Submissions



IFFLA FILM FUND DEVELOPMENT GRANT FINALISTS

IFFLA announces the ten finalists for the first annual IFFLA Film Fund Development Grant. Finalists will receive Final Draft and Sony Creative software and IFFLA will submit a dossier of their projects for consideration to a group of selected entertainment agencies, and production and distribution companies in the U.S. The winner will be announced at the end of January and will receive a $10,000 grant.

  • AGAINST ITSELF, Kranti Kanade (writer/director), India
  • ARAVAN, Raghu Jeganathan (writer/director), USA
  • ENGINEERS OF ROCK, Sushrut Jain (co-writer/director), John Thompson (co-writer), USA
  • LOVE IN THE TIME OF GENOCIDE, Thenmozhi Soundararajan (writer/director), USA
  • SCANDALOUS!, Claire Ince (writer/director), USA
  • SEBASTIAN WANTS TO REMEMBER, Vasant Nath (writer/director), India
  • THE STORY OF RAM, Ritesh Batra (writer/director), USA
  • SWEET DREAMS, Avani Batra (writer/director), India
  • UNTITLED DESERT WAR FILM, Richie Mehta (co-writer/director), Shaun Mehta (co-writer), Canada
  • UNTOUCHABLE GLORY, Mo Ramchandani (writer/director), USA
Why an IFFLA Film Fund?

The IFFLA Film Fund seeks to help emerging filmmakers realize their feature-length narrative and non-narrative film projects that reflect universal themes inherent within Indian culture. The objective of the IFFLA Film Fund is to support projects in all phases of the filmmaking process (development, production, post-production, marketing and distribution) and increase the profile of these films in the United States. The IFFLA Film Fund's first venture is the Development Grant which is aimed at helping screenwriters develop and fine-tune their scripts. Another important goal is to strengthen the profile of these writers in the US. The fund parallels IFFLA's mission statement by including filmmakers of non-Indian descent telling stories with Indian cultural themes and Indian filmmakers telling stories with non-Indian themes.

The IFFLA Film Fund will include the following grants:
  • Development Grant of up to $10,000.
  • Finishing Funds Grant (cash grant).
  • Post Production Grant (certificates for post production services and/or cash grant).
  • Distribution Grant (awarded to a feature-length film screened at IFFLA, cash grant).
Development Grant
What are the parameters for eligibility?
  • Open to writers of Indian descent as well as to projects that have Indian content by non-Indian writers.
  • Writers should not have more than one produced feature film among their writing credits.
  • Development Grant applicants should have a director and/or producer attached to the project.
  • The Development Grant is offered to narrative features only.
Application Process
  • Application: Please visit Withoutabox.com starting September 1, 2009 for form and additional materials as well as rules and regulations. Applications should be completed in English and be accompanied by the following documents:
    • A cover letter of no more than 500 words indicating the reason for interest in fund, the plan for use of grant money, the project status, the project budget and the plan for securing financing and distribution.
    • A Logline (2-3 sentence description of the storyline).
    • A Synopsis of no more than 500 words.
    • A Script of between 80 and 130 pages written in (or translated into) English. Alternately, applicants may submit a written treatment of the project of between 5 and 10 pages. The treatment should be accompanied by the first 10 pages of a script based on the treatment. All written materials submitted must use the standard font for a screenplay (12-point Courier or Courier New) and be in the standard industry format (Final Draft, Word or PDF) for motion picture screenplays, written or translated into English. If applicants do not have access to Final Draft, they can use the following link for a free demo version that applies to 15 pages at a time.
    • A written bio of the writer.
    • Written bios of attached director, producer and other talent (if applicable).
    • Finalists will be expected to submit a Top Sheet of the project's budget.
    Applications that do not conform to these regulations and length limits will not be considered. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. Any written materials must be copyrighted or at a minimum registered with the Writers Guild of America or comparable association according to applicant's country of origin. Projects based on other source material such as stage plays, articles, novels, etc. will not be accepted. Please do not include any letters, photos, artwork or press kits with your submission unless requested to do so by an authorized member of IFFLA.

  • Call for entries: September 1, 2009 through November 2, 2009.
  • Selection Criteria:
    • Quality of application.
    • Artistic excellence of project.
    • The Development Grant takes into consideration the plan and need for use of grant money as well as the project's potential to be made and distributed theatrically.
    • Any other criteria reasonably determined by IFFLA based on the specifics of the submitted project.
  • Selection Committee:
    • A first round of finalists will be selected by the IFFLA programming committee and a group of professional readers. A jury of three professional screenwriters will select the winner.
  • Timeline:
    • September 1, 2009 - November 2, 2009: Call for Entries.
    • December 15, 2009: IFFLA will announce up to ten finalists.
    • January 31, 2010: IFFLA will announce the winner.

What are other benefits of applying for the IFFLA Film Fund Development Grant?
  • IFFLA may choose to compile a dossier of selected projects and submit them to a select roster of producers, distributors and sales agents who have agreed to review and consider the projects. Such selection shall be made in the sole and absolute discretion of IFFLA.
  • All finalists will receive feedback from the IFFLA Film Fund's readers.
  • All finalists will receive a Final Draft software certificate.
  • Based on the writer's country of residence and availability, the recipient of the Development Grant will have the opportunity to hold a staged reading of their screenplay during the annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles which is presently hosted at ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood, California.
What is the exact application review procedure?

Applications which fulfill the selection criteria will first be evaluated by a group of professional readers and the festival programming committee. Each project will be the subject of a minimum of two internal reports by different readers in order to avoid selection on the basis of personal artistic preference alone. The first round will lead to the nomination of up to ten projects, which will then be forwarded to the jury. As noted above, the jury will consist of film industry professionals. The nominated projects will be evaluated by the jury who will then select the winner. IFFLA will maintain possession of all documents created by it during the review process.

All finalists will receive feedback from the Fund's readers. They will also be acknowledged via a press release issued by the IFFLA Film Fund, which certifies that the finalists have been nominated to the final juried phase of the Fund's selection process.

IFFLA anticipates that finalists will be notified by no later than December 15, 2009. At this time finalists may be requested to submit a new draft, if available, and an update regarding the project's status.

Who is running the fund?

The IFFLA Film Fund is an initiative of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).

Contact Info

Manmeet Kuckreja, mkuckreja@indianfilmfestival.org
Rani Breslow, rbreslow@indianfilmfestival.org