Seed Development Fund

About
·         Up to 10 SDF Loans are available annually. This initiative is highly contestable and we receive a large number of applications.
       Although this is seed funding we do expect that the concept is well-formed, coherent and shows clear potential as cinema. This
       is not a facility for merely exploring new ideas but for moving a robustly edited outline forward to a treatment or draft. 

·         A writer, director or key creative may apply to the SDF for up to $9,000 per project.

·         No producer may be attached to the project – chain of title must reside with the writer, director or key creative applying.

·         The rationale behind this loan is to provide some remuneration for early-stage work on projects that has historically been 
       unfunded. The loan is seed money that will help writers to develop a project and their careers; it does not represent the market 
       rate we would expect producers to pay a contracted writer to produce a draft screenplay, treatment or other.

·         All SDF recipients must have an approved script consultant attached to the project, either at the time of application or agreed
       with us prior to drawing down funding. We suggest you allow approximately $1,500 in your budget for a script consultant.

·         If you don’t have a feature film credit yet, then you’ll need to agree to the attachment of a producer before applying for further
       development funding. The attached producer will also take over responsibility for the loan.

 
Eligibility
In addition to the eligibility requirements for all applications to the NZFC outlined above, you need to satisfy at least one of the following to be able to apply to the SDF:

·         A screenwriter with at least two hours of professionally produced narrative fiction credits in broadcast television

·         A screenwriter who has received funding in the past five years in that role from either the NZFC or another agency or
       production company for draft development of a narrative feature script

·         A playwright whose work has been staged as a significant theatrical production for a paying audience

·         A key creative (such as a producer, director, director of photography, production designer or editor) with significant credits in
       fiction feature film

·         Have written a complete feature film screenplay (in principle 80-120 pages) – either a previous draft of the project in question
       or another feature film screenplay you’ve written. Please note that this is required solely as evidence of long form screenwriting
       ability and will not form part of your application’s qualitative assessment.

 
Application requirements
Applications should be made using the Seed Development Fund Coversheet (see below) and include all supporting material listed in the checklist on that form.

How we decide
SDF applications are considered by the Development Executives and the CEO. Decisions are made collectively by consensus. Meetings to consider SDF applications are chaired by the CEO or, in their absence, the Deputy CEO or Head of Sales and Marketing.
When we review SDF applications, we make our initial assessment on your short documents alone. The requirement to supply a draft screenplay (whether for this project or another you’ve written) is purely evidence of long form dramatic writing ability. 

 
Application Deadlines
SDF applications are considered quarterly with application deadlines in January, April, July and October annually.

For financial year 2011/2012, application deadlines are 5pm on each of:

·         Friday 14 October 2011

·         Friday 13 January 2012

·         Friday 13 April 2012

Please send your application in two separate PDF/Word files (one for the coversheeet and short documents and one for the script ) to development@nzfilm.co.nz.