The Austin Film Society Announces it is Now Accepting Applications for the 2025 AFS Grant for Feature Films
WHO: The Austin Film Society
WHAT: The AFS Grant for Feature Films will accept applications for 2025
WHEN: April 16–May 21, 2025
WEB: Apply online at austinfilm.org/afs-grants
MEDIA CONTACT: Will Stefanski | Will@AustinFilm.org | (512) 322-0145 ext. 3234
April 16, 2025, AUSTIN, TX— Today, the Austin Film Society opens applications for the 2025 AFS Grant for Feature Films. The AFS Grant awards funds annually to Texas-based filmmakers working in any style or genre. Filmmakers from all backgrounds who live in the state of Texas are encouraged to apply for up to $15,000 in cash for any phase of production, and a development grant is also available for mid-career artists.
For more information about the AFS Grant and how applicants can apply, click here or visit austinfilm.org/afs-grants.
(Photo from 2024 AFS Grant Recipient Austin Black Freedom Communities courtesy of director Funmi Ogunro. Click here to download.)
The AFS Grant for Feature Films also includes two special grants — the North Texas Pioneer Film Award for emerging filmmakers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and surrounding counties, and the New Texas Voices Award for first-time feature filmmakers with stories from underrepresented perspectives — as well as sponsored in-kind awards for camera and lighting packages as well as digital cinema packages (DCPs). Austin Film Society’s Filmmaker Support team will host free webinars on Zoom to inform and answer questions about the 2025 AFS Grant for Feature Films.
The AFS Grant is generously supported by grant partners Ley Line Entertainment, David Lowery, Oak Cliff Film Festival, the Warren Skaaren Charitable Trust, Kat Candler, Kyle and Noah Hawley, South by Southwest, William Knox Holt Foundation, MPS Camera and Lighting and Stuck On On in addition to the City of Austin Economic Development Department/Cultural Arts Division and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
About the AFS Grant
The AFS Grant awards funds annually to talented emerging film and video artists in the state of Texas. Grants are provided to artists whose work shows promise, skill, and creativity. The AFS Grant is an essential program that embodies the mission and vision of AFS and underscores the organization’s commitment to fostering diverse and underrepresented perspectives and voices in independent film. Since its inception in 1996, the AFS Grant has awarded more than $2.8 million in cash grants and more than $340,000 in-kind goods and services to 550+ Texas filmmakers to date, creating life-changing opportunities for artists working outside large industry centers, and often supporting filmmakers who come from backgrounds that are largely underrepresented in the film industry. In addition to grants for development, production, and post-production, AFS provides cash stipends to Texas filmmakers traveling to prestigious film festivals through its AFS Travel Grant program.
Some of AFS’s most successful program alumni over the years have received grants from AFS. Filmmakers Kat Candler (former showrunner of O Network’s Queen Sugar, Hellion, 13 Reasons Why), David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story), Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth) and Andrew Bujalski (Support The Girls) were all awarded support through the AFS Grant Fund. Most recently, the AFS Grant-supported film Shuffle by Benjamin Flaherty won the documentary feature competition at SXSW 2025.
About Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
