2025 Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund Application 

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The first of its kind and founded by Hot Docs and the Slaight Family Foundation, this fund is dedicated to filmmakers telling engaging, high-quality stories that embrace music artists in all its forms and that demonstrate Canadian music’s role in the world. The Fund also welcomes international music stories told through the lens of Canadian filmmakers.

Deadline: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:59pm EST. 


The application must be submitted in English. All financing & budgeting answers to be submitted in Canadian currency.


* Indicates a required field.


Be sure to save your progress as you complete the application.


If you have any questions about this application, please review our FAQ page or contact funds@hotdocs.ca. 

I certify that I:
  • am the primary rights holder of the film project own a corporation unaffiliated with any licensed network or programming undertaking
  • have read the guidelines and FAQ of the application
  • have previously produced one of the following: a documentary or fiction film commercially released; a documentary or fiction film and/or series broadcast on television 
  • The Funds will occasionally consider an applicant that does not meet this specific requirement, provided a senior producer is meaningfully attached to the project as confirmed in writing



All names must be in Title Case (i.e. only the first letters capitalized). Do not use all-caps or all lower-case letters.


please include area code and country code

please include area code and country code






Hot Docs aims to be a more diverse and inclusive space. To help us measure and improve upon these efforts, we kindly ask you to respond to the following questions. 


All responses are confidential. Responses will be used for research and statistical analyses only, and will not be used to determine eligibility for the fund. For more details on how the information will be used and who has access to it, please visit our Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion FAQ page.


Select all that apply. Categories based on Statistics Canada Framework.
select all that apply

Once you select the length and stage of the project, the corresponding budget & financing questions will appear below.
Once you select the length and stage of the project, the corresponding budget & financing questions will appear below.


Please do not put "Working Title" in the title of the project. We assume all title are working titles.








Please select "no" if you are not certain as to the answer.


Provide a brief, catchy summary of your story.

Give an overview of your story, introducing the main characters and potential plot points. Describe the anticipated story structure and narrative trajectory, or potential character arcs for your project. If the project is experimental or not narrative-driven, describe how it will be constructed. Please be clear about the elements of your that will remain unknown or unclear and highlight the question that may steer the direction of your film.

Explain the cultural or social relevance and context for the topic, and why this project is timely or urgent. Detail the topics, issues, themes, challenges, stakes, or questions that your project will cover. Address how the story adheres to the mandate of the fund by elaborating: when the content is focused primarily on Canadian musical artists, how it demonstrates Canadian music's role in the world, or how and why it's important that the international musical artist stories are told through the lens of Canadian filmmakers.



How are you going to tell this story? Describe your creative vision for the finished project – its visual look and feel. Explain your intended use of cinematic language or any particular artistic approach that informs the storytelling. If applicable, mention any creative elements and assets, interactive elements, new technologies or non-traditional mediums that you intend to utilize. Explain how these elements will enhance the experience and interaction between viewers and the world of the story.

What is the creative team's access and connection to the community that your story is about. Explain the collaboration with the protagonists and reflect on the film team's engagement with the community. Why is the core creative team uniquely positioned to make this film? If this is a co-creation project, please describe how this collaboration came about and where the story originated from.

How are you seeking to promote the safety and well-being of your protagonists? If your story contains sensitive subject matter for your protagonists, how are you seeking to reduce the risk that they will be retraumatized, or provide support in the event that they re-experience trauma? Have you completed a risk assessment on your project? If yes, have you identified any risks (digital, legal, journalistic or related to safety and health of the team or your subjects) and what are the mitigation measures that have been put in place?

Explain the current status of the project. Outline the projected production timeline from the project's current state to the anticipated completion date. Your timeline should cover both the creative and production processes and should detail major project activities, production schedules, and anticipated post-production and release dates. Please also include information on rights, access to interview subjects, etc. Address the status of music and/or archival rights of the project. If you have applied to this fund previously, please share how your project has progressed.

Describe the anticipated audience for your project, including any underserved audiences. How do you plan to reach your target audience?
Hint: if you have an impact plan for your film, you can also include it here.

Characterize the intended distribution life for your film. Specify plans for festival, theatrical, and/or community screenings, as well as your plans for securing broadcast and/or distribution.

If yes, please add the following information for the applicable primary co-production or treaty partner. You will be asked to include a signed agreement.






please include country and area code

please include country and area code





Please fill out one section for each member of the production team and their roles. Include notable credits and/or major recognition or award information. For each key creative team member, include information about relevant expertise and the individual’s role in the project.

Please include the roles that are applicable and/or vital to the creation of your story. Additional team members can be added at the bottom of this section.






Please include the following info for all previous credits: Project Name, Role on Project, Year of Production, Name of the production company.

If applicable, please indicate whether the project has a confirmed market partner on-board. The primary market partner is a broadcaster, theatrical distributor or new media partner which will bring the film to audiences. The commitment should demonstrate financial commitment. If there is more than one broadcast partner please list the largest or initial partner.






Requests for no-interest recoupable advance for the development of feature may be up to $15,000 CDN per project and may be up to 100% of the development budget. 


Do not use commas or decimals. Use only whole numbers.


Do not use commas or decimals. Use only whole numbers.

Requests for feature film production grants from the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund may be up to $60,000 CDN per project and up to 50% of the production budget. 


If you are applying for post-production funding, please indicate the project’s production budget. Under the “grant impact”, explain your funding gap and what post-production services you would be spending this grant on. 


Do not use commas or decimals. Use only whole numbers.


Do not use commas or decimals. Use only whole numbers.

Requests for short film production grants from the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund may be up to $30,000 CDN per project and may be up to 50% of the production budget. 


If you are applying for post-production funding, please indicate the project’s production budget. Under the “grant impact”, explain your funding gap and what post-production services you would be spending this grant on.


Do not use commas or decimals. Use only whole numbers.

Please enter a number (without decimals or % sign).

Do not use commas or decimals. Use only whole numbers.

Describe what the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund money will be used for in light of your total budget. How would these funds help you move forward with your project?

FINANCING STRUCTURE

Provide an outline of all the sources and amounts raised to date for either the development or production stage you are applying for. Distinguish between pending/planned sources of funding and secured amounts.  This includes the pending amount sought from the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund. This number should match your entire budget amount. 

You can add each financing sources, by clicking on "Add Source". Do not use commas; use only whole numbers (and round up to the nearest dollar). For example $52,321.41 should be listed as 52321.

Your total budget should match the total financing you input below. You need to demonstrate how the project might be financed at this stage.


With each source of funding, please provide the respective amount in Canadian dollars.
Name of Source Committed Total Amount Budget %
In Canadian dollars.
This should match your total budget.
This should add up to 100%.
Describe the strategy for raising the additional funds necessary to complete the production of the project, particularly as it relates to your non-committed financing partners listed above.
A maximum of 10 minutes of supporting footage may be submitted using up to two separate links. Footage/trailers if in a language other than English must be accompanied by subtitles in English.

We encourage applicants not to spend extra resources creating a sample for each individual fund. If your current sample is outside of the suggested length requirements, please provide the time codes of the portion of the sample that best reflects your intended style and approach (eg. 3:15-13:15). 

Teasers, trailers, and sample footage must be hosted on an independent website such as Vimeo and submitted via a link. Trailers can be password protected, but must remain live until May, 2026. Please ensure that your password does not change during this time. We will not follow up with applicants regarding broken links or expired passwords.





Please ensure that your password does not change until October, 2023.




Please ensure that your password does not change until October, 2023.

To complete your application, you must prepare and upload all required documents,
as described in the guidelines. All supporting files must adhere to the filenaming instructions provided below as well as in the guidelines. You may be asked to re-submit otherwise. Hot Docs reserves the right to request additional information. Please note, if your project is accepted for funding, Hot Docs will require additional documents including proof of incorporation. 

INSTRUCTIONS: Please send all documents as a single file pdf file. Please insert a consistent project file name where it reads “ProjectTitle”.

PDF scans of documents must be at a resolution between 72dpi and 150dpi. If you have more than one document per section, please merge them into a single pdf file. The application form will not accept individual files larger than 25MB. Please check your file size before uploading.

All documents must be submitted in English or with an accompanying translation. 

I am including the following required supporting documents:

Please note that all line items must have a column for Canadian dollars.
 
If the CAVCO A application is not available at the time of application, we will also accept a signed letter by the producer attesting that the project is a Canadian production that follows the CAVCO/CRTC criteria. Please outline the key creative personnel along with their points. 
SUBMISSION


You will be contacted by email about your application.  Please note: You will receive a copy of your application form in your confirmation email. 

Only press the submit button once.
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