SPECIAL PROJECT GRANT

• • Princess Grace Award winners and Honorarium recipients may apply.
  • Grants must be applied to projects occurring between September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026.
  • Grant requests should reflect accurately calculated expenses related to the proposed project during the grant period.
  • PGF-USA welcomes applicants to reapply with projects that were not funded in a previous year. Note, that generally PGF-USA has found that repeat applications are only competitive when the project has continued to grow or evolve in a significant way between submissions. Applicants who plan to resubmit a project are encouraged to request feedback. Any feedback requests should be made before March 31, 2025 to provide adequate time for PGF-USA staff to respond.
  • Award winners and honoraria can receive 2 annually granted Advancement grants (Special Projects, Works in Progress, CMCC) within a 5 year time period. This does not include your initial Award or Statue Award and does not include Professional Development grants, including the Flaherty Seminar for filmmakers. This new guideline was implemented in 2021 and does not apply to annual grant funding before 2021.

Typically grants have ranged from $7,500-$25,000. Should you be funded, Special Project grant payments are made in two installments:

• • 1st payment: 80% of the funds are paid in advance
  • 2nd payment: 20% upon completion of project, proof of expenditure (i.e., receipts) and final reporting.

Applications are reviewed by a multidisciplinary panel of working arts professionals, and members of the Arts Advisory Council. Samples of previously funded applications are available for review. Please email grants@pgfusa.org.

1. 1. Completed application in Submittable
   2. Current resume: not to exceed 4 pages; minimum font 12pt; 1” margins.
   3. Project Description:
      • • Clearly describe your project, state your objective(s), and provide examples of what you intend to achieve with your project and how you plan to execute it.
        • Include a timeline for completion of the project within the grant period: September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026.
   4. Case Statement:
      • • The case statement is the most crucial part of the application. Present clearly and concisely your case as to why this project constitutes a unique, consequential artistic effort and opportunity for you, and explain how you anticipate the completion of this project will impact your artistic growth at this juncture in your career.
        • Ensure this statement explains how this project provides you with an exceptional artistic experience, the importance of this project taking place during the grant period, and why your project should be funded by the PGF-USA.
        • Note: Together the project description and case statement may not exceed 2 pages; minimum font 12pt; 1” margins.
   5. Collaborator(s) profile: Please provide a short biographical paragraph (4-5 sentences) on each key collaborator.
   6. Commitment letters: Please include letters from key collaborators stating their role and responsibilities on the project. At the top of each letter, list the collaborator’s name and role in the project. It is not necessary to submit a letter from every tangential collaborator on the piece.
   7. Script summary, if applicable: not to exceed 2 pages; minimum font 12pt; 1” margins.
   8. Budget: Complete the online budget worksheet provided within the application. The budget is a key component of your application and represents your project in quantitative terms; the budget must substantiate the project’s financial scope, allocation of grant monies, and support the project’s completion within the grant period.
      Guidelines:
      • • Special Project budgets may include a modest stipend for you, the applicant, as part of the funds requested from the PGF-USA. The panel will look carefully at costs associated with project activities and collaborative artists within the proposed budget, and considers these line items to be priorities of PGF-USA financial support.
        • The following are examples of ineligible expenses: medical, legal, or accounting fees; costs involved in real estate purchase, construction, or building improvements; administrative fees of an organization or company; tuition support for matriculating students.
   9. Support materials: There is an option to include any supporting documents you feel will clarify the nature and objective of your proposal. The panel recommends including a visual component with your application.
      • • You may submit work samples via an online link. Please make sure any link(s) submitted are live and accessible May 15, 2025, through July 31, 2025, to give the panel ample time to view the sample. We strongly recommended that live streaming links be secure and you must provide the passwords to Princess Grace Foundation-USA.
        • Please limit work samples to a total of 10 minutes.
        • We urge you to use care in the selection of samples you submit. Whenever possible, applications should submit sample works that are stylistically relevant to the proposed project.

• • The total duration of all work samples may not exceed 10 minutes. The panel will not view more than 10 minutes of required work samples and it is up to the applicant to edit their samples to fit within the 10-minute timeframe.
  • Should you have key collaborators it is helpful to submit a work sample from these individuals. You have an additional 10 minutes of work sample time in which to show work samples from your key collaborators. This is a total of 10 minutes for all key collaborators, not 10 minutes per collaborator. 
  • Panel will not view promotional videos.
  • Please make sure the link submitted is live and accessible May 15, 2025, through July 31, 2025, to give the panel ample time to view the sample. We strongly recommend that live streaming links be secure and you must provide the Princess Grace Foundation-USA with passwords that are good through July 31, 2025. 

Tips for successful work samples:

• • We urge you to use care in the selection of samples you submit. Whenever possible, applications should submit sample works that are stylistically relevant to the proposed project.
  • If there are rough scenes of the proposed project available, you may include these clips in the application. Only include this material if it is far enough along to accurately represent the project. Concisely and carefully describe its relevance.
  • The panel has limited time in which to view your work samples, and may not be able to view the work in its entirety. It is helpful to keep that in mind when selecting work samples, and you may provide specific cue points in your description for the panel to use as viewing reference.
  • The panel views all work samples on a single channel screen with 16:9 aspect ratio. It is helpful to use the fields below to describe how your work was originally viewed and is intended to be seen by the audience. This will allow the panel to envision the work as it is intended to be seen.

Please email Olivia if you would like to see examples of successful Special Project applications – olivia (at) pgfusa.org.