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Grants and Other Funding

The Tourist Development Council grant is a quarterly projects-based grant that does allow for film and television productions designed to promote the Miami-Dade area for tourism (generally awards shows, etc.) and is open to nonprofit and for-profit organizations. It is administered by Nikenna Benjamin, nikenna.benjamin@miamidade.gov. You can find details about the program, including the quarterly program’s deadlines, at https://miamidadearts.org/tourist-development-council-tdc-grants-program.
The Community Grants program is another quarterly projects-based grant open to Florida-based nonprofits that requires public accessibility to the program. It is not a production grant as a result, but has been awarded to many smaller film festivals and film series, showcasing local filmmaker work. It is administered by Geraldine Toussaint, geraldine.toussaint@miamidade.gov. You can find details about the program, including the quarterly program’s deadlines, at https://miamidadearts.org/community-grants-cg-program.
The Miami Individual Artists program ( https://miamidadearts.org/miami-individual-artists-mia-grants-program) is an annual grant available to artists in Miami-Dade County and does have a film and media category.
The South Florida Cultural Consortium is available to resident visual and media artists from the counties of Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach. The program is administered by Amanda Sanfilippo Long, amandas@miamidade.gov. You can find details about the program and the coming workshops and October 2, 2023 deadline at https://www.miamidadearts.org/south-florida-cultural-consortium-sfcc.

Now Open: Roy W. Dean Grant for Summer 2025 – Plus New Award for Audience Impact

Support Your Filmmakers with This Unique Grant Opportunity

From the Heart Productions, a top-rated 501(c)3 nonprofit, is proud to announce that submissions are now open for the Roy W. Dean Grant for Summer 2025!

We invite you to share this opportunity with your local filmmakers and film students who are seeking funding, mentorship, and industry resources to bring their visions to life.

Deadline to apply: June 30th
Apply here: fromtheheartproductions.com/grant-application-form

What Makes This Grant Unique

The Roy W. Dean Grant supports documentaries, narrative features, short films, and web series with budgets under $500,000, at any stage of production. The grant focuses on projects that are unique and make a meaningful contribution to society.

What the Roy W. Dean Grant Winner Receives:

$3,500 in cash
$1,295 Scholarship to Writers Boot Camp
$500 in gear & expendables from Filmtools
30% off Music Post Production from AudioKut
$750 in Grant Writing Services from Karen Everett (New Doc Editing)
And thousands more in donated services from our generous, heartfelt sponsors

Introducing the New Audience Impact Award

This year, we’re proud to debut the Audience Impact Award, honoring the project with the most emotionally moving or inspirational story. It’s a celebration of films that leave a lasting impression—works that touch hearts and shift perspectives.

Plus: The Britt Penrod Award: An additional $500 grant will be awarded to a film that’s not only unique but makes an exceptional contribution to society. This award is made possible by longtime indie film advocate Britt Penrod. Applicants to the Roy W. Dean Grant are automatically considered.

Every Filmmaker Who Applies Can Benefit

Finding funding
Creating investor/donor outreach strategies
Marketing and promotion strategies
Next steps for their project

This grant has launched the careers of many independent filmmakers, and we’d be grateful if you shared this opportunity with your filmmakers in your community.

Learn more: fromtheheartproductions.com/roy-w-dean-film-grants-and-awards
Questions? Email us at info@fromtheheartproductions.com
Or call: 805-984-0098

The Diversity Development Fund
Deadline: 13 September
The Diversity Development Fund (DDF) provides up to $15,000 in research and development funding to producers of color to develop single documentary programs for public television.
https://www.filmdaily.tv/grants/diversity-development-fund

Are you shooting a short film this year? To further develop the careers of emerging writers and filmmakers, we're supporting short films with financing!

GET FUNDED.

In partnership with BondIt, a film & media fund based in Beverly Hills, ScreenCraft is offering between three and six production grants per year to talented filmmakers for short film and online series that display originality, vision & exceptional potential. Grant amounts will range from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the scale and merit of the project. We also offer matching funds for crowd-funding campaigns – see the Application Guidelines for specific details.

This program includes creative support from the ScreenCraft team and production guidance & resources from BondIt and Buffalo 8 Productions (a film company with several award-winning films to its credit).

Whether you simply have a great short screenplay or a short film that’s already in pre-production or post-production, we want to consider your short project for our grant program.

We are accepting applications from around the world (in English).

Next Early Deadline: Sept. 30th

Film Grants Directory
Are you looking for film funding? Here is the list of the top film funding grants for filmmakers around the world. Choose which film grant best suits your independent film and then apply for film funding directly. Each film grant shows you their upcoming deadlines and by category to suit your project.
http://www.filmdaily.tv/grants

Catapult Film Fund

If you're just starting out on a documentary, you know how hard it is to raise money for it in the beginning — especially when you have nothing to show for it yet (because, hey, you need money to shoot!). The Catapult Film Fund will give you $5,000 to $20,000 to shoot enough footage so you can fundraise for the rest of the project. From Catapult:

Catapult Film Fund provides development funding to documentary filmmakers who have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes. Our mission is to enable filmmakers to develop their film projects to the next level at a moment where funding is hard to find. We support powerful stories, and moving storytelling, across a broad spectrum of issues and perspectives.

Deadline: Rolling

Ford Foundation: JustFilms

After year of restructuring, it's a little unclear how many grants JustFilms will be giving out to individuals for 2016. Check out the requirements to see if you fit. Here are a few topics of docs that are not eligible: health, sports, early childhood, advocacy, educational, scientific. From the Ford Foundation:

JustFilms accepts letters of inquiry for grants year round, averaging between 800 and 1,000 inquiries. Our funds are limited, and we are able to support only a small percentage of these projects through direct grants. JustFilms strongly advises that you use the priorities and guiding application questions below to determine whether your project might be competitive in this process.

Deadline: Rolling (if you advance, you'll hear within 30 days of submission)

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grants Database
Launched in 1996, Sloan’s Film program has awarded grants to over 500 film projects from some of the nation’s most innovative filmmakers, and has created a film development pipeline of multiple program partners though which Sloan nurtures and develops individual projects.

Film Independent Sloan Distribution Grant

1 June, 2025 - 27 May, 2026
https://www.filmdaily.tv/grants/sloan-distribution-grant

Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts an international screenwriting competition established to identify new talent in screenwriting. From the Academy:

Each year, the Academy Nicholl screenwriting competition awards up to five $35,000 fellowships to amateur screenwriters. To enter, submit a feature length screenplay and entry fee via the online application when the competition is open for submissions. Fellowship winners are invited to participate in awards week ceremonies and seminars and expected to complete at least one original feature film screenplay during the Fellowship year.

Panavision New Filmmaker Program
Panavision® believes in helping students and beginning filmmakers achieve their dreams. More than 25 years ago, Panavision launched the New Filmmaker Program, an ongoing grant program that loans camera packages to film schools, training programs, and independent filmmakers – at little or no charge. Panavision’s commitment to the industry's future provides student and beginning filmmakers the opportunity to work with professional grade equipment early in their careers.