July 2026 Mini Slate: Industry Greenlights and Gateways

BRAVEMAKER FILM FEST

WHEN: JULY 8-12 in Redwood City, CA

BraveMaker is a movement. We are a creative community of filmmakers, actors, dreamers, innovators and advocates. We host weekly creative support groups and classes for professional development in the entertainment industry for makers of all kinds to achieve their creative goals. We also are a production company bringing stories to life in narrative films (both features and shorts), commercials, PSA’s, documentaries and social media content. We make space for all people to belong as our mission is to educate, entertain and create community with film for justice, diversity and inclusion.

FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: JULY 16

Mountainfilm is committed to supporting documentary filmmakers in telling stories that support our mission to inspire audiences to create a better world. We seek nonfiction stories celebrating adventure, activism, social justice, culture, environment and indomitable spirit. Applications for Mountainfilm’s 2026 Commitment Grant and Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship are open from July 1-16, 2026. 

Please note that if you are an early career filmmaker we will select an Emerging Filmmaker from the pool of Commitment Grant applicants for our Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship.

FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: AUGUST 31

The Screenwriting Lab is a two-week workshop held in the first quarter of the year, designed to provide individualized story and career development for emerging screenwriters with a fiction feature screenplay.

Who Can Apply?

The Screenwriting Lab is open to any writer applying with a completed draft of a feature-length project they wish to workshop during the program, with an eye toward production. More details available in the FAQ section below.

FUNDRAISER

We’re proud to support AFI alumna Bella Parisot as she raises funds for her latest short film, YOUR MOM.

Learn more about the project and support the campaign here.

Graduated from AFI 1995 to 2005? Interested in an online Writing Sprint Group? Then read on:

GRANT

DEADLINE: JUNE 15

The Sundance Institute Documentary Fund is a global granting opportunity that supports independent filmmakers of cinematic documentaries, from development through release, on a wide range of contemporary topics and themes.

We support independent, feature-length documentary films (52 minutes and longer) and prioritize budgets under $1.2 million USD excluding distribution and impact expenses. Prior funding or a fiscal sponsor is not required. To ensure the artist’s vision remains central, creative and editorial control must be held by the project’s key creative team.

GRANTS&FELLOWSHIPS

DEADLINE: JUNE 30

Tubi and the Black List are looking for the next great horror film!

The Black List and Tubi have expanded their partnership with a new initiative to provide both emerging and established writers with the opportunity to submit feature scripts within the horror genre with the intention for Tubi to produce and distribute the selected script. Writers can submit their entries beginning March 1, 2026 and the submission period will run through June 30, 2026.

GRANT

DEADLINE: JUNE 30

The Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Short Film Fund aims to provide meaningful support for short films through direct project investment and creative consultation. Open only to alumni of the Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, the short film fund will grant five films $35,000 USD, aiming to provide the resources needed to complete their films within one to two years.

To apply, you must be an Alum of the Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellowship and have received an application code directly from Sundance Institute.  

FELLOWSHIP

DEADLINE: JUNE 8

Every year Film Independent selects up to ten fiction and five non-fiction feature projects to participate in an intensive film finance market that takes place over four days in November. Designed to connect producer-director teams with industry leaders and put projects on the “fast track,” the market consists of meetings with top executives, financiers, agents, managers, distributors, granting organizations and production companies. Participants gain valuable exposure and build vital relationships as they propel their films toward completion.