo sviluppo di sceneggiature, L.R. 15/2006 art. 5 (screenplay development call)

Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, Servizio sport, spettacolo e cinema

Sardinia's cinema law has a line just for screenplays, paid to a company developing a script of regional interest, beside its calls for shorts, features and distribution.

Next dates not yet publishedA production companyFeature, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentProductionCompletionKosovoNational fundNames no past recipients

Konkursi për subvencionimin e projekteve filmike (film project subsidy call: screenplay writing, project development, production)

Qendra Kinematografike e Kosovës, QKK (Kosovo Cinematography Center)

Kosovo's yearly call has 14 categories, and two pay for writing: screenplay support for a feature (fiction or animated) and, new in 2026, for a television series, beside a project…

Next dates not yet publishedA production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short, Series

WritingDevelopmentProductionLatviaNational fund

Filmu māksla, regulārais projektu konkurss (film art, regular project competition)

Valsts kultūrkapitāla fonds, VKKF (State Culture Capital Foundation)

Latvia's arts foundation runs three open competitions a year, with film as one sector.

Next deadline Jan 22, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingDevelopmentLithuaniaNational fund

Scenarijaus kūrimo ir projektų vystymo darbai (script writing and project development)

Lietuvos kino centras (Lithuanian Film Centre)

Lithuania's state film money for the stages before shooting, from writing a feature or animated feature script to developing documentaries, series, interactive work and debut films.

Autumn 2026 call Dec 1, 2026A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short, Series

WritingLuxembourgNational fund

Aide aux auteurs, AUT (authors' writing aid)

Film Fund Luxembourg (Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle), with the Centre national de l'audiovisuel

Luxembourg's grant for a writer working alone: up to EUR 10,000 and two workshops to get a first full draft of a feature or series, without a company attached and with nothing to repay.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentLuxembourgNational fund

Aide financière sélective à l'écriture et/ou au développement, AFS (selective writing and development aid)

Film Fund Luxembourg (Fonds national de soutien à la production audiovisuelle)

The producer-side writing and development aid in Luxembourg, up to EUR 60,000 per phase, scored by a five-member committee on a points grid.

Filing Dec 7, 2026A production companyFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionMontenegroNational fund

Javni konkursi za sufinansiranje kinematografskih djela (co-financing of cinematographic works)

Filmski centar Crne Gore (Film Centre of Montenegro)

Montenegro's centre describes an annual call in three parts, script development, project development and production, but the 2026 call opened only production categories: features with…

Next dates not yet publishedA production companyFeature, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentNetherlandsNational fund

Scenario-Ontwikkeling Speelfilm en Lange Animatiefilm (screenplay development for features and long animation)

Nederlands Filmfonds (Netherlands Film Fund)

The Dutch route from idea to first draft, worth up to EUR 35,000 for the writer, open to an experienced screenwriter without a producer.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Animation

WritingDevelopmentNetherlandsInternational fund

Hubert Bals Fund Development Support (Script and Project)

Hubert Bals Fund, International Film Festival Rotterdam

One of the few international grants a writer-director can take alone and spend on writing: research, drafts, translation, a script consultant or a trip to pitch.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature

WritingNorwayNational fund

Idé- og manusutvikling dokumentar (idea and script development, documentary)

Norsk filminstitutt (Norwegian Film Institute)

The documentary twin of NFI's fiction script grant: a single payment of NOK 100,000 or 150,000 to a writer or director for the idea and script stage of a documentary.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneDocumentary

WritingNorwayNational fund

Manusutvikling fiksjon (script development, fiction)

Norsk filminstitutt (Norwegian Film Institute)

Fixed sums paid straight to the writer to take a feature or series from idea to treatment and on to a revised first draft, with no producer required.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Series

WritingDevelopmentProductionNorwayRegional fund

Filminvest, tilskudd og investering (grants and investment)

The investment and grant fund for central Norway, covering drama and documentary series, features and cinema documentaries.

Next dates not yet publishedA production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentPortugalNational fund

Apoio à Escrita e Desenvolvimento de Obras Audiovisuais e Multimédia (series writing and development support)

ICA, Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual

The television and streaming sibling of the film writing support: a producer draws up to EUR 30,000 to write and develop a series, or EUR 80,000 when a pilot is part of the plan.

Next dates not yet publishedA production companySeries, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentPortugalNational fund

Apoio à Escrita e Desenvolvimento de Obras Cinematográficas (film writing and development support)

ICA, Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual

Portugal's writing and development support pays a producer to fund the writer and the first development steps, with a plans track for slates of three or more projects and a singles track…

Next dates not yet publishedA production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingDevelopmentSlovakiaNational fund

Program 1, vývoj audiovizuálnych diel (development of audiovisual works: grant or creative scholarship)

Audiovizuálny fond (Slovak Audiovisual Fund)

Slovakia pays for development twice over: a flat grant to the producer, sized by the kind of work, and a creative scholarship an author can claim alone to write.

Next deadline Nov 2, 2026A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Series

WritingDevelopmentSloveniaNational fund

Javni razpis za sofinanciranje razvoja slovenskih igranih filmskih projektov (development of Slovenian fiction film projects: script and project development)

Slovenski filmski center (Slovenian Film Centre)

Slovenia splits development in two: a script strand a self-employed screenwriter can enter directly, worth up to EUR 20,000, and a project strand for producers worth up to EUR 40,000.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature

WritingSpainNational fund

Ayudas para la escritura de guiones de largometrajes (feature screenplay writing grants)

ICAA, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (Spanish Ministry of Culture)

The one Spanish grant a screenwriter applies to with no producer: a fixed EUR 30,000 (EUR 20,000 for documentary) to write a feature, judged anonymously on a treatment and sample.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentSpainRegional fund

Subvenciones a la escritura de guion y al desarrollo de proyectos (screenplay writing and project development grants)

Institut Valencià de Cultura, IVC (Generalitat Valenciana)

Valencia pays a writer EUR 9,600 to draft a feature, miniseries, documentary or animated script, read anonymously as a treatment, a note of intent and a five-minute sample.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentSwedenNational fund

Stöd till utveckling av filmprojekt, lång spelfilm (development support, feature film)

Svenska Filminstitutet (Swedish Film Institute)

The Swedish Film Institute's development money for features, covering synopsis, treatment, drafts, a dramaturg and research.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature

WritingDevelopmentProductionSwitzerlandNational fundNames no past recipients

Selektive Filmförderung: Drehbuch, Projektentwicklung, Herstellung (federal selective film funding)

Bundesamt für Kultur, BAK / Office fédéral de la culture (Swiss Federal Office of Culture)

Switzerland's federal money, with a CHF 30,000 screenplay grant at the writing end and production grants that reach CHF 1.2 million.

First 2027 deadline Mar 1, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingDevelopmentProductionDistributionSwitzerlandRegional fund

Berner Filmförderung: Entwicklungsförderung Stufe 1 und 2, Produktionsförderung (Bern film funding)

Kanton Bern, Amt für Kultur (canton of Bern)

A cantonal fund with a writer-first first step: a Bern author gets CHF 5,000 or CHF 10,000 to write a treatment, paid out as soon as it is granted, then up to CHF 30,000 for the script.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short

WritingSwitzerlandRegional fund

Soutien complémentaire à l'écriture (complementary writing support)

Cinéforom, Fondation romande pour le cinéma (the fund of French-speaking Switzerland)

A top-up rather than a competition: when a Romand producer puts its own success credits into paying a writer, Cinéforom adds 60 to 80 percent on top, up to CHF 25,000, with no deadline and…

Applications taken any timeA writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentProductionDistributionSwitzerlandRegional fund

Zürcher Filmstiftung: Werkbeitrag, Projektentwicklung, Herstellung (Zurich Film Foundation)

Zürcher Filmstiftung (Zurich Film Foundation)

The richest regional fund in Switzerland treats the writer as an applicant in their own right: a CHF 30,000 stipend tied to the person rather than a project, and development money an…

Fiction and animation Jan 11, 2027A writer alone or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation, Short, Series

WritingDevelopmentUkraineNational fund

Мистецтво в кадрі, лот 2: препродакшн аудіовізуального контенту (Art in the Frame, lot 2: pre-production of audiovisual content)

Український культурний фонд (Ukrainian Cultural Foundation)

A wartime route to script money in Ukraine: the Cultural Foundation's audiovisual program pays producers to write and package new films, UAH 300,000 to 1 million each, while the state film…

Next dates not yet publishedA production companyFeature, Documentary

WritingTurkeyNational fund

Senaryo ve Diyalog Yazımı Desteği (screenplay and dialogue writing support)

T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Sinema Genel Müdürlüğü (Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Directorate General of Cinema)

Turkey's national script grant goes to the writer alone, filed through the state e-government portal.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature

WritingDevelopmentIsraelNational fund

השקעה בפיתוח סרטים עלילתיים באורך מלא (investment in the development of feature films)

Israel Film Fund (קרן הקולנוע הישראלי)

The country's main feature fund invests in writing from an extended synopsis to a full draft, and a screenwriter can apply without a producer in the general round.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature

WritingProductionCompletionMoroccoNational fund

Soutien à la production nationale: avance sur recettes et contribution à l'écriture (national production support: advance on receipts and writing contribution)

CCM, Centre Cinématographique Marocain (Moroccan Cinema Center)

Morocco finances its cinema through an advance on receipts paid to production companies before or after the shoot, three sessions a year, plus a contribution to writing and rewriting…

Next deadline Jan 5, 2027A production companyFeature, Short, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentSenegalNational fund

Aide au développement (development aid)

FOPICA, Fonds de Promotion de l'Industrie Cinématographique et Audiovisuelle (Senegal)

Senegal's state fund has a development line that an author can apply for directly, paying up to XOF 5 million for rewriting, scouting, casting and the hunt for co-producers before a film…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature, Documentary, Series, Animation

WritingDevelopmentSouth AfricaNational fund

NFVF Development Funding

NFVF, National Film and Video Foundation (South Africa)

South Africa's national foundation pays for the writing stage itself: research, script editing and drafts for features, shorts, documentaries and TV formats, with a producer fee allowed in…

Next dates not yet publishedA writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Short, Documentary, Series

WritingSouth KoreaNational fund

한국영화 기획개발지원사업 작가부문 (Korean film planning and development support, writers' section)

KOFIC, Korean Film Council (영화진흥위원회)

The Korean Film Council pays individual screenwriters KRW 10 million to write a first draft or an adaptation draft of a feature, with about 85 scripts funded a year in two rounds.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature

WritingSouth KoreaInternational fund

Asian Cinema Fund Script Development Fund

Busan International Film Festival

A true script grant: KRW 10 million to finish a first or second feature screenplay, applied for by the writer-director with a five to ten page treatment and no producer required.

Next dates not yet publishedA writer aloneFeature

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaNational fund

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.

Next deadline Jan 14, 2027A writer alone or a writer with a producerFeature

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaNational fund

First Nations TV Drama Development

Screen Australia, First Nations Department

Series bibles, treatments and scripts for telemovies and television drama led by First Nations writers. The series cap of AUD 65,000 is the highest of the department's development strands.

Next deadline Jan 14, 2027A writer alone or a writer with a producerSeries

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaRegional fund

Development Fund

Screen Queensland

Since July 2024 Queensland's development money has been a straight grant with no copyright interest taken, unusual among the Australian state agencies.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaRegional fund

Development On Demand

VicScreen

Victoria's open-door development scheme for fiction, documentary and VR, with no closing date.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaRegional fund

Development Program

Screen NSW

New South Wales pays only the NSW spend, so a Sydney-based writer's fee is exactly what it covers.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary, Animation

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaRegional fund

First Nations Project Development Fund

Screenwest

Year-round development money for First Nations writers and producers in Western Australia, covering writers' rooms, new drafts, story developers and casting agents for scripted work, or…

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series, Documentary

WritingDevelopmentAustraliaRegional fund

Scripted Concept Development Fund

Screenwest

Small early money, AUD 10,000 at most, to take a long-form idea to market-ready pitch materials in Western Australia.

Next deadline Mar 2, 2027A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Series

WritingDevelopmentNew ZealandNational fund

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.

First call Dec 3, 2026A writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companySeries

WritingDevelopmentNew ZealandNational fund

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.

Applications taken any timeA writer alone, a writer with a producer or a production companyFeature, Documentary, Animation