Currently 7 active film and video grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in the US. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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The Netflix x NALIP Director Incubator is a career acceleration program supporting emerging and mid-career directors in creating bold, original short films centered on stories from women's perspectives. Four directors each receive a USD 45,000 production grant to make an original narrative short, along with individualized guidance, career development opportunities, and the chance to showcase their work to industry leaders. ELIGIBILITY: emerging or mid-career film or television directors based in the United States who are current NALIP members in good standing, available for all program activities, and applying with an original narrative short film project. APPLICATION: online application plus a director's statement, project synopsis, resume or CV, and portfolio links. TIMELINE: applications open 1 September 2026; deadline 21 September 2026; review mid-October; finalist interviews late October; fellows announced November 2026.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival, founded in 1963 and the oldest experimental and avant-garde film festival in North America, is accepting entries for its 65th edition (23 to 28 March 2027). The festival seeks boundary-pushing films and expanded cinema works across experimental, documentary, animation and hybrid forms, and is a natural home for artists' moving image and essayistic work. PAY: unlike most festivals, every selected artist receives a screening fee (USD 50 for a short, USD 100 for a feature), and films compete for nearly USD 40,000 in awards including Academy Award qualifying prizes. SUBMISSION: via FilmFreeway or the festival site; the final deadline is 30 September 2026 at the USD 100 late tier (early bird USD 65 closed 31 July and regular USD 80 closed 31 August). The entry fee is substantial, but payment on selection is guaranteed, which is rare among festivals of this stature.
The Pandora Short Film Grant is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that awards an annual $12,000 grant to an early-career US filmmaker for the production of a narrative short film. Projects at script stage or already filmed and seeking finishing funds are both eligible. The winner also receives a Panavision camera package (about $15,000), an optional $1,000 Kodak Film Grant, mentorship from an award-winning filmmaker (2026 mentors include Alma Har'el, Lila Neugebauer, Lauren Wolkstein, Sarah Elizabeth Mintz and Chris Merola), and fiscal sponsorship; three finalists receive mentorship, fiscal sponsorship, Panavision New Filmmaker Program consideration and discounted production insurance. ELIGIBILITY: open to all early-career US filmmakers; applicants are asked NOT to apply if they have directed a feature film with a budget over $250K or directed or produced television. Selection is blind, based on script and pitch materials, weighting artistic vision over industry resume. TIMELINE: submissions open 30 May 2026, close 1 October 2026, notifications 15 November 2026.
Long-running post-production grant from Frameline, the San Francisco organisation behind the world's longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival, for films that represent and reflect LGBTQ+ life in all its complexity and richness. Grants run up to USD 5,000, typically USD 1,000 to 5,000, and the jury may recommend more or less than that range. WHAT IT COVERS: any post-production cost, explicitly including editing, special effects and graphics, music licensing, photo licensing, and, notably, closed captioning and audio description, so accessibility work is fundable rather than an afterthought. STAGE GATE, the thing that disqualifies most applicants: your project must be at least 90 percent complete with a rough cut available, and in or about to enter post-production. Work still in development or mid-production is not eligible. WHO AND WHAT: all formats, lengths, genres and nationalities are welcome, spanning documentary, narrative, experimental, animated and episodic work, so long as the film is about LGBTQ+ people and their communities. Directors must have creative and financial control of the project. NO APPLICATION FEE, which is worth flagging given how many completion funds charge one. TIMING: the submission window opens 31 August 2026 and closes 9 October 2026, with decisions in January 2027. The 2026 cycle's grantees have already been announced ahead of Frameline's 50th festival, so this is the next round.
Annual screenwriting fellowship from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) administered through The Black List, awarding $20,000 each to three writers to revise a feature screenplay or pilot that engages with climate change in a compelling way. Submission and selection happen on The Black List platform; applicants should review program eligibility and any associated hosting/submission fees on blcklst.com before applying. Strong fit for narrative writers using fiction to dramatise climate, ecology, energy, or environmental-justice themes (rather than documentary).
One-off film grant awarding a single filmmaker $4,500 to support an independent narrative project in 2026. Application is free to submit. Centerpiece of the application is a production book built on the IMGN platform: script breakdown, schedule, coverage, and pre-visualization for the project (tutorials are provided inside the application). Eligibility: US-based filmmakers in the 50 states plus DC, aged 18 and older. If the project is already completed before funds are disbursed, the grant is paid as a reimbursement upon submission of a final cut of the film. Winner announced and funds disbursed by end of January 2027.
Field of Vision is a filmmaker-driven documentary unit that creates and commissions original short-form and feature nonfiction visual journalism. It funds and commissions filmmakers, often as assignments, and supports projects in development and production (it does not acquire finished films). SUPPORT: commissioning fees and production funding; specific amounts are not published publicly. ELIGIBILITY: filmmakers of all experience levels, within and outside the United States. APPLICATIONS are accepted on a rolling basis, with no fixed funding cycles or deadlines. Submit via the Field of Vision submissions page.