Filmmakers Grant

The Filmmakers Grant offered by the City of West Hollywood is a pilot funding initiative designed to support film artists in completing the final stages of their projects. Administered by the city’s Arts Division in collaboration with the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission, this grant provides funding specifically for the finishing elements of film production. These include picture and sound editing, additional photography, post sound, color grading, DCP production, music composition and rights, and visual effects. The grant aims to foster local cultural expression and enhance the visibility of diverse identities and experiences through cinematic storytelling. Applicants must be residents of Los Angeles County and must serve as either the director or producer of the film. Only projects that are at minimum in the rough cut stage will be considered, and applicants must include a completion timeline with a 2026 deadline. All applications must be submitted electronically via the City’s website, and proposals must be comprehensive, including a script, a post-production budget, lists of crew members, and work samples from previous projects. Grant recipients are expected to comply with several stipulations. These include the use of the City of West Hollywood’s logos in the film’s end credits and incorporating the city into their marketing efforts. Public screenings must take place within or immediately adjacent to West Hollywood. Applicants must not be concurrently funded by other city divisions for the same project within the same fiscal year. Furthermore, city employees, elected officials, and their immediate families are ineligible to apply. Evaluation of applications is a multi-tiered process starting with eligibility screening by staff. Qualified applications are reviewed by a peer panel of five professionals from the arts sector who score based on project cohesiveness, clarity of goals, quality of work samples, and quality of the proposed submission. The panel’s recommendations go through a series of reviews by the Performing Arts and Cultural Affairs Subcommittee, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission, and finally the City Council for approval. Important dates include a final application deadline of Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at 3 p.m., with the earliest grant fund disbursement expected in January 2026, contingent on meeting contracting requirements like insurance. Two virtual workshops are offered to assist applicants: an overview session on May 21, 2025, and a budget-specific session on May 28, 2025. Questions for these workshops must be submitted by May 20, 2025. Grant orientation for recipients is scheduled for November 13, 2025. For additional information, applicants can contact Eva Angeloff at (323) 848-6354 or via email at [email protected]. More details are available at www.weho.org/arts.