Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Award

2024-25 SLOAN FOUNDATION FEATURE FILM AWARD (NYU FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION AWARD)

The goal of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation film school program is to influence the next generation of filmmakers to create more realistic and dramatic stories about science and technology and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists and engineers through the visual media. 

An annual award in the Kanbar Institute of Film & Television, this production award for $100,000 is given to the director of a feature-length narrative project that portrays intellectually engaging, entertaining images of scientists/engineers, a scientific discovery, or technology.

Eligibility

  • Alumni who graduated from the Kanbar Institute of Film & TV between 2016 and May 2024
  • Current thesis students in the Kanbar Graduate Film Program
  • Current juniors and seniors in Kanbar Undergraduate Film & TV
  • To apply for the fund, the applicant must be attached to the film as the DIRECTOR. 

Selection Process

Applicants submit a 1-page synopsis/pitch and an application to the faculty committee that will select up to 12 quarter-finalists. These quarter-finalists then submit three to five page treatments. From these treatments, the committee selects up to six semi-finalists. The finalists have development meetings with committee members and consult with a science advisor.

Finalists (up to three) will be selected to receive a $5,000 grant to write a first draft of their feature screenplay while continuing to consult with a science/technology advisor to ensure the accuracy of their project. Finalists submit the first draft of their script and a budget. The film should be able to be made within a budget of $100,000.

Narrative Feature Scripts should be no more than 120 pages, written in English, and written or co-written by the applicant.

Contact Dara Feivelson at dlf1@nyu.edu for more information.

2024-25 APPLICATION TIMELINE

Friday, June 21 - 1-page synopsis/pitch due

Week of September 23 - Announcement of up to twelve Quarter-Finalists

September 23 – November 8 - Quarter-Finalists write 3-5 page treatments

Friday, November 8 - Quarter-Finalists submit treatments

Week of December 9 - Committee announces up to six Semi-Finalists and holds development meetings with Semi-Finalists

December 9 – February 21 - Semi-Finalists consult with science advisors and write revised 5 to 7-page treatment / production plan, and a budget top sheet

Friday, February 21 - Semi-Finalists submit treatments and budgets

Friday, April 25 - Up to three Finalists announced; each receive $5,000 to write their scripts

April - August - Finalists write feature script and continue to meet with advisors

August - Finalists submit script and revised budget

September - Committee selects winner

Winner must go into production within eighteen months of announcement. Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

Mark Ingber
Mark Ingber

2020-21 Sloan Award Winner

Mark Ingber, Grad Film, for Terroir
Written by Mark Ingber

When Marianne, a rebellious college student, finds herself trapped back at her family vineyard to care for her ailing father, she escalates a contentious relationship with her conservative mother into a war between generations when she hatches a plot to humiliate her family by winning the regional wine championship with a lab-made artificial wine.

Past Winners

  • Tim Delaney

    Tim Delaney, Grad Film 2019-20

    The Plutonians

    Written by Tim Delaney

    When the redefinition of planethood threatens to exclude Pluto, a motley coalition of astronomers and outsiders conspires to defend it by any means necessary, challenging what it means to be special in an indifferent universe.

  • Nicholas Ma

    Nicholas Ma, Grad Film, 2018-19

    Mabel

    Written by Nicholas Ma & Joy Goodwin

    No one at her new school gets Callie, an awkward kid whose one friend, Mabel, is a potted plant—except Ms. Garrett, the charismatic science teacher who introduces her to the controversial world of “plant intelligence.” Desperate to impress her teacher, Callie starts building a secret greenhouse laboratory in her backyard, but Callie’s obsession threatens her first real friendship with another kid.

  • A New Prophet

    Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Grad Film 2016-17

    A New Prophet

    Written by Rezwan Shahriar Sumit

    Javed, a young techie, finds his life stuck in limbo between heaven and hell when he tries to bring his broken family together using virtual reality. A drama set in the underbelly of Dhaka's fringe studios.

  • Eric Cohen

    Eric Cohen, Grad Dual MBA/MFA 2015-16

    Radioactive Boy Scout

    Written by Eric Cohen

    Based on a true story that occurred in 1994. A sixteen-year-old chemistry prodigy sets out to build a prototype nuclear reactor in his mother’s backyard for a Boy Scout merit badge, endangering his life and the community in the process. Adapted from the book by Ken Silverstein.

  • Shawn Snyder

    Shawn Snyder, Grad Film 2014-15

    To Dust

    Written by Shawn Snyder & Jason Begue

    Shmuel Rosenblum, a 48 year old Hassidic Rabbi in Upstate New York, distraught by the untimely death of his wife, struggles to find solace in traditional mourning rituals, while secretly nurturing an unexpected obsession with the science of decomposition and a desperate need to understand how his wife's body will decay.

    Watch trailer
  • Frances Bodomo

    Frances Bodomo, Grad Film 2013-14

    AFRONAUTS

    Written by Frances Bodomo

    On 16 July 1969, America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to beat America to the moon. Inspired by true events.

    Watch Teaser
  • Ginny Mohler,

    Ginny Mohler, UGFTV 2012-13

    RADIUM GIRLS

    Written by Ginny Mohler & Brittany Shaw

    A mysterious illness propels working class teenage sisters into a radical coming of age.

  • Marni Zelnick

    Marni Zelnick, Grad Film 2009-10

    DRUID PEAK

    Written by Marni Zelnick

    Druid Peak is a coming of age story about a troubled teenage boy who finds his place in the world tracking wolves in the wild lands of Wyoming.

    Watch trailer
  • Musa Syeed

    Musa Syeed, UGFTV 2008-09

    VALLEY OF SAINTS

    Written by Musa Syeed

    In war-torn Kashmir, a lakeside city is plunged into a military curfew. Stranded together on breathtaking Dal Lake, a working-class boatman and a beautiful young scientist form an unlikely bond. But as violence spills in from the city, their budding romance may not survive.

    Watch trailer