Deadline: 08-Sep-2025
Submissions are now open for the Catapult Development Grant Program.
The focus of the Catapult Development Grant includes artful, compelling storytelling that moves you with a preference for character-driven narratives, originality of approach, content, and form with creative and innovative storytelling techniques, contemporary relevance with a unique perspective, style, and tone, project feasibility with respect to budget, financing, schedule, and scope, demonstrated ability of the creative team to implement previous projects, credible access and rapport with the proposed subject(s) of the story with attention to accountability and ethics, significant impact of the Catapult grant on the development stage of the project, and potential of the project to generate public discourse and social engagement.
The grant supports documentaries in development or early production with an intended length of 28 minutes or longer. Applicants must be 18 years or older and not enrolled in an academic institution. The grant funds must specifically be used to create a fundraising piece, which may include writing, shooting, and editing once story and characters are in place. Applicants must own the copyright of their production and have artistic, budgetary, and editorial control over their project.
Grant awards range from $5,000 to $25,000, and applicants must be able to accept funding through a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. Applications from individuals are not considered, and projects must align with early-stage development, as the grant does not support projects in later production, post-production, or impact campaigns. The program also excludes docuseries, fiction films, branded content, student projects, and works-for-hire.
Grantees are expected to submit two reports during the course of the grant period, including an interim report with a 30-minute progress call and a final report followed by a one-hour strategy call. Upon completion of the award period, grantees must submit the proposed fundraising piece. Additionally, grantees are required to acknowledge Catapult support in film credits, publicity, and promotional materials, and provide tickets to the film’s premiere.
Beyond funding, Catapult serves as an engaged partner for grantees by providing editorial feedback, industry connections, and mentorship tailored to the project’s needs.
For more information, visit Catapult Film Fund.
