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ScreenCraft
ScreenCraft Film Fund
Fall 2022
Reads in Coverfly
Active Since 2016
$30k in grant funds available! Open to a wide range of projects and formats. Winners have screened at Cannes, Sundance, & SXSW.
View Latest Season
This season has closed, but there's a new season open now!

About

We consider a range of projects, from standalone screenplays to treatments, to fully-packaged projects seeking finishing funds and will choose 1 - 4 projects to fund. Grant amounts will vary up to $30,000 depending on the scale and merit of each project. 

For this year's competition we're thrilled to welcome acclaimed filmmaker, producer, writer, and actor Mark Duplass (SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, THE ONE I LOVE, ROOM 104) who will select one winner to receive mentorship guidance. 

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We've also partnered with crowdfunding platform, Seed&Spark who will offer unique opportunities for all of this year's finalists and semifinalists! This year's jury also includes ICM Independent, Emergent Pictures, and Bondit, who will review competition finalists.

So whether you have a simple screenplay, a film that’s already in production, or anything in between, we want to consider your project for our grant program. 

Benefits

JURY
Finalists will be reviewed by our incredible industry jury.

MARK DUPLASSS
Filmmaker, Producer, Writer, Actor

Mark Duplass is a filmmaker, actor, writer, producer, and musician. He and his brother Jay Duplass have written and directed films that include The Puffy Chair, Baghead, Cyrus, Jeff Who Lives at Home, and many more. He co-wrote and co-produced the HBO anthology series Room 104. He has executive produced films that include, The One I Love, Safety Not Guaranteed, The Skeleton Twins, Tangerine, the Netflix docu series, Wild Wild Country, and many more.

ICM INDEPENDENT + INTERNATIONAL
Agency, Packaging & Financing

ICM is one of world’s leading talent agencies, dedicated to the representation of artists, content creators, broadcasters, authors, journalists and artisans. ICM is a market leader in structuring and arranging financing, packaging, and securing distribution for Independent and International motion pictures. They believe that creative talent knows no borders. With established relationships worldwide, they help bring clients creative visions to the screen.

SEED&SPARK
Crowdfunding Specialists & Platform

Seed&Spark is an industry leading crowdfunding platform where creators and audiences work together to tell stories that celebrate diverse voices and foster vibrant conversation. Seed&Spark boasts the lowest fees, the highest campaign success rate in the world (88%), and a track record of setting filmmakers on a path to success. The Seed&Spark platform and specialists empower the creative community to harness the power of crowdfunding as a tool in your professional arsenal to help you take control of your career.

BONDIT MEDIA CAPITAL
Film, TV, Media Financier

BondIt Media Capital is a world renowned film, television and media financier founded in 2014. Based in Santa Monica, BondIt has completed over 250+ film and television financing transactions resulting in $60M+ of invested capital and over $200M+ of aggregate production spending. Credits include the Oscar nominated Loving Vincent, the Arnold Schwarzenegger starring Aftermath from Lionsgate, the Netflix original film To The Bone starring Lily Collins, and the cult hit horror film The Invitation.

EMERGENT PICTURES
Production Company

Emergent Pictures is a boutique production company focused on developing, packaging, and producing independent films with creatively compelling stories that have appeal in both the domestic and international markets. They are particularly dedicated to ensuring their films address the imminent need for diversity both in front of and behind the camera.

GRAND PRIZE WINNER(S)
One Grand Prize Winner will be selected by acclaimed filmmaker, producer, writer, and actor Mark Duplass (SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, THE ONE I LOVE, ROOM 104) and will receive mentorship guidance that includes a personalized round of notes, virtual meeting, and project development insight.

Additionally, between 1 and 4 projects will be selected, depending on the quality of applicants as determined by our judges, for grants up to $30,000 in finishing funds.

Winners will also have the opportunity to work with the ScreenCraft Writer Development Team for creative development and personalized guidance for the projects needs.

ScreenCraft has a proven track record for helping writers generate career changing success.

FINALISTS
We’re excited to welcome crowdfunding platform and specialists Seed&Spark as an official partner for this year’s competition! Seed&Spark will read all of this year’s finalists.

Finalists material will also be circulated to our jury partners at ICM Independent, Emergent Pictures, Bondit, and more.

Finalists will also be invited to an exclusive invitation to a ScreenCraft Finalist+ only workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry.

SEMIFINALISTS
All semifinalists will be invited to join an exclusive Seed&Spark crowdfunding webinar to inform and empower you with actionable insights for your projects future.

Writer Success

Spring 2024 Finalists on Coverfly

See Other Placements

Announcements

Aug 17th
Semifinalists
Sep 7th
Finalists
Sep 28th
Grant Recipients

Rules

At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.

  • Please submit with:
    • 1.  A Script or Treatment —  this doesn’t have to be a completed screenplay if you’re applying for a documentary or if your film is already in production. It can be a treatment, a PDF with links to footage, or any other pitch document that shows the project’s potential. 
    • 2.  A Cover Letter —  A letter that expresses your vision for your project. Help the judges get a sense of your creative vision and professional experience. Let us know if you’ve begun production and what you’d be able to use the funding for. We recommend 1-2 pages in length.

  • Accepted formats for Film Fund include Narrative (Features, Series, Shorts), Documentaries (Features, Series, Shorts), and Unscripted (Features, Series)

    • For Narrative format submissions, screenplays must be submitted in industry-standard formatting as a PDF file, along with a Cover Letter. Because different formats are accepted, scripts and submissions may be any page count. However, any submission longer than 120 pages will incur a $1 per page overage fee for each page over 120.
    • For Documentaries, instead of a screenplay, a treatment about the project will be accepted, which can include links to video footage (YouTube, Vimeo, etc), along with the Cover Letter.
    • For Unscripted format submissions, please submit a treatment about the project and highlight any exclusive access to intellectual property or a public figure.  Links to video footage can be included, along with the Cover Letter.

  • Optionally, you can include a PDF document that includes any other information. This can be anything from a full series bible to a line-item budget, to links to footage or a sizzle reel. We recommend only including information that gives a better sense of the specific project, but please include anything that will help our judges understand the creators and the project.
  • When reviewing your submission we will consider your primary document (varies depending on your project format) and your cover letter. Additional optional materials, will be reviewed as needed.

  • Grants will range in size up to $30,000 per project. Grant amount will be determined by the jury consisting of executives from ScreenCraft.

  • Recipients will be announced within 12 weeks of the final deadline of each cycle. Please refer to the top of the page for announcement dates. 

  • Applications are accepted via electronic submission only.

  • There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.

  • Applications must be received on or before the deadlines and application fee payment must be made in full at time of the submission.

  • All application fees are non-refundable.

  • All submitted material must be original, and all rights must be wholly owned by the writer(s).

  • Material must be submitted by the author or owner of the material. Material written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s). All writers must be credited on the title page.

  • Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material are not allowed. Please proofread your script very carefully before submitting.

  • Contact info may be included on the cover page of the screenplay, however it is not required.

  • Grant funding is conditional upon selected recipient going into production on selected project within twelve (12) months of when the grant was awarded.

For a full list of rules and eligibility please visit ScreenCraft.

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Fall 2022