ABOUT US
You wrote the script. Congrats! Now what?
Founded by indie production company Picture Story Studios, The Renegades Launch Fund provides emerging filmmakers with funding, practical education, production tools & templates, peer mentorship and community. We are building the kind of ecosystem many filmmakers need but struggle to find outside traditional institutions.
The system we ourselves wish existed.
Strong scripts stall every day because filmmakers lack access to budgets, schedules, collaborators, named talent, honest feedback, and a realistic next step. The Launch Fund was created to help close that gap and make sure your script doesn’t die on your hard drive.
Look, our mission is simple: connect storytellers to each other, demystify the industry, share resources, make great films that exist & more importantly, THRIVE outside of the mainstream system. This is our direct personal investment in those stories.
In our inaugural year, we received 112 submissions from 12 countries. Several of our selected projects went on to receive larger grants, awards, and industry recognition - and we take pride in amplifying those projects and providing that springboard.
Our readers and mentors are working filmmakers whose credits include A24, HBO, Netflix, Amazon, and more. Our feedback is personal, useful AND above all, affordable.
We work hustle jobs ourselves, we get it and we believe no artist should choose between advancing their career and paying rent that month.
Our fees are intentionally kept low and that’s the way we like it.
We are genre-agnostic. We care about voice, originality, emotional impact, production viability, and a filmmaker’s ability to articulate why this project needs to exist.
If the work is bold and unapologetic, we want to meet you.
Formerly The Renegades Micro Production Grant
Grand Prize Winners: Two
*Package Worth: $2,095
One feature screenplay and one short screenplay will each receive:
-$600 USD
-A customized professional production schedule (by an industry AD who works on some of your favorite shows!)
-A two-hour production and strategy consultation with Picture Story Studios
-An organized virtual table read with professional actors and filmmakers
-Six months of membership in The Renegades Filmmaker Community
-Promotion through The Renegades newsletter, website, social media, and partner network
-Tailored written feedback from a working director, writer or producer
-Free submission to the next Launch Fund cycle
-Consideration for a scholarship place at the inaugural 2027 Catskills Writers Retreat, subject to program availability and final terms
Runners-Up: Two
*Package Worth: $1,395
One feature screenplay and one short screenplay will each receive:
-A customized professional production schedule
-A one-hour production consultation with Renegades founder Natasha Rivera
-Tailored written feedback
-Six months of membership in The Renegades Filmmaker Community
-Promotion through our newsletter, website, social media, and partner network
-Free submission to the next Launch Fund cycle
Every Applicant Receives:
-Brief written feedback from a human reader who thoughtfully engaged with the project
-3 months of membership in The Renegades Filmmaker Community for access to writers groups, free seminars, networking events, and future funding opportunities
We take pride in our reviews and you'll never see a copy&paste communication from us.
Feedback is returned within three months of the notification date and is offered as guidance, not gospel. You know your story best. Take what serves the work and leave the rest.
