In 2022 the Ukrainian Film Academy, in cooperation with Netflix, announced a “Grant Program: script development and exclusive sessions with industry experts” to help Ukrainian creators in Ukraine and around the world who have been affected or displaced by the war to continue and develop their work.

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The Program offered:

• 48 project teams of two, made up of a scriptwriter and producer, received $15 000** each to develop a script for their project. In addition to the Grant, at the end of the Program, the scripts were translated into English. The translation was facilitated by the Ukrainian Film Academy.

• A series of exclusive online sessions with international industry experts.

• At the beginning of 2023, the Grant recipients were offered additional financial support in the form of a one-time travel grant of $1 000 U.S. per team (in UAH equivalent) to present their projects at international festivals and film markets.

• Throughout 2023, the script development Grant recipients will continue to receive support through a group session to discuss the shape of the industry landscape plus 1:1 script doctoring and project development sessions covering financing, co-producing, marketing, distribution and festival strategies, delivered by the European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs.

The following projects were accepted for participation in the Program:

• Original fiction feature films

• Original fiction series

• Documentary projects (including series and films)

The requirements for applicants in the Program Regulations.

Key Program deadlines:

• From 11:00:00 on July 28, 2022, to 23:59:59 on August 18, 2022 – acceptance of applications from participants;

• By September 8, 2022 – announcement of the Grant recipients;

• September-October 2022 – a series of exclusive online sessions with international film industry experts for the Grant recipients;

• January 31, 2023 – deadline for completion of the script development for the Program Grant recipients.

Ukrainian Film Academy’s applications were evaluated by a team of leading Ukrainian experts: Nataliia Strybuk (producer), Olesia Lukianenko (creative producer), Serhii Zlenko (national representative of Ukraine in Eurimages), Alik Shpyliuk (film expert, art director of Ukrainian Film Academy), Oleksii Hladushevskyi (producer, screenwriter), Serhii Bukovskyi (documentarian), Daria Bassel (producer, director of the industry platform of Docudays UA), Alina Horlova (director and screenwriter), and Hennadii Kofman (producer, member of the Board and Selection Council of Docudays UA).

One screenwriter could submit a maximum of two projects with different producers, but only one project could be selected by the expert committee. The producer could apply with an unlimited number of projects, but only two could be selected.

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Under the terms of the Program, individuals could apply for participation in the “Grant Program: script development and exclusive sessions with industry experts” from the Ukrainian Film Academy in cooperation with Netflix or the House of Europe stipends for filmmakers in partnership with Netflix. If they were selected to participate in the Ukrainian Film Academy Grant Program, they were not eligible for a House of Europe stipend.

** The grant was paid in UAH at the interbank exchange rate