The South Carolina Film Commission and Trident Technical College invite South Carolina filmmakers to apply for INDIE Grants, production grants for narrative short film projects.
Donor Name: South Carolina Film Commission
State: South Carolina
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/03/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
INDIE GRANTS creates high-quality, inventive short films with professional filmmakers. Founded as a partnership between the South Carolina Film Commission and Trident Technical College, INDIE GRANTS films have been official selections at film fest like Sundance, Tribeca, American Black Film Festival, Palm Springs, Austin, FantasticFest, Slamdance, Stiges, Oxford, Atlanta, Indie Memphis, DragonCon, and hundreds more.
Selected grant recipients are expected to manage their productions with a high level of professionalism, quality, and practicality throughout the process. Creative thinking, cost-efficiency, smart management of funds, and pooling of resources are key.
Funding Information
INDIE GRANTS funding can range from $25,000 to $45,000.
Eligibility Criteria
Please carefully review the below to make sure your project is eligible for INDIE GRANTS before beginning the process. Only submissions that meet all this criteria will be considered:
- Only live-action narrative short film projects are eligible for INDIE GRANTS.
- All submitting team members must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission.
- One of the submitting team members must be a current south carolina resident, or legitimately a ‘home-grown’ south carolina filmmaker. This person must be listed as the main applicant.
- If the main applicant does not have a current South Carolina address they will be asked to describe in detail how they (and the team if applicable) are home-grown South Carolina filmmakers. Home-grown means the individual spent significant, formative years in the state; maintains true connections with the state; and has been actively involved in its production community and community as a whole.
- An individual may be the main applicant on only one submitted project per cycle.
- An individual can only be listed as specific position-holder on one submitted project; for instance, an individual can be the writer on only one project, the director on only one project, etc.
- An individual may be listed on No more tahn two different submitted projects, as long as they are listed as different positions on those two teams.
- It is strongly recommended that at least three separate individuals make up each submitting team within the required positions. Two-person teams may be considered, with the expectation the project will fill any remaining positions before officially selected.
Your submission must include the following
- Work Samples
- Samples of previous narrative work from each member of your core team – Writer, Director, (or Writer/Director), Producer, and Line Producer. A music video or commercial project with a clear fictional narrative is acceptable.
- Screenplay
- Narrative short film script in industry standard format as PDF (max 15-pages, not including title page).
- Project Deck (Look Book & Production Strategy)
- A PDF Deck for the project outlining your creative and logistical approaches to the film is required. A common method with film decks and pitches is to have these questions in mind as you’re developing:
- What is the story, and WHAT is this short film going to be like?
- Why does it need to be told, and WHY are you the one to do it?
- How will you tell the story and execute it from a creative, staffing, and technological/production perspective?
- Who is the audience, and how will your film reach them?
- A segment of the Deck should detail the Director’s vision for the film, including elements like comparable films, setting/locations, cinematography, production design, mood, tone, impact, etc. This is the ‘Look Book’ portion. Use it as an opportunity to help the evaluators understand what your film will look and feel like.
- Your Deck should also detail the project’s preliminary ‘Production Strategy,’ with the following information:
- Where in South Carolina you’d like to shoot and why, including preliminary location and scouting strategy.
- Estimated number of shoot days.
- Bios with credits and work samples from your core team: Writer, Director, (or Writer/Director), Producer, and Line Producer.
- Bios and optional work samples for key collaborators you already have in place. Ideally at least two of these key collaborators would be attached to the project when submitting (tentatively or otherwise), as they indicate readiness and professionalism of the project: DP, AD, Prod Designer/Art Director, VFX Supervisor, Editor, Composer.
- If your project requires visual effects, stunt sequences, or similar, references for how you’ll execute those elements must be included. This could be test footage, samples, pre-vis, or similar.
- Casting strategy and actor references.
- Other production strategies you have, such as sourcing out key gear, crew, and other vendors.
- Film festival plan and any other marketing and distribution strategies.
- Any other info you’d like the evaluators to consider.
For more information, visit SCFC.
