Canada Council for the Arts | Student, Emerging, Documentary

Canada Council for the Arts

Media Funding

Canada Council for the Arts

Canada Council for the Arts Film Grants. In 2018-19, over 2,800 Canadian artists, almost 450 groups and over 2,000 arts organizations received Canada Council grants. The Canada Council for the Arts offers six unique ways to receive grants for independent film artists to assist them in their careers in the industry. They are as follows:

  • Explore and Create
  • Engage and Sustain
  • Creating, Knowing and Sharing: The Arts and Cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis People
  • Supporting Artistic Practice
  • Arts Across Canada
  • Arts Abroad

Each has a different application process. Production grants are as they seem and they cover all costs of production of the film. Scriptwriting grants cover all costs associated with the creation of the script for the film. Research and Creation grants cover all aspects it may take to gather all information and hours to create the film.

The goal of these grants is to ensure the Canadian Film industry and the independent filmmakers within its circle remain very much active within the country and continue to keep Canada alive in film.

Interesting facts about the Canadian Council is that they are a crown corporation that has been present since 1957 and they house all major Canadian artworks located in the Canadian Art Bank throughout the country and its history,accounting for more than 18,000 pieces of work ranging from art,to media art.The council also funds and administers many of Canada's top arts awards, including the Governor General's Literary Awards.

There are a wide range of requirements to obtain funding from The Council which will support new independent artists and even already established artists who require assistance in advancing their careers further within the film industry.

Media Arts For the Canada Council

Media arts are understood as new media and moving images (film and video) practices. These practices are considered broadly; for example, moving image works may be single or multi-channel, expanded cinema, or installation based.

The Canada Council funds works where the artist (in the case of moving images, the director) initiates and drives the project while maintaining complete creative and editorial control at all times. The Council does not support work intended for the creative industries of film, television and video games.

More Info: https://canadacouncil.ca/funding/grants

Back to Top of Canada Council for the Arts

NEW! Documentary Business Plan & Documentary Pitch Deck

FilmProposals is thrilled to offer help to documentary producers looking for investors, by enhancing our Film Fundraising toolkits to address the specific needs of documentarians. The highlight is a unique Documentary Business Plan Template included in all of our Film Financing Toolkits and Bundles. Much of the Documentary Business Plan is just like that of our narrative Film Business Plan Template, however, we've also done some major custom work to specifically highlight why documentaries are a great investment and how to best showcase your documentary to investors:

Documentary Business Plan Template
  • Documentary Business Plan Template - this new template is completely redone to focus only on documentary films. Recent successes, emerging documentary trends, streaming and studio deals, distribution patterns, audience statistics, revenue generated for sample films and much more. When did Docs become profitable and start selling for $5M or $10M at festivals? We lay it all out for you...
  • Documentary Pitch Deck - while our pitch deck template can be used for any type of film, you will use your business plan research to ensure the deck showcases your documentary as a worthy investment opportunity
  • Financial Projections/ Comparable Films - our custom database and custom financial projections flow seamlessly for both documentaries and narrative films

The new Documentary Business Plan Template is included in ALL of our Film Financing Toolkits and Bundles, so you can purchase any of them and be well on your way to funding any part of your documentary with private investments.

NETFLIX 2024: Selling Your Documentary To Netflix

Selling Your Documentary To Netflix

Netflix is in constant need of fresh content and their buyers are seeking outstanding independent filmmakers and documentary creatives who can deliver the stories that Netflix wants. Learn the ins and outs of getting your doc or doc series onto Netflix with SELLING YOUR DOCUMENTARY TO NETFLIX and download the FREE Netflix Pitch Checklist today.

Desktop Documentaries offers the Documentary Fundraising Toolkit, which includes a 190-page full-color documentary fundraising guide, a 25-page documentary proposal template with instructions, two budget templates with budgeting guide, list of the top 100 documentary film grants, e-book with 25 specific fundraising ideas to start raising your first $10,000 and a fundraising check-list. All the best fundraising tools, templates and resources, including 20+ years of experience, combined into one comprehensive packet.

List of Film Grants

Do you have a Film Grant to share with our readers? Please post your Film Grant here.

Documentary Film Grants

Short Film Grants

Women in Film Grants

Feature Film Grants

Emerging Filmmaker Grants

Screenwriting Film Grants

Television Grants

Canada Film Grants

More Film Grants

See All: Full List of Film Grants

Film Grant Deadlines Rolling/Various Application Deadlines

Film Grant Deadlines Spring

Film Grant Deadlines Summer

Film Grant Deadlines Fall

Film Grant Deadlines Winter

While our FilmProposals Bundles & Toolkits will save you hundreds of hours with prewritten text and templates and speed up your learning curve by showing you how to complete complicated financial projections, there is still a lot of information to process. We designed this FREE Film Business Plan Course to be sent once per week to break the process of writing your business plan into manageable pieces, and to keep you accountable and focused. In case you can't see the sign up form, try here.

FilmProposals - 2024 Financing Toolkits & Bundles

DIY Toolkits, Legal & Finance Service Bundles
See All Financing Toolkits, Financing Bundles & Film Legal Packs

Gold Toolkit

DIY Templates
$179

Learn More

Gold Toolkit + Financials Bundle

Most Popular
$699

Learn More

Platinum Bundle

NEWEST!
$1,099

Learn More

Coming Through the Rye

Just want to thank you for your materials and help over the past year. I could not have raised the $1.5 million or made this film without the materials you provided. The bargain of my career!
- James Sadwith, Producer, Writer, Director, Coming Through the Rye

Inside Sportfishing

Finished my deck on Friday. Got it into a few potential investor’s hands over the weekend, and by Monday had 3 out of the 10 available memberships spoken for at $160K each. The revenue projections and film comparable services by NASH, along with the business plan and pitch deck templates were instrumental in presenting the project in such a way that financially minded potential investors could understand the movie business, the market and how my project could possibly give them a substantial ROI.

Melissa was amazing throughout the entire process. Always there to answer any questions. Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Can’t thank you enough. Best money I’ve ever spent.
- Michael F, Executive Producer, Inside Sportfishing (Gold + Financials Bundle)

FilmProposals Tools and Templates

FilmProposals Business Plan Templates