TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund

The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund seeks exceptional narrative work that is scientifically relevant, accurate, and exciting.

In 2010, the TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund will provide up to $140,000 in support of film projects that explore scientific, mathematical, or technological themes in their storylines, or that feature a leading character who is a scientist, engineer, innovator or mathematician.

Past projects that have received funding for screenplay development through the TFI/Sloan Partnership include outstanding screenplays about Rosalind Franklin, Hedy Lamarr, Richard Feynman, Edwin Hubble, Ramanujan, Stanley Milgram, Muhammad Yunus and a boy who built a nuclear reactor in his backyard.

The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund is open to both established and emerging narrative filmmakers. Read more about the 2010 grantees and their projects.

The Sloan Foundation joins the Tribeca Film Festival and Institute each year in sponsoring screenings, panels and readings. Read about this year's events at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
 

Funding

In 2010, the Tribeca Film Institute will award multiple annual grants ranging from $10,000 – $40,000 in 2010, totaling $140,000.

Financial support is given with the goal of helping a film at any stage progress towards completion, and is available in three categories:

Development Funds

This category awards $10,000 – $40,000 towards project development, to help the filmmaker commission a screenplay based on a treatment idea, option literary material for adaptation, commission a rewrite of an earlier draft, retain a casting director to attach talent to help secure funding or similar areas that will bring the project closer to production.

Finishing Funds

This category awards $10,000 – $40,000 towards post-production, to help the filmmaker complete specific post-production processes on the film. These processes can include sound editing, negative cutting, transfer to film, printmaking costs, and other items necessary to the film’s post-production deliverables. This award is meant for films that are close to completing post-production with the goal of completing them for distribution.

Distribution Funds

This category awards $10,000 – $30,000 towards self-distribution and promotion of a completed feature length film, with an emphasis on creative and innovative distribution models.

Projects & Eligibility

The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund is seeking feature-length narrative film projects in any genre that creatively question the role of science and technology in everyday lives, and depict the lives of scientists, engineers, innovators and mathematicians in new, but still accurate ways.

Projects can be at any stage of development, production or post-production, and we will consider treatments, finished screenplays, works-in-progress (films that have commenced production) as well as completed films seeking distribution.

Student projects or films in the science-fiction genre will not be eligible, although prior award recipients from the Sloan Foundation’s Film School or Film Festival Programs are encouraged to apply.

Please Note: The TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund does not offer funding to short films or documentaries.

Development Funds

• Projects may include treatments and finished screenplays.
• Eligible projects should NOT have already commenced production.

Finishing Funds

• Projects must include either a complete rough-cut or scene-selections, minimum 30 minutes.
• Eligible projects should have already completed production.

Distribution Funds

• We will only consider completed films, minimum 60 minutes.
• Eligible projects would have already completed post-production (or should be very close to completing).
• Projects should not have screened widely at festivals, markets or released theatrically, but a film that has had a small festival run is still eligible.
• Projects should have been completed after January 1, 2009.