Vimeo has launched the second edition of its Short Film Grant Program, doubling last year’s prize pool to $300,000, split equally among five emerging filmmakers who will each receive $60,000 to produce an original short film.
Beyond funding, each recipient gets mentorship from the selection jury and Vimeo’s Curation Team, access to Panavision camera packages, OWC storage for the project’s duration, ShotDeck’s library of cinematic reference imagery, and a Vimeo Advanced subscription with distribution support connecting them to the platform’s global creative community.
The program’s first year drew more than 3,100 submissions. This year’s edition adds an expanded roster of partners, including Panavision, Other World Computing (OWC), AJA, and ShotDeck, along with an entirely new jury: filmmakers Kogonada, Josephine Decker, and Pete Ohs, producer Sarah Winshall, and cinematographer Jomo Fray, ASC. Submissions will be judged on originality, potential impact and resonance, feasibility of execution, and overall artistic merit. To apply, click here.
“Independent filmmakers have been key to Vimeo’s success and rekindling that connection is one of our top priorities at Bending Spoons,” said Matteo Danieli, co-founder of Bending Spoons, which acquired Vimeo in November 2025. “Doubling the Short Film Grant to $300,000 is the first of several initiatives aimed at supporting filmmakers throughout their creative process, we look forward to bringing these new ideas to life in the coming months.” Danieli added that the overwhelming response to the program’s first year made relaunching and doubling the award “a no-brainer.”
Ina Pira, Vimeo’s head of curation, framed the grant as an attempt to recreate the kind of early break that shapes careers. “So many filmmakers attribute their success to the moment when someone took a chance on their work before the rest of the world knew their name. We want to create more of those opportunities,” she said. “With Vimeo’s Short Film Grant, we’re looking to discover the next generation of filmmakers and give them the resources, encouragement, and community support they need to bring their creative vision to life.”
Jomo Fray, one of this year’s jurors, described the role as a chance to give back to a platform central to his own development as a filmmaker. “Short films are a pillar of filmmaking and a stepping stone for so many,” he said. “Vimeo was always at the heart of my early career, I can recall so many nights with friends and fellow filmmakers staying up watching shorts and Staff Picks and getting ever more energized about what we could do next. It means a lot and it’s deeply gratifying to be able to give back to something that gave me so much.”
Last year’s winner Sofia Camargo pointed to the scarcity of support for short filmmaking more broadly. “There are so few initiatives that support short filmmaking, and so many filmmakers trying to make shorts,” she said. “Vimeo is clearly meeting a need that’s been there all along. I can’t overstate how much it meant to be trusted as a creator, given the freedom and support to actually explore an idea.”
Submissions open September 21, 2026, with winners notified by March 15, 2027, and production expected to begin immediately after. Full eligibility requirements and program details are available at vimeo.com/shortfilmgrant.