PURPOSE

• To award a total of 6 development grants of €10,000 euro each and interviews with industry agents/managers for potential representation, the project optioned by Boyhouse Studio for future production consideration, and to partner with a professional industry mentor

• 3 in Albania, 3 in Kosovo

• Grant funds are to be used to pay for artists’ basic life costs such as rent, food, and daily transportation so they can focus on developing their projects

• THIS IS NOT A PRODUCTION GRANT. FILM ARTISTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO PRODUCE A FINAL PROJECT.

 

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SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Applications must be received via Catalyst online portal by 23:59 Central European Time on September 30, 2026

 

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APPLICATION PACKAGE

• Submit a single pdf document with a maximum of 25 pages including the production budget and all of the required elements listed below. All pages must be combined into 1 single pdf, multiple documents are not accepted.

• Applications missing any of the required elements will be automatically disqualified

• The project must have at least 3 key team members, solo projects are not accepted. Key team members are defined as: writer, director, cinematographer, producer, line producer, accountant, attorney, editor. Actors are not considered key team members in the development phase.

• Writing teams of up to 3 people are allowed to submit together

• No partial or completed scripts, or produced video allowed

• Video trailers or AI generated video materials not allowed

• All aspects of the project are in English, including the application, the eventual script and production. It is ok for the story subject to be non-English but the project itself will be shot and distributed in English.

 

REQUIRED ELEMENTS FOR APPLICATION PACKAGE

• 1 page summary of project

• Short biographies of all associated team members. Bios should include full legal name, country of birth, country of current citizenship/residence, age, summary of previous job experience inside and outside of entertainment industry, list of all education experience inside and outside of entertainment industry, links to previous work

• Up to 3 pages of a visualization deck of the project (no text). This is similar to a mood board for the project to give a visual sense of the tone and style you envision.

• Up to 2 pages of a written text breakdown of the storyworld, tone, theme and style

• Summary of overall plot (do not include specific plot elements or scene breakdowns)

• Summary of main characters

• Marketing plan

• Summary of potential shooting locations. Where in the real world do you envision this being filmed?

• Technical summary of cameras, audio equipment, editing software and other technical elements anticipated to be used during production

• Proposed production budget. Must be in US/UK standard production budget format (such as moviemagic or similar) including correct numbered categories and full crew department breakdowns all above and below the line positions

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COST TO APPLY

• Free. No application cost.

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GENRES & CONTENT ACCEPTED

• Films (any length, short and feature)

• Episodic series (any length, short and long-form)

• Comedy

• Drama

• Action

• Documentary

• Travel

• Animation

• Thriller

• Horror/slasher

 

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GENRES & CONTENT NOT ACCEPTED

• Vertical series

• Social media series

• AI

• Pornography

• Government propaganda

• Political content

• Religious promotion

• Content deemed illegal by the laws of the host country

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TIMELINE AND AWARD PROCESS

• Artists submit project package electronically by the deadline

• Application must list one primary applicant who will receive the grant award and be responsible for overseeing the project. The primary applicant will be responsible for distributing money to other team members.

• 20 Finalists (10 from Albania, 10 from Kosovo) selected on or before November 30, 2026

• Finalist interviews scheduled during month of December

• Awards announced January 15, 2027

• 25% award granted by January 31, 2027

• 25% award granted by April 30, 2027

• 50% award granted by June 30, 2027

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SELECTION COMMITTEE

• 7 members

• Boyhouse studio

• Industry experts from USA and UK

• Albanian/Kosovo locals unaffiliated with any projects submitted

• No government office, agency or ministry involvement

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RULES & REQUIREMENTS

• At least 2 members of the primary team must be living full-time in Albania/Kosovo, or be residents/citizens of Albania and/or Kosovo

• Primary team includes: writer, director, producer, cinematographer, financier, attorney, accountant

• No previous film degree or filmmaking experience is required. If you have no experience, you must be enrolled in a Catalyst Story Institute course.

• All members of the primary team must have at least one of the following: (a) be enrolled at the Catalyst Story Institute (if you are not a student, you can click here to enroll today), (b) have previous experience working on an American/UK/Hollywood production, (c) a qualified degree from a USA/UK based film school. Online certificates/universities not accepted.

• Each primary applicant is allowed to submit a maximum of 1 project

• It is ok for a person to be involved with multiple different projects, but can only be listed once as the primary applicant

• Winners must agree to focus 6 months of their life on developing projects, not working full time jobs. A maximum of 20 hours per week on part time jobs is allowed.

• Winners agree to allow Boyhouse studios to have the exclusive option to the project for a term of 1 year from the date of receiving the award. If the option expires after 1 year, the rights to the project revert back to the applicant.

• All primary team members must be age 18 or older and legally allowed to work in host country

• Award recipient must have a registered company (private or NGO) in host country 

• Award recipient must have an open bank account in host country

• Award recipient will be required to show payment receipts of life expenses on a quarterly reporting basis

• All members of the team will be required to show a valid state issued document stating they have no criminal record or open criminal cases​

 

 

GRANT EXPECTATIONS AND OUTCOMES

• At the end of 6 months, the award recipient must have a completed shooting script, pitch deck, budget, and production package plan for potential pitches to funding sources

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DISQUALIFICATIONS

• This is a development grant. Projects must be in the pre-production phase. Projects already in production are not eligible.

• Projects partially funded or otherwise financially supported (including barter/trade) by the following entities are not eligible:​

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• In Albania:

  • QKK Albania

  • Balfin

  • Kastrati

  • Tring/Vision Plus

  • American Albanian Development Fund

  • Any person or company under criminal investigation by SPAK, or sanctioned by any government authorities

  • Any person, company, family member, relative or associate of any government Minister or Deputy Minister

  • Family members, relatives, or associates convicted of criminal activity, including but not limited to money laundering, corruption, financial crimes, and all other capital offenses

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• In Kosovo:

  • Ikone Studio

  • AAB

  • University of Prishtina

  • Any person or company under criminal investigation by government anti corruption authorities, or sanctioned by any government authorities

  • Any person, company, family member, relative or associate of any government Minister or Deputy Minister

  • Family members, relatives, or associates convicted of criminal activity, including but not limited to money laundering, financial crimes, corruption, and all other capital offenses

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Misuse of funds will result in immediate termination of grant award, and no further installments will be paid