The 2020 grant cycle will not open for public submissions. Please check back in October 2020 for any changes to the 2021 granting cycle.
2017 SIFF + True Productions $100,000 Documentary Grant Information below.
For the second consecutive year, SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) and True Productions have partnered to underwrite two $50,000 documentary grants for filmmakers. The sole purpose of the grants is to invest in the filmmaking community, the filmmaking process, and - most of all - the art of true storytelling through the lens. The True Productions + SIFF Documentary grants are generously supported by the Clark Family Legacy Foundation and Áegis Living. ENTRY DEADLINE: November 15, 2016
The 2017 grants will focus on two themes that are very timely and important in our society today:
The first grant, provided by the Clark Family Legacy Foundation, will focus on the very real and relevant theme of heroin/opioid use in youth. With ever-increasing numbers of youth experimenting with, and becoming addicted to, heroin/opioids, this topic touches everyone. The focus of the film can be on any part of this problem: the user, the family, the system, the community, crime, etc.
The second grant, provided by Áegis Living, will focus on immigration, which is a defining challenge in the world today. This focus is very open-ended, and can look at any theme around immigration.
Both grants will be adjudicated separately, and the winning project in each grant topic will be awarded $50,000. The selected grantee must submit the completed film for consideration to the Seattle International Film Festival or SIFF Cinema for its world premiere screening. Although SIFF retains the right of first refusal in terms of where the film may make its premiere, SIFF will work with the grantee to create a festival and exhibition strategy that provides the most advantageous exposure to the film and filmmaking team.
In 2015, two $50,000 filmmaking grants were awarded to films that handled the complex topic of aging. Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday's film BIG SONIA, an absorbing film about Holocaust survivor and 90-year-old Kansas City tailor-shop owner Sonia Warshawski, and Kate Dandel's film GOLD BALLS, which profiles several competitive athletes over age 80 as they pursue a National Championship title in tennis.
Eligibility Requirements
Grant is open to filmmakers that satisfy the following criteria:
- Applicant must be at least 18 years old.
- Documentary must be a minimum length of 50 minutes.
- Applicant must be in a key creative role for the film: ideally, the producer or director.
- In each grant, the topic of either heroin/opioid use by youth – OR – immigration must be used for the theme of the documentary.
Evaluation Criteria
- Project reflects excellence in storytelling and visual style.
- Filmmaker clearly articulates the intended theme and goal for the grant.
- Filmmaker demonstrates how the grant will impact short- and long-term professional and artistic goals.
Restrictions
- Filmmaker may not be a SIFF employee, SIFF board member, or a True Productions representative.
- Filmmaker may not be a full-time student.
- Project cannot be a work for hire.
- Only one application per project will be accepted.
SIFF's mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. SIFF believes in film's unique power to share original stories, diverse perspectives, and rich emotional journeys. Beginning in 1976 with the annual Seattle International Film Festival, expanding into SIFF Education, and most recently operating our year-round five-screen SIFF Cinema, we have provided experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. Our distinctly smart audiences allow us to take risks, host complex conversations, and truly appreciate film.It is through the art of cinema that we foster a community that is more informed, aware, and alive.
More Info: https://www.siff.net
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NEW! Documentary Business Plan & Documentary Pitch Deck
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NETFLIX 2023: Selling Your Documentary To Netflix
Netflix is in constant need of fresh content and their buyers are seeking outstanding independent filmmakers and documentary creatives who can deliver the stories that Netflix wants. Learn the ins and outs of getting your doc or doc series onto Netflix with SELLING YOUR DOCUMENTARY TO NETFLIX.
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List of Film Grants
Do you have a Film Grant to share with our readers? Please post your Film Grant here.
Documentary Film Grants
- British Film Institute Film Grants
- Catapult Film Fund
- Chicago Digital Media Production Fund
- Chicken & Egg Pictures Which Came First Fund
- Conservation Media Group Film Grant
- Creative Capital Film Video Grant
- Derek Freese Documentary Fund
- Filmmakers Without Borders Filmmaking Grants
- Film Independent Filmmaker Grants and Awards
- Flanders Audiovisual Film Grant Fund
- Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Grant Completion Fund
- Independent Production Fund Canadian Film Grant
- Independent Television Service (ITVS) Film Grant, TV and Documentary Funding
- Intercept Documentary Film Grant
- JDC Archives Documentary Film Grant
- Jerome Foundation Film Grants
- Lightswitch Film Grant
- Miller Packan Documentary Film Fund
- LEF New England Moving Image Fund (MIF)
- New York Foundation for the Arts Film Grant
- New York State Council of Arts Film Grants
- NYC Womens Fund for Media, Music and Theatre
- Roy Dean Film Grant Awarded by From the Heart Productions
- San Francisco Film Society Film Grant
- Screencraft Film Grant
- SIFF + True Productions $100,000 Documentary Grant
- Sundance Film Grants
- Tribeca Film Institute Grants
- Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant
- Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF)
- Women Make Movies Production Grant
Short Film Grants
- Austin Film Society Film Grants
- British Film Institute Film Grants
- Conservation Media Group Film Grant
- The Dan O'Bannon Film Grant
- Roy Dean Film Grant Awarded by From the Heart Productions
- Rooftop Films Filmmaker Grants NYC
- Film in Singapore Film Grant (FSC)
- Filmmakers Without Borders Filmmaking Grants
- Flanders Audiovisual Film Grant Fund
- Intercept Documentary Film Grant
- NYC Womens Fund for Media, Music and Theatre
- Shore Scripts Short Film Fund
- Tribeca Film Institute Grants
- UK Jewish Film Grants
- Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant
- Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF)
Women in Film Grants
Feature Film Grants
- Africa No Filter Film Grants
- Array Film Grants
- Austin Film Society Film Grants
- British Film Institute Film Grants
- Chicago Digital Media Production Fund
- Cinereach Film Grant
- Creative Capital Film Video Grant
- The Dan O'Bannon Film Grant
- British Film Institute Film Grants
- Filmmakers Without Borders Filmmaking Grants
- Film Independent Filmmaker Grants and Awards
- Flanders Audiovisual Film Grant Fund
- Jerome Foundation Film Grants
- Lightswitch Film Grant
- New York Foundation for the Arts Film Grant
- NYC Womens Fund for Media, Music and Theatre
- Rooftop Films Filmmaker Grants NYC
- Roy Dean Film Grant Awarded by From the Heart Productions
- San Francisco Film Society Film Grant
- Screencraft Film Grant
- Tribeca Film Institute Grants
- Film in Singapore Film Grant (FSC)
- Women Make Movies Production Grant
- Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF)
Emerging Filmmaker Grants
- Africa No Filter Film Grants
- Array Film Grants
- Austin Film Society Film Grants
- Catapult Film Fund
- British Film Institute Film Grants
- Chicago Digital Media Production Fund
- Cinereach Film Grant
- Conservation Media Group Film Grant
- Creative Capital Film Video Grant
- Derek Freese Documentary Fund
- The Dan O'Bannon Film Grant
- Film in Singapore Film Grant (FSC)
- Film Independent Filmmaker Grants and Awards
- Flanders Audiovisual Film Grant Fund
- Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Grant Completion Fund
- Independent Production Fund Canadian Film Grant
- Intercept Documentary Film Grant
- Jerome Foundation Film Grants
- Lightswitch Film Grant
- Miller Packan Documentary Film Fund
- LEF New England Moving Image Fund (MIF)
- New York Foundation for the Arts Film Grant
- New York State Council of Arts Film Grants
- NYC Womens Fund for Media, Music and Theatre
- Oppenheimer New Filmmaker Grant Program
- Panavision's New Filmmaker Program
- Princess Grace Film Awards
- Screencraft Film Grant
- San Francisco Film Society Film Grant
- Shore Scripts Short Film Fund
- Sundance Film Grants
- Tribeca Film Institute Grants
- UK Jewish Film Grants
- Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant
- Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF)
Screenwriting Film Grants
Television Grants
Canada Film Grants
More Film Grants
See All: Full List of Film Grants
Film Grant Deadlines Rolling/Various Application Deadlines
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Festival Grants
- Africa No Filter Film Grants
- Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) Film Grant
- Array Film Grants
- British Film Institute Film Grants
- Canada Council for the Arts
- Catapult Film Fund
- Conservation Media Group Film Grant
- Film Independent Filmmaker Grants and Awards
- Independent Production Fund Canadian Film Grant
- Independent Television Service (ITVS) Film Grant, TV and Documentary Funding
- Michigan Council for Arts, Culture And Film Affairs
- New York Foundation for the Arts Film Grant
- New York State Council of Arts Film Grants
- Rooftop Films Filmmaker Grants NYC
- Roy Dean Film Grant Awarded by From the Heart Productions
- San Francisco Film Society Film Grant
- Screencraft Film Grant (Jan/March/June)
- Film in Singapore Film Grant (FSC)
- Sundance Film Grants
- Tribeca Film Institute Grants
- Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF)
Film Grant Deadlines Spring
- Austin Film Society Film Grants
- Chicago Digital Media Production Fund (April)
- Derek Freese Documentary Fund (April)
- Filmmakers Without Borders Filmmaking Grants (June)
- Intercept Documentary Film Grant (June)
- Jerome Foundation Film Grants (April)
- Shore Scripts Short Film Fund (May)
- Princess Grace Film Awards (May)
- Miller Packan Documentary Film Fund (May)
- Women In Film | Film Finishing Fund Grant (WIFF FFF) (May/June/July)
Film Grant Deadlines Summer
Film Grant Deadlines Fall
- Africa No Filter Film Grants
- Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Grant Completion Fund (Oct)
- NYC Womens Fund for Media, Music and Theatre (Oct)
- Miller Packan Documentary Film Fund (Nov)
Film Grant Deadlines Winter
- Lightswitch Film Grant (Dec)
- Whatifi Studios Interactive Filmmaker Fund (Dec)
- Unsolicited Scripts Short Film Grant (Nov, Dec)
- LEF New England Moving Image Fund (MIF) (Jan)
- Filmmakers Without Borders Filmmaking Grants (Jan 1)
- UK Jewish Film Grants (Jan)
- JDC Archives Documentary Film Grant (Feb)
- Creative Capital Film Video Grant (Feb)
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