Funds from this grant provide two years of funding to the Tribeca Film Institute for its ongoing efforts to support films and filmmakers that explore scientific and technological themes. With Sloan Foundation support, the Institute will award up to $150,000 each year to between three and six compelling narrative filmmaking projects that explores scientific, mathematical, and technological themes and storylines, or that feature a leading character who is a scientist, engineer, innovator, or mathematician. In addition to such financial support, Tribeca provides selected filmmakers with professional guidance and mentorship, including project notes, networking assistance, and exposure to financing and distribution executives. Funds from this grant also support a series of high profile events at the Tribeca Film Festival, including a screening and discussion series, readings of in-progress scripts exploring scientific and technological themes, and an awards ceremony and reception honoring winning filmmakers.

The Science on Screen program, based at Boston’s Coolidge Corner Theatre, creatively pairs screenings of classic or new release films with discussion of relevant scientific topics by notable scientists or technologists. Pairings featured in the Science on Screen program to date include a discussion of viral outbreaks paired with a screening of 12 Monkeys, a discussion of dog behavior and intelligence paired with a screening of Best in Show, and a discussion of the feasibility of time travel paired with a screening of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. This two-year grant to the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation will fund a small grant program designed to expand Science on Screen, allowing Coolidge to provide small grants to independent cinemas around the country that help offset the costs of running and publicizing their own Science on Screen series. Over the next two years, it is anticipated that at least forty new independent cinemas will sign on to the program, bringing the number of participating theaters nationwide to nearly one hundred.

This grant provides one year of continued support to the Hamptons International Film Festival for a variety of interconnected activities to promote the development, production, and distribution of accurate, high-quality science themed screenplays and feature films. Supported activities include a feature film prize given to the best science-themed film submitted to the Festival; an accompanying panel and reception; a five-day screenwriters’ lab to assist writers with screenplays in development; a series of screenings of science-themed works in and around New York City; and a production grant to assist with the promotion of a high-quality science-themed film.

This grant provides two years of continued support for a series of initiatives at the Carnegie Mellon School of Dramatic Writing to encourage its film students to write high quality, accurate screenplays about science and technology or feature scientists, engineers, or mathematicians as major characters. Funded activities include a yearly symposium for film students introducing them to internationally recognized scientists; two semesters of training in screenwriting; guest-faculty workshops by accomplished mentor screenwriters; a program pairing students with scientific advisors to ensure the accuracy of scripts’ scientific content; the presentation of two awards for the best student science-themed script; and a variety of professional development activities, including industry showcases of student work in both Los Angeles and New York.

The Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) hosts the Sloan Science and Film website, the most comprehensive single resource documenting outputs from Sloan’s Film program, including a growing library of 439 Sloan film projects; 282 screenplays; and 76 Sloan-winning films presented by the Hamptons, Sundance, and Tribeca Film Festivals. In addition to the video content and award history the site catalogues, the website features articles about Sloan films; status updates about members of the Sloan film community; and general interest articles, news items, and features about science as depicted in film and television in the broader culture. This grant provides three years of continued support to MoMI for hosting and curation of the Sloan Science and Film website. Additional funds support a series of science and film events hosted by MoMI during the World Science Festival and the Imagine Science Festival.

Instituted two years ago to reward the most promising student screenwriters, the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize is awarded annually to the single best student screenplay from among the Foundation's six film school partners: American Film Institute, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, UCLA, and USC. Winning scripts demonstrate how scientific content can become the basis for an entertaining and marketable film, and previous winners-Robert Cohen's Bystander and Grainger David's Pennystock-have gone on to garner significant media and industry attention. Selected by an independent panel of scientists, actors, and industry insiders, winners of the award receive a $30,000 production grant to help turn the script into a completed film; support from a noted industry mentor to guide the project; a committed science advisor; and marketing (meetings, readings, events), distribution, and networking support to maximize the screenplay's chances of production and distribution. This grant provides continued support for the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize for two years.

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.

This grant provides three years of support to the University of California, Los Angeles' School of Theater, Film and Television, one of the Foundation's six film school partners, for its continuing 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. UCLA sponsors a number of initiatives to expose film students to the narrative possibilities of exploring science and technology in their work. Grant funds support an annual, full-day colloquium brings together top UCLA science faculty from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds to lecture on interesting new developments in science and technology; two annual $10,000 screenwriting prizes to be awarded to the best science-themed scripts, an annual $30,000 directing fellowship awarded to the best science themed film project; and funds providing science mentors to ensure the accuracy of science-themed film content and to mentor students as they research and write scripts. The program promises to continue to build on the UCLA program's success in building a cadre of talented young filmmakers eager to explore scientific themes and characters in their careers.