Funding Deadline: Open Call Applications Due June 29

Posted on June 26, 2012

The deadline for ITVS's biggest funding opportunity, Open Call, is on Friday, June 29. Learn how to submit a digital application here.


Open Call provides completion funds for single nonfiction public television programs on any subject, and from any viewpoint. Projects must have begun production as evidenced by a work-in-progress video. Open Call funding is only available to independent producers who are citizens or legal residents of the U.S. and its external territories. 

Open Call accepts:
  • Single programs of standard broadcast length (half-hour or one-hour). In rare cases, when a filmmaker’s skills, subject, and story structure warrant it, ITVS will consider programs at feature lengths.
  • Works-in-progress (for nonfiction submissions), i.e. projects that have already begun production
  • Programs that can be completed within one year of contract

Open Call does not accept:
  • Proposals for completed projects seeking distribution
  • Series proposals or fictional dramas
  • Projects intended solely for theatrical release


There are two funding rounds per year and applicants may apply with only one project per call. The entire proposal review process takes up to five months. Only one to two percent of Open Call applicants will receive funding. Open Call is not a grant; ITVS provides a co-production investment in the program.

If you have any questions about this new process, you should contact our Programming Coordinator Jonathan_Archer@itvs.org

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