Cinereach Open Submissions
Grants of $5,000 to $50,000 for emerging and established filmmakers developing or producing independent fiction and nonfiction feature films with an independent spirit.
Overview
Cinereach is a New York-based not-for-profit film production company and foundation that supports feature-length fiction and documentary films with an independent spirit, underrepresented perspectives, and the capacity to resonate across international boundaries. Through its Open Submissions grant program, Cinereach accepts applications from both emerging and established filmmakers on a cycle basis, awarding grants between $5,000 and $50,000 to selected projects at development, production, and post-production stages.
Cinereach has supported films that have gone on to win Academy Awards, premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and reach wide theatrical and streaming audiences. Its production credits include films that have defined a decade of American independent cinema, making it one of the most credible institutional endorsements available in the independent film space.
What It Funds
Cinereach grants support feature-length fiction and nonfiction films at any stage of production. Development grants cover research, scriptwriting, and prototype work. Production grants support principal photography and key crew costs. Post-production grants help films reach completion and delivery.
The fund prioritizes story over message and character over agenda -- Cinereach is explicitly not looking for films defined by their social utility, but for films with strong cinematic craft and a genuine independent vision. Projects with underrepresented perspectives are favored, but the primary selection criterion is the quality and specificity of the filmmaking.
Between five and fifteen projects are selected within each grant cycle, with amounts ranging from $5,000 for early development support to $50,000 for projects in production or post-production.
Eligibility
Cinereach accepts applications from both US-based and international filmmakers. Projects must be feature-length -- short films and series are not eligible for the Open Submissions program. Applications are submitted as Letters of Intent, with full proposals requested from select applicants in a second round.
Grant cycles run twice annually, typically with LOI deadlines in spring and fall. Filmmakers should consult the Cinereach website for current cycle dates and the specific application portal.
Who Should Apply
Fiction and documentary feature filmmakers at any stage of production -- emerging or established, US or international -- whose work combines strong cinematic craft with a genuine independent sensibility and a perspective that is underrepresented in mainstream distribution. Cinereach is particularly relevant for filmmakers whose work resists easy genre classification and whose projects have international festival potential.
See Also
For building a feature film financing strategy that layers Cinereach funding with other sources, see Documentary Financing: Building Your Stack. For modeling revenue projections across festival and distribution windows for an independent feature, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator.
