Welcome to the Fall Edition of upcoming opportunities for filmmakers! Hopefully this massive list of grants can point you in the right direction for funding.
The following grants, labs, and pitch opportunities are organized by deadline from October through early December. (If you’re looking for a different granting season, go to Spring grants here and Summer grants here.) An asterisk next to the grant title means there is an equivalent grant for both doc and narrative. To find out more specifics on a grant, click on the title and get started!k.
CDP Research & Development Grants

Grants from the California Documentary Project are intended for films that have some kind of connection to California and strengthen the understanding of the humanities for the state, and range up to $10,000. From the CDP:

CDP Research and Development grants are designed to strengthen the humanities content and approach of documentary media productions in their earliest stages. Projects must actively involve at least three humanities advisors to help frame and contextualize subject matter throughout the research and development phase.

Deadline: October 15

CDP Production Grants

Also from the California Documentary Project, grants of up to $50,000 are given out to projects in the production stage. From the CDP:

CDP Production grants are designed to strengthen the humanities content and approach of documentary media productions and help propel projects toward completion. Projects must be in the production stage, have a work-in-progress, and actively involve at least two humanities advisors in the production process.

Deadline: October 15

Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund

A cash advance rather than a grant, this fund will loan you $10,000 to $15,000 interest-free to develop your documentary. From the SMHDDF:

Development advances will be repayable on the earliest of commencement of production of the documentary or the transfer or sale of the rights to the documentary to a third party. Eligible costs include: option fees, research fees, writer and story editor fees, director’s fees, reasonable travel costs, and normal producer fees and overheads. Expenses incurred prior to application to the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund are ineligible.

Deadline: October 22

Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund

For documentaries in advanced stages, here’s another cash advance rather than a grant, this fund is intended to help you finish your documentary. In some cased, the Fund may loan up to $100,000. From the SMHDDF:

The Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund will provide successful applicants with a grant of up to 20 per cent of the total production costs to an exceptional maximum of $100,000. Eligible costs include those that are standard in the industry during post-production, including costs of enhancements and deliverables.

Deadline: October 22

ITVS Diversity Development Fund

Intended to bolster much needed representation from producers of color in the industry, the DDF gives out funds to producer to support documentary projects in the early stages. From the ITVS:

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. Funded activities may include travel, research, script development, preliminary production for fundraising/work-in-progress reels, or other early phase activities.

Deadline: October 24

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation’s Public Television Grants

Selective grants intended for a documentary series that are past the pre-production stage and have a confirmed national airing, the Public Television Grants offer $100,000-$500,000 per series. From the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation:

Grants support «capstone» funding to complete production for major series assured of national airing by PBS. These should include innovative uses of technology to enhance community outreach and contribute to teaching in grades K-12 and beyond. Preference is given equally to children’s series and programs of enduring value on subjects such as history and science. Programs whose primary purpose is advocacy, topical news coverage or entertainment may not be competitive.

Deadline: November 1

Tribeca Film Institute Documentary Fund

A grant for docs that are not necessarily social issue films, the TFI Documentary fund doles out grants of at least $10,000 to between seven and eleven projects a year, and includes a TFI/ESPN Prize and TFI/A+E Feature Doc Workshop for relevant applicants. From TFI:

Grants and guidance to support exceptional character-driven, non-fiction works-in-progress that sit outside of the social issue landscape. For films based anywhere that are in advanced stages of development or in production or post-production.

Deadline: November 5

Sundance Creative Producing Fellowship and Lab

The Sundance Institute will choose six emerging producers with projects in pre-production to attend the Feature Film Creative Producing Lab, the Creative Producing Summit, and the Sundance Film Festival, as well as receive $10,000 in stipends and yearlong mentorship. From Sundance:

The Fellowship focuses on the holistic producer, who identifies, options, develops, and pitches material; champions and challenges the writer/director creatively; raises financing; leads the casting/packaging process; hires and inspires crew; and navigates the sales, distribution, and marketing arenas. The Program is designed to hone emerging producers’ creative instincts and evolve their communicating and problem-solving skills at all stages of realizing a project.

Deadline: Application opens November 3

Film Independent Documentary Lab

Ten feature length documentary projects at the rough-cut stage are chosen for Film Independent’s mentorship program that includes exposure to industry professionals, a pass to the LA Film Festival, and year-round mentorship. From FIND:

Held in Los Angeles from March to April, Film Independent’s Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program designed to help filmmakers who are currently in post-production on their feature-length documentary films. Through a series of meetings and workshops, Documentary Lab fulfills its twofold focus: provide creative feedback and story notes to the selected filmmakers; and help filmmakers strategize the completion, distribution, and marketing of their film.

Deadline: December 1

SFFS Documentary Film Fund

With 2014 grants ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 per project, this grant for documentary features in the post-production stage from the San Francisco Film Society would be a major boon to any recipient. From SFFS:

The SFFS Documentary Film Fund supports riveting documentaries in postproduction distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Since 2011, more than $375,000 has been disbursed to documentary filmmakers nationwide.

Deadline: Application opens November 10; early deadline in December

LINCS

ITVS funded LINCS (Linking Independents and Co-producing Stations) offers a matching-funds program to docs aimed at public television. From ITVS:

LINCS provides matching funds to producer-station partnerships. Up to $100,000 in matching funds is available for a single broadcast program.

Deadline: Rolling

The Bertha BRITDOC Documentary Journalism Fund

This new fund offers £10,000-50,000 to doc filmmakers from any country in a mix of grants and investments. From BRITDOC:

The fund supports projects at the intersection of film and investigative journalism that break the important stories of our time, expose injustice, and bring attention to unreported issues, and cameras into regions previously unseen.

Deadline: Rolling

ITVS Commissioned Funding

ITVS chooses projects that don’t fit in their normal programs of DDF, LINCS, and Open Call and offers development or production agreements. From ITVS:

For development funding, activities may include travel, research, script development, preliminary production for fundraising/work-in-progress reels, or other early-phase activities. For production funding, all production and post-production activities are eligible.

Deadline: Rolling

The Scottish Documentary Institute Consultancies

The Scottish Documentary Institute is rapidly becoming a renowned force behind interesting documentaries coming out of the region, so if you’re based in Scotland, the Consultancies are a good way to get your foot in the door. From SDI:

Scottish Documentary Institute is offering year-round submissions of Scottish documentary projects in development (shorts and features) to our Docscene project pool. The projects will then be steered towards forthcoming training programmes or other funding opportunities, depending on theme and scope: Seed Funding, Interdoc, the Edinburgh Pitch and prepared for other submissions to funders, meet markets or pitching forums. The aim is to improve quality of project development and increase the talent pool.

Deadline: Rolling

Ford Foundation: JustFilms

If you have a social justice documentary at the rough cut stage, take a look at the JustFilms eligibility to see if you can apply. (A few topics of docs that are not eligible: health, sports, early childhood, advocacy, educational, scientific.) If you are located internationally, see if you are in one of the ten places where the Ford Foundation has regional offices. From the Ford Foundation:

JustFilms focuses on film, video and digital works that show courageous people confronting difficult issues and actively pursuing a more just, secure and sustainable world…Beginning in 2011, we are investing $10 million a year over five years in documentary projects that address urgent social issues and help us understand our past, explore our present and build our future. Our goal is to expand the community of emerging and established filmmakers who often lack funding, and help them to realize their visions and reach audiences.

Deadline: Rolling