Festival Travel

Screen NSW general eligibility requirements can be found in the Screen NSW Terms of Trade, which should be read in conjunction with these guidelines.

• The program is open to any NSW Key Creative whose project has been officially invited to screen in the program of an international festival (outside Australia) that offers significant networking and professional development opportunities.
• NSW-based Executive Producers will be considered in exceptional circumstances if Screen NSW is not providing travel support for any other Key Creatives on the project.
• Projects made outside NSW are eligible.
• Projects that have not received Screen NSW development or production finance are eligible.

Screen NSW is committed to supporting increased participation in the industry of people from under-represented groups. Priority will be given to teams including people from the following priority areas:

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

Requests for festival travel support should not generally exceed $6,000. Screen NSW will support up to $5,000 per individual or up to $6,000 for two or more team members per application.

This program supports international travel costs (flights, accommodation, transfers). 

The program is open to any project within the range of activity that Screen NSW supports which includes animation, documentary, features, shorts, television, children’s television and interactive.

Projects that have been made as part of tertiary study are not eligible.

We do not fund under this program:

• Domestic travel costs
• Marketing costs such as prints or publicity materials.

Your application will be competitively assessed against the following criteria:

• The track record of the applicant, including the financial track record and experience of the applicant and any Key Creatives
• The networking and professional development opportunities provided by the festival
• The likelihood it will assist the applicant’s next project, relative to their level of experience
• The appropriateness of the budget submitted.

You must submit all the core materials listed on the form. The key document we need you to submit is a cover letter outlining why attending the festival would provide you with a significant networking and professional development opportunity. Please include details of business meetings you are planning or upcoming projects that you wish to pitch as part of the trip.

A COVID-19 travel plan must be supplied, outlining the requirements of the country you are travelling to, the quarantine requirements of your destination and on your return to NSW.

Please provide details of vaccination requirements for travel, or medical exemptions to support your travel application.

Please provide the COVID-safe practices of the festival/market you are travelling to if available.

Applications are received on a rolling basis and are assessed on the eligibility and selection criteria. Sector Investment team members assess projects across our entire suite of development and production programs.

Final recommendations will be made in writing for approval by the relevant financial delegate of the Secretary (Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport), typically the Head of Screen NSW.

We shall endeavour to notify you on the outcome of your application between six to eight weeks from the date that Screen NSW acknowledges receipt of a completed application.

Please note you will receive a SmartyGrants acknowledgement of submission. We will send a separate acknowledgement.

If successful, the applicant must enter into and abide by the terms of an agreement with us, which will include the funding’s deliverables and acquittal requirements.