American Film Institute
To encourage the next generation of storytellers to create more realistic and dramatic stories about science and technology, and to challenge stereotypes about scientists and engineers through film
This grant to the American Film Institute (AFI), one of the Foundation's six film school partners, supports continued efforts to encourage the next generation of filmmakers to incorporate scientific themes and characters in their work, and to challenge stereotypes about scientists and engineers through film. AFI provides a yearly $10,000 prize awarded to the best science or technology-themed screenplay written by an AFI student; an annual $25,000 production award to a science-themed film to help defray production costs; and an annual $35,000 tuition scholarship to a filmmaker with a background in science and a passion for pursuing science-themed filmmaking as a career. Additional funds provide students with expert science to ensure the accuracy of scientific content, and a seminar series where practicing scientists discuss the latest research and discoveries and the potential they hold for narrative filmmaking.