1. General provisions

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1.1. Public organization "Ukrainian Film Academy," in cooperation with Netflix and European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), announced a “Grant Program: script development and exclusive sessions with EAVE 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. The translation was facilitated by the Ukrainian Film Academy.

1.2. “Grant Program: script development and exclusive sessions with industry experts” is conducted by the Public organization "Ukrainian Film Academy" (EDRPOU code: 41176371), Ukraine, Kyiv city, Symona Petliury Street, build. 30 (hereinafter referred to as the Organizer).

 

2. Program Description

 

2.1. 15 project teams of two made up a screenwriter and producer (two persons), will receive $15 000 to develop a script for their project. All scripts will be translated into English at the end of the Program by the Ukrainian Film Academy. 

2.2. At the submission stage, the project must already have a director attached.  The screenwriter and the director can be the same person.
2.3. The grant is awarded to the screenwriter and the producer for screenplay development purposes. Additionally, the director of the project is eligible to attend exclusive EAVE sessions.

2.4. A series of exclusive online sessions with industry experts will be held especially for the Grant recipients, participation in which is mandatory for Grantees. The script development grant recipients will 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 and marketing strategies delivered by the European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE).

2.5. The following projects will be accepted for participation in the Program:

• Original director-driven fiction feature films of 70 minutes and longer at the development stage at the date of submission. 

2.6. The Grant will be paid in UAH at the interbank exchange rate (after the conclusion of the grant agreement) in non-cash form to the producer’s bank account of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur.

2.7. The Program will be conducted in the following terms:

• From 11:00:00 on March 2, 2026, to 15:59:59 on March 30, 2026 – acceptance of applications from participants;

• By May 7, 2026 – announcement of the Grant recipients;

• By October 30, 2026 – deadline for completion of the script development. 

• By November 15, 2026 - deadline for submission of financial plan, packaging/co-pro/commissioning, marketing, festival, and distribution strategy  

• From December 1, 2026 till January 30, 2027 - a series of exclusive online sessions with EAVE experts for the Program Grant recipients.

2.8. The Grant recipient will not transfer any rights to the script project to the Organizer or third parties, and the Organizer, Netflix, or any third party does not in any way prevent the participant from using their project in the future.

2.9. The Organizer will not share the project details and personal data of the Grant recipients with Netflix. Netflix receives only depersonalized information about the Grant recipients' gender and country/region of residence.

2.10. The Grant recipients authorize the Organizer to use in the public space (on news resources, websites, social networks, etc.) information about the project, namely a brief description of the project (synopsis), team photos, quotes from any of the Grant recipient's team, etc. as previously agreed between the Parties.

2.11. The Grant recipients will send the Organizer the finished script in Ukrainian language by October 30, 2026, and also give them the right to translate the script into English.

2.12. The Grant recipient will send the Organizer the financial plan, marketing, festival, and distribution strategy of the project by November 15, 2026, in English. 

 

3. Requirements for Program Participants

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3.1. Program participants have to be Ukrainian citizens living in Ukraine or who were forced to leave Ukraine in 2022.

3.2. Citizens of Ukraine residing in the so-called “restricted regions of Ukraine” are not eligible to participate in this Program.

“Restricted Region of Ukraine” means the territories of Ukraine that are subject to United States sanctions.

3.3. A team of up to two people, a producer and a screenwriter, will be considered a participant in the Program. The producer has to represent a legal entity (LLC) or an individual entrepreneur (IE) registered in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and have the appropriate legal basis to represent the project. 

3.4. The Grant funds paid to the winners of the Program were distributed as follows: an amount of at least 75% of the Grant funds had to be transferred to the screenwriter as the fee. At the end of the Program, the Participant (producer’s legal entity or individual entrepreneur) had to provide confirmation of fee payment to the screenwriter in the form of a contract with the screenwriter and bank confirmation of the fee transfer.
3.5. The director receives access to the exclusive sessions.
3.6. To apply, Program participants must be over 18 years old. Applications are accepted without the restriction of upper age limit, disability, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or country of residence.

3.7. Both program participants must have the necessary experience as a producer or screenwriter, respectively (be listed in the credits):

• At least 2 feature fiction films or TV series were selected for film festivals with a history of existence of at least 5 years and/or have either been released theatrically, terrestrially or digitally in Ukraine or

• 3 short feature films, at least one of which has been selected for film festivals with a history of existence of 5 years or more;

3.8. The director must have experience as a director on at least one director-driven short or feature fiction feature film selected for film festivals with a history of existence of at least 5 years and/or have either been released theatrically, terrestrially or digitally in Ukraine. The director must be a Ukrainian citizen who, at the time of application, resides in Ukraine or left Ukraine in 2022.

3.9. There are no genre or topic restrictions for projects participating in the Program. We welcome projects that would contribute to the audience’s understanding of the lived experience of Ukrainians and Ukrainian culture broadly.

3.10. Each screenwriter can submit only one project, including real and creative names.  

3.11. Each producer can submit only one project.
3.12. A director may be listed in only one project.

3.13. All submission materials must be in English:

• Treatment 1 page, A4, Times New Roman, single line spacing

• The profiles of the producer,screenwriter and director

• The short statements of the screenwriter and director

3.14. During their participation in the Program, the Grant recipients will undertake to comply with the requirements of these Regulations and regulations of the current legislation of Ukraine.

3.15. By participating in the Program, the Program Grant recipients agree and confirm that they read and fully agree with these Regulations.

3.16. In case the Grant recipients provide false/incorrect data for participation in the Program, including the means of communication with such Grant recipients, such Grant recipients would lose the right to continue participation in the Program.

3.17. The Organizer reserves the right to exclude any Grant recipient, who violates the obligations stipulated in these Regulations, from participation in the Program.

3.18. The Grant recipient who will not fulfill/improperly fulfill the terms of these Regulations will lose the right to participate further in the Program.

 

4. Project evaluation

 

4.1. To participate in the Program, it is necessary to complete the application form correctly and download the materials on the Organizer’s website.

4.2. The experts will evaluate the projects based on the following criteria of the materials submitted by the participant for participation in the Program:

• Clarity of the idea, story, characters, their motivations, and the rules of the world.Clarity of premise, story, characters, their stakes, and rules of the world; 

• Ability to identify with the story presence of universal human themes; 

• Originality, presence of thought-provoking themes, multidimensional characters, layers to explore, twists & turns, clues to piece together, as well as some pay-off; 

• Character-driven - strong, complex characters with clear, understandable motivations that combine to define the direction of the character's dramatic arc/journey. Presence of urgent questions to be answered/uncovered; 

• The idea of the project is relevant for both Ukrainian and international viewers today and in the future

4.3. The average arithmetic score (including one digit after coma) is used as a result of the obtained grades for each project. Based on this assessment, a ranking list of Grant recipients' projects is formed.

4.4. Projects will be evaluated by five international industry experts, who are not eligible to submit their own projects for evaluation (e.g. if he or she is the minority co-producer). In case there is any conflict of interest or connection to any submitted project, the expert has to notify the Organizer immediately and the project will not be eligible for submission.

 

5. Confidentiality

 

5.1. Information about the project submitted by the Grant recipient, as well as any information about the Grant recipient, will be considered confidential.

5.2. The Parties or their representatives should not disclose confidential information of the Parties without the written consent of the other Party, except as provided by the current legislation of Ukraine. Exceptions are lawyers (attorneys), accountants, bankers, or financial advisors hired by the Parties, as well as copyright (author), judicial, governmental, and other similar competent organizations involved in consideration of any issue related to these Regulations.

5.3. In case of damage caused by the disclosure of confidential information without the consent of the other Party, the guilty Party was obliged to reimburse the injured Party for all actual losses related to this, confirmed by the relevant documents.

 

6. Other terms of the Program

 

6.1. Participation in the Program automatically means the fact of knowledge and full and unconditional consent of the Grant recipient with these Regulations. Violation of these Regulations by the Grant recipient or refusal of the Grant recipient to properly comply with these Regulations would be deemed a refusal of the Grant recipient to participate in the Program, and such person would not be entitled to receive any compensation from the Organizer.

6.2. By participating in the Program, each Grant recipient thereby confirms their consent to the transfer, collection, processing, and use of their personal data. The personal data of the Grant recipients will be used exclusively by the Organizer or their authorized persons in compliance with the necessary confidentiality measures and exclusively in connection with the Program and will not be provided to any third parties for purposes not related to this Program. In respect of all personal data provided by the Grant recipients, the Organizer or their authorized persons took measures to ensure the security of personal data in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Personal Data Protection”.

6.3. Netflix will not assume any obligations regarding the projects that participated in the Program.

6.4. For the avoidance of doubt, Netflix will not have access to or participate in any evaluation of the materials during the application process or at the end of the Program.

6.5. The terms used in these Regulations refer exclusively to this Program. In the event of a situation that involves an ambiguous interpretation of these Regulations, any disputes and/or issues not regulated by these Regulations, the decision would be made by the Organizer.
6.6. All relations related to the Program will be regulated on the basis of the current legislation of Ukraine.
6.7. The competition organizers reserve the right not to disclose evaluation results or assessment details of individual projects, either publicly or to applicants.
6.8. Grant recipients agree to participate in status update and feedback surveys initiated by the Organizers twice per year.