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Completion Fund

Applications for the 2025 Frameline Completion Fund close on Friday, November 1.

The Frameline Completion Fund provides grants to emerging and established filmmakers. This program seeks to provide a much-needed source of financial contributions to artists who often struggle to secure funding to complete their works. Grants up to $5,000 are available for the completion of films that represent and reflect LGBTQ+ life in all its complexity and richness.

For over a quarter century, Frameline has awarded $667,500 to 190 projects (see all past recipients here) to help ensure that LGBTQ+ film/video projects are completed and viewed by wider audiences. Projects finished with assistance from the Frameline Completion Fund include Pariah, Go Fish, No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics, Lingua Franca, North by Current, The Watermelon Woman, By Hook or By Crook, Call Her Ganda, Chavela, Appropriate Behavior, To Be Takei, Last Call at Maud’s, The New Black, 1985, It Came from Kuchar, Brother to Brother, Kumu Hina, Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, The Cockettes, Vito, Freeheld, We Were Here, The Happy Sad, Signature Move, In the Summers, and The Brandon Teena Story.

Submissions are accepted for documentary, narrative, experimental, animated, or episodic projects about LGBTQ+ people and their communities. The Fund also seeks to bring new work to under-served audiences; with this in mind, we especially encourage applications by women, people of color, transgender people, intersex people, asexual people, non-binary people, disabled people, and other underrepresented people and communities.

Eligibility Requirements

  • New for the 2025 Season: Please note that a few things have changed this year regarding applicant eligibility. Beginning this season, we can only consider applications that provide a full working cut of the film. It’s perfectly acceptable if the cut has temporary sound, color, visual effects, music, etc. If the film is missing a scene or two, or animated sequences, feel free to let us know specifics in the application. We require that the applicant provide a cut that features at least 90% of the completed film. With the number of applications increasing dramatically each year, we can no longer consider a project that provides a clip, sample, or demo. Thanks for understanding.
  • Grants are given ONLY for completion; therefore, projects must have 90% of production finished and be in the post-production phase or ready to begin post as soon as funding is in place.
  • Projects in development, script development, pre-production, or production will NOT be considered.
  • Grants will ONLY be given to projects about LGBTQ+ people and their communities.
  • Grants are given to individuals with creative and financial control of the project. In the case of collaboration, a sole project director must be designated as the applicant.
  • Grants will be given to projects in any film/video format, of any length, genre, or nationality.
  • Student projects are eligible as long as the student maintains artistic and financial control of the project.
  • International productions are accepted.
  • Members of the staff and Board of Directors of Frameline are ineligible.
  • Frameline reserves the right to deem ineligible, or alter a project’s award status at any point prior to the disbursement of funds.  
  • Projects may be deemed ineligible for perceived violations of Frameline’s code of conduct and or projects that could harm the organization.

FAQs

Can international projects apply?

Yes, we welcome and encourage international applicants, however the proposal must be submitted in English, and the rough cut of the film will need English subtitles.

Is there an application fee to apply?

No, there is no application fee.

How much funding can I request?

The standard Completion Fund grant ranges from $1,000 to $5,000 although the jury can recommend a higher or lower amount.

How are applications reviewed?

Frameline’s Programming team will review all applications and work samples and will select semi-finalists to recommend to an independent jury. The jury of media professionals will convene to collectively select the grant recipients. The names of the panelists will remain confidential until after the awards are announced.

Who makes up the jury?

Jury members are industry professionals, including filmmakers, curators, critics, and academics. Past jurors have included Elegence Bratton (filmmaker, The Inspection), Tina Takemoto (Dean of Humanities and Sciences at California College of Arts San Francisco), Lex Sloan (Roxie Theater Executive Director and filmmaker), and Stefano Gonzalez (film producer and Transgress Studios LLC founder and CEO).

When can I expect to hear a status update on my application?

Applicants will be notified of their status in January 2025. Please note that we will not be able to provide additional information about the status of your application before this time.

If my project is not selected, can you provide feedback?

Unfortunately, due to the high number of submissions the Frameline Completion Fund does not provide critiques, screening notes, or individual reviews of any films not chosen for finishing fund grants.

If my project is not selected, can I reapply next year?

We do not recommend re-submitting the same film for consideration unless significant changes to the project have been made.

If I receive a grant from the Frameline Completion Fund, what can the funds be used for?

Grant funds may be used for any post-production costs including closed captioning and audio descriptions, editing, special effects and graphics, music licensing, and photo licensing.

For more information or additional questions about the Completion Fund, please email programming@frameline.org.

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