government grants

slimchrisp

slimchrisp

Well-known member
has anyone successfully applied for a government grant for making a film? meaning actually received cash?

i'm starting work on a documentary, and thought there might be some cash out there somewhere.

thanks!
 
I'd like to know about this also. But I have a few questions...

Does the government want to actualy read the script? Or if you applied for a business grant and told them you wanna start a film company and use part of the money strictly for equipment, do you think they'd go for that?

Is there a certain amount of money in the bank or credit that you need to get a grant?

Sorry for all the questions, but I got excited when I saw this thread...

Thanks
 
oh yeah, just so everyone knows, i did do some reading on this subject in the forums before i posted. i saw basically what i was expecting.

i guess what i'm really looking for are some government links. everything that comes up in a google search is some company trying to sell their methods on how to get grants. not what i'm looking for at all. i have dov s-s simens book coming in the mail, so that should be a start.
 
I'd never say never but the odds of you recieving money from the government for any kind of film are slim to none.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, its just that you can waste a lot of time and energy going through the grant process.

I have produced several documentaries with grant money, my first had a budget of $292,000 but I didn't get the money from the government.

I'd recommend going to a local [major] university and see if you can work with their sponsered projects. Most universities have some sort of grant writing department, ussually affiliated with their alumni organization to raise money. Obviously they aren't interested in raising money for you, however, they often have a well qualified list of companies willing to donate money for projects that will help promote their specific agendas. If you have a project that is a good fit then the university can help for a fee [generally a percentage of the total budget] How big a percentage will depend on your track record, also if your budget is more than $100,000 you will be expected to post a performance bond.

Also there are a ton of restrictions on how you can spend the money and who ultimately owns the rights. My first documentary was shot in Russia, I had a great time and great experience on someone else's nickel, but in the end I did not own the rights.

If it were easy [or even possible] to get government grants for film production this and other sites would be filled with happy film makers sharing their experiences. I'm guessing I'm one of the few DVXusers that has actually raised money through grants. It was a great start but I'm not sure I'd do it again...
 
Any more info on grants? Or a list of grant worth applying for? Slimcrisp, did the Dov dvd help?
 
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