CineNow has opened its film-financing pipeline to Indian filmmakers, writers and producers, inviting projects through a newly launched online submission portal as it moves towards deploying its planned US$150 million entertainment investment vehicle.
The development marks a shift from the fund's earlier announcement and formation phase to active project sourcing. CineNow's website now has a live Creative Collaboration portal through which filmmakers can submit projects for consideration.
The company is looking across Hindi and regional-language cinema, including Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam, and says it is open to different genres and formats. Projects will be assessed for creative strength, commercial potential, audience opportunity, talent, production economics, distribution prospects and long-term intellectual-property value.
What exactly is CineNow?
CineNow is a company, not a charity or a government-style film grant body.
CineNow Limited is incorporated as a British Virgin Islands business company, with company number 2194385. It operates a Secured Participation Fund designed to invest in Indian film intellectual property and generate returns through multiple rights and revenue streams.
Its website describes film IP as a bundle of rights that can be structured, financed and monetised across theatrical, OTT, satellite, music, international and derivative rights. The company says its investment model is intended to create value beyond a film's box-office performance.
CineNow's planned vehicle is substantially larger than a conventional project-by-project producer fund: the company says it aims to deploy US$150 million across more than 30 films over six years. However, the US$150 million should be understood as the vehicle's investment target, not as US$150 million already sitting in a fund and committed to Indian filmmakers.
CineNow has also assembled an Investment Committee, India Council and leadership team containing figures from film, media, distribution and finance, including Sameer Nair, Neha Kaul, Jaideep Sahni, Aashish Singh, Abhay Sinha, Resul Pookutty and Reshma Shetty, alongside CineNow chairman and managing director Rohit Dalmia and principal adviser Siddharth Roy Kapur.
What filmmakers can submit
The portal accepts scripts and screenplays, treatments, synopses, loglines, story outlines, pitch decks, series bibles, creative concepts and other supporting material. It can also seek budgets, production schedules, financing plans, rights information, talent information and distribution proposals as a project progresses through evaluation.
Importantly, submissions are not restricted to producers. CineNow says submissions can be made by the writer or creator, producer or production entity, rights holder, formally attached director, authorised representative, or another party with written authority from the rights holder. Unauthorised brokers and intermediaries are not accepted.
CineNow's published Greenlight Roadmap sets out a staged process:
Online submission → Initial Screen → Readers Room → Package Fit → Commercial Case → Committee Review → Rights Diligence → Final Benchmarking → Contracting.
The company says a project may receive a request for clarification or additional material, an optional second-chance audio narration, or a no-go communication. Projects that clear the process can proceed to contracting and milestone-based funding.
Practical details for filmmakers
Deadline: No closing date is currently stated. The portal is open as of August 27, 2026, so filmmakers should not assume there is a fixed annual deadline.
Where to submit: Through CineNow's online Creative Collaboration / Project Submission portal.
Who can submit: Writers, creators, producers, production companies, rights holders, formally attached directors or authorised representatives with documented authority.
What to have ready: At minimum, CineNow's roadmap asks producers to identify the project's stage and prepare a synopsis and core materials. A fuller package may subsequently include budget, financing information, talent attachments, rights documentation and production details.
How long does it take? CineNow's roadmap gives indicative windows for several stages: initial screening and package assessment can take days, while committee review is listed as occurring once a month, followed by rights diligence and final benchmarking. These are indicative rather than guaranteed timelines.
Do you need to own the project? You need to own the relevant rights or have authority to submit it. CineNow's terms specifically require the submitter to warrant that they control or are authorised to represent the necessary rights.
Does submitting mean CineNow will fund it? No. The company's terms explicitly say submission creates no obligation to invest, finance, acquire, produce, distribute or develop the project. Financing is subject to further evaluation, diligence, approvals and a separate definitive agreement.
What happens to your IP? Submission itself does not transfer copyright, ownership, an option or an exclusive licence. CineNow receives a limited licence to store, circulate and evaluate the material during the review process.
One point filmmakers should read carefully: CineNow's terms state that it may receive or independently develop projects containing similar concepts or elements. The terms also impose confidentiality obligations, currently stated as three years for confidential information, subject to the provisions in the agreement.
For Indian independent filmmakers, therefore, the significance of CineNow is less that “US$150 million is now available to anyone with a script” and more that a new institutional investor has opened a formal pipeline for Indian film IP. The test now will be how many projects actually progress from the submission portal to investment and production.
