Up to 30 filmmaking teams will receive either a $10,000 research grant or a $20,000 development grant to use towards a documentary project.
As part of a partnership with Netflix, Chicken & Egg Pictures, which provides support and funding to women and non-binary documentary filmmakers, has announced a funding opportunity for seasoned filmmakers working on their next feature film.
Chicken & Egg Pictures Research & Development Grant will offer funding to up to 30 filmmaking teams for research or development of their projects, in addition to opportunities for peer support, mentorship, and relationship-building within the documentary filmmaking community.
The 2023 Chicken & Egg Pictures Research & Development Grant Award is supported by Netflix’s Fund For Creative Equity, a dedicated effort to help build new opportunities for underrepresented communities within entertainment.
Eligible projects must be a feature-length film that is either in the research or development stage. The project must also be directed or co-directed by an experienced woman or non-binary filmmaker who has directed at least two feature-length documentaries.
Speaking about the grant, Jenni Wolfson, CEO of Chicken & Egg Pictures, said: “The unfortunate reality is that it’s incredibly hard for women and non-binary filmmakers to make a living in documentary film, and one major reason for that is difficulty securing funding for new projects. Filmmakers face funding challenges when in the research and development phase of new projects and often end up investing their own resources. We are grateful to Netflix for their support of this important, new initiative that supports experienced directors while they ideate, think, plan, and write their next feature-length film, providing financial support during a filmmaking stage that has too often gone unpaid and unsupported.”
Filmmakers will receive a $10,000 grant for research or a $20,000 grant for the development of a feature-length documentary project and access to Chicken & Egg Pictures’ AlumNest community of supported filmmakers for further peer support, mentorship opportunities and deeper connections in the documentary film industry.
The Research Grant supports the ideation period including identifying secondary sources, following storylines and building foundational relationships. The Development Grant supports a deeper exploration period including securing access to core characters and collaborators, solidifying budgets, fundraising, story development and other tasks.
Applications are currently being accepted for the new grant. The deadline for submission is April 24 and recipients will be announced this summer. Projects will be evaluated according to their feasibility and the director’s body of work and connection to the story.
