Has anyone ever gotten grant $$$ for a project?
 

Is such $$$ even available? Is it doled out/reserved only for "established" producers?

Is there an authoritative resource on the subject?

All responses welcome.

Probably. Look at:
-Government sources at all levels. There may be grants for various things like the arts, city beautification, good causes, youth employment, scholarships, and other random stuff they think is a good idea.

In Canada, there are definitely grants for film/video. Most of it comes out of government making private broadcasters offer funding (other the broadcasters don't get their broadcast license). i.e. bravoFACT, videoFACT But there is also funding for the arts- your area may have similar funding.

**Disclaimer: I haven't gotten such grants myself.

Other sources of funding:
-Private investors. There are people out there with money and an interest in Hollywood. *Disclaimer: Never invest in someone else's feature film project.
-Benefactors: Similar to grants from the government, but you would have to find wealthy individuals for money. They may have an interest in giving money to some good cause.

If it's a funding agency, you can probably call them up and ask what they're looking for (after reading their materials). It's probably their job to answer questions.

Sometimes they can't tell if you're an established producer or not, because they may have lots of applications + not enough time to check. If they don't recognize your name, they will likely not give you that much money the first time.

You might also try:
local film office
producer's associations
trade publications

2- You could also try using your own money. You may have a few great+creative ideas that just don't cost that much to produce.

$$$$ available ?

YES !! look at the projects showing on your local PBS station - notice the end credits - those corporations are giving $$$ ... also note in general the big $$$$$ is given/awarded to non profits !!! not individuals for profit ... you can set yourself up as a non profit ... gotta have the ID #..

only for established producers ?

NO !!! if you look at projects that have played at film festivals you'll always see a few where the producer/director never made a film before ...

i know a couple that NEVER did a film and started non profit and received big $$$,$$$.00 ( have to admit i was surprised) ...i sit on a board of a non profit ( formed by a person) they never did a video-film project and they are funded for close to mil... consultant on another that received 1/2 mil ...

so how do they do it ?? what i see as the KEY - all these persons worked in non profits for several years. they got to know/meant the persons that funded the non profits they worked under = personal connection ..
when they formed their own non profits they got known media persons to be on their boards or got them to be consultants ... they then went thru the old funders and got other names of funders - once you have names you use those to make contacts = networking .. ..

there are many different ways to get the FREE $$ ...

FILM arts Foundation ( FAF) in SF put out a bi-monthly news letter ( release print) . in the back they list WHO is giving away $$ and the deadline to apply ... not sure if they have it online ?? www.filmarts.org ... there should be other organizations loke FAF on the east coast ...