Apply for Project Development Long Documentary

With this scheme, the Fund contributes to a varied and distinctive film offering for a diverse audience, with room for different narrative perspectives and genres, made by a balanced mix of experienced and novice makers.

The goal of the project development phase is to further develop your film plan creatively-technically and productionally-businesswise. With this you work towards the final version of the documentary script and an application for the realization phase.

Creative-technical: The documentary script is ready for the creative-technical elaboration in order to, together with the Heads of Department, get the film plan to the highest level. Think of researching and determining the audiovisual form and style and further elaborating the positioning of the film in relation to the film offer and the intended audience.

Production-business: In addition, in this phase you thoroughly investigate the production-business feasibility of the film plan and work it out. Think of investigating and setting up (international) co-financing and drawing up a production budget and production planning with an (executive) producer.

Focus Areas

• The scheme focuses on the creative team, which consists of a producer and a director.

Funding Information

• The following contributions can be requested for project development:
  • Project development:
    • Max. €21,000 for the creative-technical and production-business development. This may include the following activities:
    • Involving creative or technical experts, i.e. Heads of Department.
    • Involving a script coach / expert advisor.
    • Exploring possible hybrid elements, such as animated or fictional sequences.
    • Doing additional research or making a (new) teaser and/or new test shots.
    • A production feasibility study, setting up (international) co-financing with financing partners, drawing up a production budget and production planning with an executive producer.
  • Involving external expertise to develop the vision for the release and the elaboration of the positioning in relation to the film offering and the film’s audience:
    • Max. €2,500 depending on substantiation in the work plan.
    • Max. 17.5% producer fee & overhead on the costs deemed eligible by the Fund and max. 5% unforeseen.

Eligibility Criteria

• An application can be submitted by an independent production company (a legal entity, not a sole proprietorship or general partnership) that has been established for at least two years in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a member state of the EU, EEA or Switzerland and that produces and exploits films and other audiovisual productions on a continuous basis.
• The production company is represented by a producer who, as majority producer, has been primarily responsible for the realization of at least one long documentary (>70 min) with cinema release in the Netherlands.
• The producer representing the production company is not the same person as the director and/or screenwriter of the film.

Application Requirements

• General:
  • Completed and signed application form (by checking the box at the bottom of the form)
• Content-related:
  • Documentary script
  • Synopsis
  • Work plan project development long documentary including detailed vision on positioning
  • Producer’s Note Director’s Note (if not already part of the documentary script)
  • Viewing material of own work
  • CVs & Filmography

For more information, visit Dutch Film Fund.