Deadline: 5 February 2024
The Sandbox Fund offers grants, engagement events, and other opportunities for independent artists seeking to explore the intrinsic link between science and culture through innovative storytelling.
The program is administered by the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund, in collaboration with Sandbox Films.
Funding Information
- The fund offers support to projects at all stages of development, production, and post-production. Average grant sizes are as follows:
- Development (up to $25,000)
- Production (up to $50,000)
- Post-Production (up to $50,000)
Eligibility Criteria
- Independent filmmakers making cinematic nonfiction films from anywhere in the world is welcome to submit project proposals. Films may be in any language with English subtitles. First-time filmmakers are eligible. Prior funding, fiscal sponsorship, and American producers are not required.
- The Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund supports projects that are feature-length documentaries (52 minutes or longer). Hybrid/animated and experimental documentaries are also eligible.
- Submissions are accepted at any production phase, from development through post-production. All proposals must convey some vision for a finished film. Projects that have not yet secured characters or subjects, cannot articulate a story or structure, or cannot explain the project’s driving central question are discouraged. They are unable to consider proposals for story research. You do not need any prior funding or a fiscal sponsor in order to apply.
- They support independent nonfiction films that display artful film language, effective storytelling, originality, feasibility, contemporary cultural relevance, and the potential to reach and connect with the intended audience.
Ineligible
- They do not fund:
- Fiction films
- Short films
- Series
- NGO films
- Advocacy films
- Educational films
- Branded content
- Virtual Reality (VR) projects
For more information, visit Sundance Institute.
