Seed & Seed Advanced Grants

If a producer has been attached and you have signed the rights to them in your contract. No, you cannot enter that project.

No. Applicants must have the following Written by Credit to be eligible to apply for Seed Advanced:

• Produced - Over 90 cumulative minutes of; Film, Television, and Theatre where the applicant has a Written By credit produced by a recognised production company, platform, or authority or has been theatrically performed.

Yes, as long as you (the writer/s) still hold the rights to the screenplay, you can enter that project.

Six weeks between opening the Round and the closing date for entries.

Yes. You (the writer) must hold the rights to the project in order to be eligible for Seed Funding. The fund is not intended to cover the cost of optioning the rights.

No. The Treatment is a written summary of your script described in prose, including the beginning, the middle and the end. If there is imagery you feel is important to portray, this must be done within the prose.

No. Seed funding is for scripted feature films only.

Yes. The 5 page treatment is a maximum length. If you feel confident you have outlined your story (beginning, middle and end) in fewer pages, you can submit.

Yes. You may be able to work with two approved assessors. This can be discussed and agreed in the first meeting with NZWG after you have been awarded the grant.

Yes. This is preferred as both of these key judging materials need to be the same to ensure fair and equitable length of content across all entries. Need help with formatting? Check out the How To Guides underneath the entry checklist HERE.

Yes, all attachments must be PDF files. There are four attachments - Bio, Budget, Treatment, and Script Pages. All four should be PDF files.

Yes. You can enter with the same project up to three times.

No. They do not have to be consecutive; you may use scenes from different parts in your script as long as they are clearly delineated. As per the Full Guidelines above the script sample must contain some dialogue.

Yes, NZWG selects a different diverse and experience range of judges every round.

Did you know, in 2018 NZWG made a commitment to support diverse screenwriters and stories through the Seed and Seed Advanced programme. The blind-read process is the foundation of the Seed programme, so diversity and inclusion outcomes in blind-read scenarios were researched and confirmed that the best way to achieve this was through the judges themselves! Since then, NZWG have continued that commitment to diversity of judges and support positive outcomes with the following evolutions:

• 2018 At least 50% female or at least 50% Māori judges in all rounds of Seed & Seed Advanced
• 2019 At least 50% female or at least 50% Māori, Pacific Island, Asian and non-Pakeha judges in all rounds of Seed & Seed Advanced.
• 2021 At Least 50% female or at least 50% Māori, Pacific Island, Asian and non-Pakeha judges, and at least 1 LGBTQIA+ judge in all rounds of Seed & Seed Advanced.

For Seed, your budget can be as simple as you like. The $7,500 can be your 'writers fee', with the remaining as a 'consultant fee'. Unless you have specific costs to cover such as research and travel for example. In particular it is important to make clear that you understand how much of the Grant goes directly to the writer, and how much of it is for consultancy services and will be paid directly to a consultant or development process.

Some writers may be considering using AI programmes such as ChatGPT, WordTune, and ChatSonic, to assist them in the writing of their Seed applications. It is important to note that there has been no establishment of copyright for any works written by an AI programme. Which means you may be putting your 'Rights / Chain of Title' at risk when you use material generated by AI. As you will be aware, there is a declaration you must tick on your Seed Application stating you hold these rights - please make sure that you do continue to hold these rights when creating your application, or your application may be denied.