Key information
- Status: Open
- Grant amount: Recipient funding of $22,000 and $3,000 of in-kind support
- Application opened: 24 September 2026
- Application closes: 29 October 2026, 2:00 pm
Program objective
The objectives of the First Nations Screen Fellowship are to:
- Increase professional development opportunities for mid-career First Nations screen practitioners
- Assist early-stage project development from local First Nations screen talent
- Support First Nations screen practitioners to connect with national and global screen industries and reinvest back into the NSW content landscape
- Strengthen the NSW First Nations screen community through increased industry connections
- Raise the national and global profile of local First Nations talent
- Increase accessibility to opportunities that foster the global advancement of the NSW screen industry and First Nations practitioners
- Facilitate mentorship opportunities between First Nations practitioners and screen industry leaders.
This program is administered by Screen NSW.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Please see the Screen NSW website for the full Program Guidelines.
To be eligible for the First Nations Screen Fellowship, applicants must:
- Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander*
- Be over 18 years of age
- Be an NSW resident (i.e., lived in NSW for at least 6 months immediately before the date of application)
- Be an Australian citizen
- Be a mid-career writer, director and/or producer with experience in producing or creating screen content
- Have at least one (1) and no more than four (4) key creative credits (writer, director, producer) on professionally produced screen content
- Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- Adhere to general eligibility requirements under the Screen NSW Terms of Trade.
Applicants that do not meet all eligibility criteria cannot apply.
*An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which they live.
Types of projects funded under this grant
NA
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
With regard to the assessment criteria, applicants must prepare responses to all questions and submit all core materials listed on the application form, including:
- A 250-word career statement
- A 500-word Fellowship rationale
- A 200-word rationale outlining the benefits of attending the proposed international market or festival
- A 200-word development plan for the proposed film or television project
- A 200-word statement on the proposed project’s audience and potential marketplace
- Identification of, and rationale for three proposed industry mentors
- A description of how work undertaken during the Fellowship will contribute to the NSW screen industry, including to the First Nations screen community
- A current CV (maximum two A4 pages)
- Up to three relevant and recent examples of creative works (images, video, recordings, written material or links to websites)
- A synopsis of the proposed project to be developed (maximum one A4 page)
- A letter of support from an Elder or First Nations community member recommending them for the Fellowship (maximum one A4 page)
- A letter of support from an established screen practitioner that outlines an applicant’s professional attributes and ability to commit to and deliver a project (maximum one A4 page).
Please submit materials in the amount and format required, including:
- Combined files not exceeding 25MB
- Up to five minutes of video or audio recording
- No zipped or compressed files
- Documents in PDF format where possible
- Links for externally hosted work only.
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Start the application
Screen NSW uses the SmartyGrants platform for submission of all applications. Applications made using any other format will not be accepted. Applications must be submitted by the closing date.
Late applications due to technical difficulties will be reviewed and eligibility determined with absolute discretion by the Manager, Industry and Audience Development, Screen NSW. A request for late submission due to technical difficulties must be submitted by email to industry@screen.nsw.gov.au within 60 minutes of the application close time, setting out the reasons for the request, along with any evidence.
A preview of the application form can be viewed on the SmartyGrants portal.
Note: If you are a new applicant to SmartyGrants, you will need to register and create a password. If you are already registered, you can log in with your existing username and password.
Apply now
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Executive Director, Screen NSW
Eligibility
Applications will be initially assessed by Screen NSW staff to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria, and that all application materials are acceptable. Applications deemed ineligible will not proceed to the formal assessment process.
All applications deemed ineligible will be notified via email within 14 days of this outcome.
Assessment and Recommendations
Eligible applications will proceed to formal assessment by an assessment team, comprising two Screen NSW staff and one external First Nations screen industry subject matter expert.
Grant funding allocation under the First Nations Screen Fellowship follows a competitive process. This means that the assessment team evaluates applications against the:
- Assessment criteria
- Strength of other applications.
The assessment team will individually assess each application before meeting to deliberate and agree on final consensus scores for each applicant and each criterion. This will determine a ranking for each application.
The highest ranked applications will be recommended to the designated decision-maker for the award of the grant to one successful applicant.
Support and contact
Screen NSW Industry and Audience Development Team - industry@screen.nsw.gov.au