Audience Development Program

Funding for the Audience Development Program is open to:

• Organisations, including companies and not for profit incorporated bodies 
• Co-operatives, trusts or local government authorities
• A consortium or a group of organisations working collaboratively*

Applicants must be an Australian organisation with an ABN.

To be eligible for funding, organisations must be legally constituted. Applicants need to provide proof of their legal status.

Applicants must be an Australia-based organisation also adhere to the general eligibility requirements under the Screen NSW Terms of Trade.

*In the case of a consortium or group of organisations working collaboratively, one eligible organisation must be nominated as the lead organisation. The funding grant agreement will be with the lead organisation.

Applications for the Audience Development Program will not be accepted from:

• Individuals, partnerships or groups of individuals and unincorporated organisations
• Government departments and agencies, primary and secondary schools, tertiary institutions and TAFE colleges
• Previous Screen NSW or Create NSW funding recipients who have not fulfilled the conditions of the funding and/or who are overdue in acquitting prior funding.

Funding is available for activities that deliver opportunities for audiences to see and experience quality screen content and innovative practice, in single or multiple venues.

Eligible one-off or annual events include:

• Public screenings
• Festivals
• Tours.

The minimum funding amount for the Audience Development Program is $5,000.

Organisations applying for funding are expected to secure other sources of income or in-kind support wherever feasible. Income may be derived from sources such as sponsorships, grants or subsidies from other agencies, revenue from ticket sales, fund raising and other activities.

Applications that do not include other sources of income or in-kind support are not considered as competitive.

Single Year

Applications for Single Year Audience Development Program funding cover activities occurring over a single financial year.

Funding is generally not offered above $10,000 for a Single Year project. However, funding above that amount may be considered for a program of activities, or in exceptional circumstances.

Requested amounts should be reasonable and relative to the proposed activities and benefit to NSW.

Multi Year

Applications for Multi Year Audience Development Program funding cover activities occurring over multiple financial years, for example 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2026 (for 2-year funding) and 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2027 (for 3-year funding).

Funding for Multi Year is capped at $50,000 per year. However, grants to most organisations will be in the range of $10,000 - $35,000 per year.

There are two application tiers: Tier 1 for lower amounts and Tier 2 for higher amounts.

 

Multi Year – Tier 1

To be considered for Multi Year Tier 1 funding, organisations can apply for up to $35,000, and will need to:

• Demonstrate a strong track record of outcomes
• Have successfully received funding from Screen NSW or Create NSW in three of the last five years.

 

Multi Year – Tier 2

To be considered for the upper amounts ($35,001 to $50,000), organisations will need to demonstrate:

• An outstanding track record of delivering related activities of scale
• Have successfully received funding from Screen NSW or Create NSW in three of the last five years
• Proven impact on the NSW screen sector.

 

They will also need to meet the additional application requirements for multi-year funding, comprising of:

• A detailed budget of proposed activities over the periods requested
• A Strategic Plan outlining:
  • The proposed activities over the requested periods
  • Mission and Vision statements

 

Requested amounts should be reasonable and relative to the proposed activities and benefit to NSW and NSW practitioners. 

Funding for the Audience Development Program will not be available for:

• Industry markets, conferences, or expos
• Publications or magazines about screen
• Development or production of screen content
• Activities that have also received funding from Screen NSW’s Industry Development program for the same activity in the same financial year 
• Travel to markets, conferences, meetings, festivals
• Awards or competition component of a film festival or initiative
• School focused programs.

Applications should include:

• A clear outline and rationale for the project including evidence of the need for or demand for the project, intended audience and location(s)
• Information about the personnel who will deliver the project including details of their roles, relevant experience and key achievements
• Details of the key activities, milestones and dates  
• A clear explanation of how the requested funding will be used to achieve the project’s objective 
• Quality and viability of the proposal i.e., does it fulfil a need and/or interest in the community 
• Key result areas, indicators and targets for the project.

Applications should include well developed strategies for engaging people in opportunities to experience quality screen content and innovative practice including:

• Evidence of the need or demand for the project and why it should be regarded as a priority for funding i.e., diverse screen content that a community would not otherwise have access to 
• Strategies for engaging people in quality screen content and innovative practice, for example, workshops, networking opportunities, capacity building
• Appropriate measures to assess the success of these strategies and to integrate knowledge gained into future programming.

The application should demonstrate that the project will build the capacity of NSW screen practitioners, stimulates innovative screen industry practice in NSW and opportunities for the public, and provides opportunities for participation in screen industry development for one or more of the following priority areas:

• Regional NSW
• Western Sydney
• First Nations people
• People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• People living with disability
• LGBTQIA+ people. 

Please note that where an application is received from an organisation located outside of NSW, the project must be delivered in NSW or directly and strongly benefit NSW residents.

The application should provide brief information regarding the organisational capacity to deliver the project, including:

• An outline of the core business, aims and objectives of the organisation 
• Previous performance and delivery of similar events 
• An outline of the experience and expertise of the organisation as it relates to the project and the ability to successfully realise the event 
• Comprehensive details of the organisation including board or committee, staff and governance arrangements
• Financial information for the previous year (actual) and current year (estimated)
• Evidence of the organisation’s legal status.

 

The applicant organisation must have: 

• Have proven experience in successfully delivering similar activities
• Specialist screen industry experience.

The budget should provide sufficient detail to demonstrate that the project is cost effective, includes realistic income and expenditure targets and makes adequate provision for insurance and other liabilities. Explanatory notes should be used where needed.

Recurring projects must include previous year’s budget actuals. Confirmation of in-kind and cash support should be substantiated by supporting documentation. Please refer to the template budget link in the application form.

The level of funding sought must reflect the proposed activity’s size and benefits to NSW screen and digital games practitioners and industry.  The Screen NSW funding is considered a partial contribution to the activity and applicants must provide a finance plan indicating other financial sources within the application.

Support material plays a vital role in how we understand and assess your application. Choose high-quality support material that is concise, current and directly relevant to your application.

Support material for proposals involving the Aboriginal arts and cultural sector and/or Aboriginal people, organisations and cultural material must include letters of support and confirmation of involvement from the relevant communities and/or organisations (see NSW Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Protocols).

Other support material may include:

• A program of activities
• Relevant and recent examples of your artistic work (images, video, recordings, written material or links to websites)
• A brief biography or CV for any screen practitioners or key collaborators involved in the project (maximum one A4 page per person)
• Confirmation letters and/or letters of support related to your project (provided as one document), such as from partners, venues, key sector contacts or other funding agencies.

Please submit your support material in the amount and format required, including:

• Combined files not exceeding 25MB
• Up to five minutes of video or audio recording
• No zipped or compressed files
• Documents in PDF format where possible
• Links for externally hosted work only.

Multi Year applications must also include a business plan that demonstrates the viability of the organisation for the period of funding (2 or 3 years) including other sources of funding and the most recent annual report, including the most recent financial statement.

Evidence of a significant positive track record of achievement and delivery of services for the screen industry in NSW. An example of a track record includes a history of three Screen NSW / Create NSW grants in three of the last five years (at the time of application).

Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email confirmation from our secure online grants system, SmartyGrants.

Applications will be initially reviewed by Screen NSW staff to ensure they meet eligibility requirements, and all application materials are acceptable.

After eligibility is confirmed, the application will be evaluated by an assessment panel including a minimum of one Screen NSW staff member and two external industry experts.

Please note that funding allocation follows a competitive process. Evaluations will consider the assessment criteria outlined above and the availability of funds at Screen NSW.

Successful applications will be approved by the Head of Screen NSW based on the recommendations of the assessment panel.

Successful applications will be approved by the Chief Executive of Create NSW, or their delegate, based on the recommendations of the assessment panel. The assessment process will take up to 9 weeks from the application closing date. Screen NSW aims to advise applicants by 28 October 2024.

Applicants will be notified on the outcome of their application via email.

If successful, the applicant must enter into, and abide by the terms of, a Funding Grant Agreement with Screen NSW, which will include the funding’s deliverables and acquittal requirements in addition to the process for dealing with any variations to the funded program.

For Single Year applications, funding will be paid in one lump sum per financial year, funded upon receipt of a signed Funding Agreement and a valid tax invoice.

For Multi Year applications, funding will be paid in one lump sum per financial year funded upon receipt of a signed Funding Agreement for year one and specified times in subsequent years.

Screen NSW will not enter into agreements until all previous grants with Screen NSW or Create NSW have been acquitted.

Any variations to the Funding Grant Agreement, including project scope or activities, location or timeframes outlined in the application form and Grant Guidelines must be submitted in writing for approval from Screen NSW. Failure to do so may result in the withdrawal of the grant offer.

Screen NSW has the discretion to approve or reject any variation request from a grantee where the grant agreement has already been executed.

To submit a variation request, please contact the Screen Industry and Audience team at [email protected] to arrange.

If you are unsure if your enquiry qualifies as a variation, contact the Screen Industry and Audience team at [email protected].

The Grants Administration Guide (Guide) requires that certain information is published in relation to grants awarded no later than 45 calendar days after the funding agreement takes effect (see section 6.5 of the Guide and Appendix A to the Guide).

This information is also open access information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), which must be made publicly available unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information.

In accordance with these requirements, relevant information about the funding awarded will be made available on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder as soon as possible after the funding agreement is executed.

All records in relation to this decision will be managed in accordance with the requirements of the State Records Act 1998 (NSW).