Sacramento Film + Media Grant Program- United States

The Sacramento Film + Media is committed to sustaining and growing film and television production in the City of Sacramento. The Film + Media Grant Program supports this aim by subsidizing permit fees and reducing the costs of safety personnel and reimbursing qualified expenses for production companies when these activities occur in the City of Sacramento.

Funding Information

• Sacramento Film + Media will award six $10,000 production grants and two $5,000 post-production grants during fiscal year 2025 in two grant rounds.
• Grant funds that remain available due to a lack of eligible applicants in the prior period will be rolled over to the next round. Grants will be for:
  • Required services and permitting fees by City of Sacramento staff and/or departments, including police, fire, permit fees, parking fees (inter-department transfer of funds); Reimbursement awards where an applicant has demonstrated a need that exceeds City services support, where qualified expenses occur within the city (i.e., hotel nights, rental cars, rental equipment, location fees, catering, local hires, post-production, etc.);
  • Reimbursement awards for post-production support when they occur within the city of Sacramento.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Sacramento Film + Media Grant program is open to productions filming at least 50% of the project in the Sacramento region with at least two locations in the city of Sacramento. It is also open to productions where 75% of post-production is done in the city of Sacramento.
• Eligible productions include feature length films, short films, episodic television, television pilots, television movies/miniseries, documentaries, docuseries, commercials, music videos, and unscripted television.
• Production companies may only apply for one grant per round. Production companies may apply for multiple rounds but may only be awarded two grants in a twelve-month period, including a postproduction grant.
• Applications must be submitted prior to physical production commencement in Sacramento to be considered eligible (documentaries excluded), and post-production applicants must have 75% of physical production completed to be considered eligible.
• Funding support for a grantee may be revoked at any time if it is determined that the production does not fit within the criteria of the Guidelines, or the applicant provided false or misleading information to the City.

Application Requirements

• Applicants must complete the application in submittable and attach the following documents:
  • Treatment – This document should include the following components: the story idea, the most important information about the film including title, logline, story summary, character descriptions and demographics, and should help to justify Community Impact and Feasibility answers on the application. Panelists will use this treatment to rate the application against the community impact and feasibility criteria.
  • Budget – This document should include the following components: Overall Budget in each line item as well as a column denoting expenditures within the city of Sacramento. The budget will be used to determine eligibility, economic impact and feasibility criterion of planning and preparation.
  • Shooting Schedule – This document should include the following components: total number of filming days, number of city of Sacramento filming days, locations, city of Sacramento locations, scene summary, and characters. Panelists will use this to rate the application against the economic impact and feasibility criteria as well as eligibility.
  • Vendor List – This document should include the following components: all vendors used for physical and post-production denoting which vendors are support services companies with a city of Sacramento address. Panelists will use this to rate the application against the economic impact and feasibility criteria.
  • Crew List – This document should include the following components: crew member name and contact information (if known at the time of applying), with Sacramento crew notated. Panelists will use this to rate the application against the economic impact criterion of number of local hires; the community impact criterion of local cast and crew representation and reflection of the cultural and artistic expression of one or more marginalized communities; and the feasibility criterion of planning and preparation.
  • Hotel Nights – This document should include the following components: name of hotels, number of hotel nights (# of crew requiring lodging times # of nights) including short term rentals, and rate per night. Panelists will use this to rate the application against the economic impact criterion of number of hotel nights and the feasibility criterion of planning and preparation.
  • Demonstration of Previous Projects or Experience – This can include samples of work, letters of support, or a resume. Panelists will use this to rate the application against the feasibility criterion of confidence of completion, ability to deliver.

For more information, visit Sacramento Film + Media.