The Austin Film Society Announces It Is Now Accepting Applications for the 2024 AFS Grant for Feature Films
April 16, 2024, AUSTIN, TX— Today, the Austin Film Society announces that it will be accepting applications for the 2024 AFS Grant for Feature Films, the annually renewed development and production fund for emerging Texas filmmakers. Applications can be submitted between April 16–June 6 at 11:59 PM CT, and filmmakers interested in learning more about the grant and application process can join AFS staff for a series of live webinars via Zoom, the first of which will take place on April 23 at 6 PM CT. Applications and submission guidelines can be found on the AFS website.
Envisioned and brought to life by AFS founder Richard Linklater in 1996, the AFS Grant has awarded more than $2.6 million in cash grants and more than $340,000 in-kind goods and services to over 500 Texas filmmakers to date, creating life-changing opportunities for artists traditionally underrepresented in the film industry and working outside large industry centers.
For more information about the AFS Grant for Feature Films, click here or visit austinfilm.org.
The AFS Grant is a vital resource supporting career leaps for Texas-based independent artists. This spring, AFS will be offering grants for feature films in any phase of production: pre-production, production, and post-production. Filmmakers with an established body of work may also apply for development funding. While only filmmakers with at least one completed and distributed feature film may apply for development grants, all other grants are available to filmmakers at any experience level with a focus on emerging through mid-career artists.
The AFS Grant is a signature program of the Austin Film Society, which has a broad slate of programs that support the region’s filmmakers, including the running of Austin Studios, a professional production facility, and the AFS Cinema, a two-screen theater where filmmakers can present their work and network with their peers.
“Funding for artists continues to be at the heart of our programs and impact,” said Rebecca Campbell, AFS CEO. “We consider artists to be the leading edge in a healthy and dynamic creative community. We know that without funding, many important films wouldn’t be made. We invest so much into our artist grants because of the vital support that they provide to filmmakers, helping them tell important stories and advance their careers.”
The AFS Grant aims to fund emerging Texas filmmakers from all backgrounds, including those traditionally underrepresented in independent film, while paying special attention to providing support for women filmmakers and those who identify with communities of color. Detailed demographic data for the 2023 grant cycle is included in the addendum below.
Continuing its commitment to diversity, AFS is proud to offer for the seventh year the New Texas Voices Award, a cash grant of $10,000 for a filmmaker of color making their first feature-length film. Past recipients of the award have included Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth and MLK/X) and Li Lu (A Town Called Victoria).
AFS Senior Director of Programs Erica Deiparine-Sugars oversees the AFS Grant. Deiparine-Sugars commented, “AFS-supported artists continue to make their mark on the world. Just this week, David and Nathan Zellner, who received numerous AFS grants for their early work, released their critically acclaimed and unprecedented film Sasquatch Sunset in theaters. In March, eighteen filmmakers supported by the AFS Grant also exhibited their work in this year’s SXSW Film Festival. Our grants go a long way toward supporting early-career artists as they develop their voices and visions.”
AFS Grant recipients have shown their films at renowned festivals like Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Venice, Tribeca, Rotterdam and SXSW. Recent grantees include Iliana Sosa’s What We Leave Behind, Katherine Propper’s Lost Soulz, Amy Bench’s More Than I Remember, Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefania Contreras’ Hummingbirds, Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth, Annie Silverstein’s Bull, Yen Tan’s Pit Stop, Heather Courtney’s Where Soldiers Come From, Keith Maitland’s Tower, Renée Zahn’s Reneepoptosis and Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas’ Skip Day; many of them Independent Spirit Award nominees or top award winners at Cannes, Sundance or SXSW. At last month’s SXSW 2024, AFS Grant-supported filmmakers took home audience awards in several categories: director Greg Kwedar and producers Monique Walton and Clint Bentley for Sing Sing (in the Festival Favorite category), directors David Hartstein and Sam Wainwright Douglas for Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience (part of the 24 Beats Per Second program) and directors Arturo Jiménez and Edna Diaz for Sangre Violenta/Sangre Violeta (in the Texas Shorts program).
Filmmakers Kat Candler (13 Reasons Why, Queen Sugar, Hellion) and David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight, Peter Pan & Wendy) both received support for their work from the Austin Film Society Grant and are now among the donors to the AFS Grant fund. Candler is committed to amplifying female voices in film and supports female-identifying filmmakers through the AFS Grant. Lowery partners with the Oak Cliff Film Festival and Tim Headington’s Ley Line Entertainment to provide AFS’s North Texas Pioneer Film Award, which gives cash grants to emerging filmmakers from the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. The award has an emphasis on underrepresented perspectives.
About the AFS Grant
The AFS Grant is administered with two application periods and deadlines. Open April 16, 2024, the AFS Grant for Feature Films cycle is for documentary and narrative film projects over 40 minutes long in any phase of production or feature-length films in development. There is a separate application for the AFS Grant for Features in Development, and applicants will not be considered for both development grants and production grants in the same cycle.
Grant sponsors and partners offer a range of budget-relieving services and cash, given as a part of the AFS Grant program. Filmmakers must apply online at www.austinfilm.org/afsgrant by Thursday, June 6, 2024, at 11:59 PM CT. Grant recipients will be announced in early September.
The AFS Grant for Short Films cycle will accept submissions for film projects under 40 minutes. The application for short films will open in late summer 2024. Recipients will be announced in December.
AFS Grant program staff will offer a series of live webinars via Zoom again this year to share tips, answer frequently asked questions and provide guidance for applicants. More information and registration details can be found here. The first of these workshops takes place Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 6 PM CT.
Grant Details
AFS Grant for Features in Production — Cash Grant
Filmmakers may apply for up to $15,000 cash for pre-production, production, or post-production through the AFS Grant for Features in Production. Total cash support from the AFS Grant will not exceed $15,000. However, applicants can apply to receive in-kind grants in addition to the $15,000 cash request. NOTE: AFS is no longer funding distribution as a separate stage of production. Distribution costs can be requested as part of a post-production ask.
AFS Grant for Features in Development — Cash Grant
Intended to support a pipeline of independent film production in Texas, the AFS Grant for Features in Development will award two career artists a one-time, unrestricted grant in the amount of $10,000 to go towards any activity that advances a feature-length film project – either narrative or documentary – in development.
North Texas Pioneer Award — Cash Award, Development and Production (pre-production, production, and post-production)
$30,000 in cash will be awarded to emerging and established filmmakers residing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and surrounding counties. Awards ranging from $5,000–$15,000 will be given for the development, production, or post-production of feature-length films (40 minutes or greater). The award aims to fund emerging filmmakers with first or second feature films and filmmakers with backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in independent film.
New Texas Voices Award — Cash Award, Production (pre-production, production, and post-production)
Affirming its ongoing commitment to supporting diverse voices and growing new talent, AFS offers a $10,000 New Texas Voices Award to filmmakers who identify with a community of color traditionally underrepresented in independent film. This award will be accompanied by specialized consultation for the awarded filmmakers. Filmmakers who wish to be considered must have a first feature-length film (narrative or documentary) in early to mid-production and must provide demographic data in the application. All other eligibility and application requirements for the AFS Grant must be met. This award is sponsored by the Warren Skaaren Charitable Trust.
MPS Camera and Lighting Austin Award — In-Kind Services Award
The MPS Camera and Lighting Austin In-Kind Services Award comes in the form of a multi-day camera package rental from MPS Studios with a value of up to $10,000. The award must be used by the awarded project and cannot be transferred or sold. Grantees must meet MPS’ minimum insurance requirements, and package rental is subject to availability. MPS must be acknowledged in the film’s credits.
Stuck On On DCP Award — In-Kind Services Award
Stuck On On awards theatrical digital cinema packages (DCPs) to two different AFS Grant applicant features. The project may be a theatrical documentary or narrative feature up to 100 minutes in length. This award includes one 2K DCP file creation. Hard drive and/or digital delivery costs are not included and vary depending on the time of request. Stuck On On must be acknowledged in the film’s credits.
The AFS Grant is generously supported by grant partners Ley Line Entertainment, Oak Cliff Film Festival, David Lowery, the Warren Skaaren Charitable Trust, Kat Candler, Kyle and Noah Hawley, South by Southwest, MPS Camera and Lighting Austin, Stuck On On, the City of Austin Economic Development Department/Cultural Arts Division, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
About Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS is committed to racial equity and inclusion, with an objective to deliver programs that actively dismantle the structural racism, sexism and other bias in the screen industries. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
MEDIA CONTACT
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org
NOTE: DIRECTOR DEMOGRAPHICS
The data we’re sharing has been provided to the Austin Film Society by the artists directly. Note that some artists choose not to self-identify.
Demographic Data
2023 Grant Recipients: In last year’s AFS Grant cycle, 52 filmmakers and 52 projects were selected for funding.* Of the directors receiving grant funds, 30 recipients identified with a community of color (58%), 27 identified as female (52%), 4 as non-binary (8%) and 17 grant recipients identified as members of the LGBTQIA+ community (33%).
*The number of filmmakers and projects was calculated by including a unique project count and accounting for projects with multiple directors and individual filmmakers who received funding for multiple projects.
