2003 Tribeca/Sloan Screenplay Development Program
In 2003, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation joined the Tribeca Film Institute in presenting the Tribeca/Sloan Film Program Screenplay Showcase, a reading of selected scenes from the Institute’s screenwriting program open to the film industry and the general public.
The Sloan Foundation also joined the Tribeca Film Festival to present two feature films and a series of five short films, all with science and technology-related themes and/or characters. Films in the series included features The Right Stuff (celebrating its 20th anniversary), A Breach in the Wall, and the short films 2+2, Strange & Charmed, all we know of heaven, Space Off, and Einstein’s Playground.
Following successful panel series at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival, the Sloan Foundation presented the discussions “Blast Off,” in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of The Right Stuff, and “Solving the Mystery: Forensics in Film,” which explores the rising popularity of crime labs on television and in films.
In its inaugural year, two screenwriters were selected from hundreds of applicants: Nancy Isaak for Glow Worms, a touching and inspirational story of grade-school girls who are passionate about science, and Jonathan Morano for Benjamin Garrett, an ambitious story about loss and redemption told through the unlikely bond of a 20-year-old misfit and a 12-year-old genius. Each writer was provided with financial support and an advisory team consisting of leading experts in filmmaking and in science. They worked with their advisors in an effort to realize the full potential of their scripts.
The Tribeca/Sloan Film Program was proud to present a reading from Glow Worms: a unique and charming screenplay that focuses on a group traditionally underrepresented on screen — precocious grade-school girls — that maintains a universal appeal.
NANCY ISAAK (Writer) began her career as an actor, appearing in more than 50 commercials and playing dozens of television roles. She worked as a stunt woman for a short period — running through fire, crashing bikes into stores, riding rapids in a wooden boat — but changed careers because she kept getting hurt. Isaak has written and directed one short film called The Mostly True Story of a First Date I Once Had. The award-winning film premiered at the San Diego Film Festival.
The Tribeca/Sloan competition inspired me to write Glow Worms. I wanted to win it because even after all these years, it still stung that I had been told that no matter how smart I was I would never make it in the math and sciences because girls’ brains “aren’t wired that way.” Ergo, my story: What if there were two little girls who were smart in math and science but no one noticed? Then, what if those two girls forced people to notice, thereby making people care and eventually succeeding?
JONATHAN MORANO (Writer) moved from England to Oklahoma at the age of 12. There, he had his first exposure to filmmaking when he landed a plumb role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, playing “the kid sitting behind Diane Lane at the drive-in.” Like the characters in Benjamin Garrett, Morano studied medicine and journalism while at Boston University. He, however, settled in the film industry, working as a script reader and editor for various writers and production companies in L.A.
I started researching Benjamin Garrett two years ago, right after my mother died of cancer. I wanted the script to be hopeful, not just for its characters but for all of us. Science in film often revolves around fatalistic scenarios but I think, especially right now, it’s important we focus on our potential for greatness. Medical science — and the isolating, thankless research of those who devote their lives to it — epitomizes that potential. I can’t cure cancer, I can’t treat disease, but I can write about someone who tries.
STEPHAN GAGHAN (Writing Advisor for Glow Worms) made his directorial debut in 2002 with the psychological thriller Abandon, starring Katie Holmes and Benjamin Bratt, which he also wrote. Gaghan’s many collaborations with prominent filmmakers culminated recently when he received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Traffic, directed by Stephen Soderbergh. His other credits include Rules of Engagement, directed by William Friedkin and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson, and the closely-observed teen drama Havoc. Prior to making the transition to feature films, Gaghan was a successful television writer, penning episodes for New York Undercover, American Gothic, The Practice, and an episode of NYPD Blue, which garnered him an Emmy award for Best Dramatic Writing.
ERIC ROTH (Writing Advisor for Benjamin Garrett) Roth’s credits include The Nickel Ride, directed by Robert Mulligan, Suspect, directed by Peter Yates, Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis, The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford, The Insider directed by Michael Mann, and Ali, also directed by Michael Mann. He has received a number of awards for his work, including an Academy Award, the WGA Award, the WGA’s Pail Selvin Award and a Humanities Award. Roth attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, Columbia University, and UCLA.
BERTHA BAY-SA PA (Director of Reading) was born in New Jersey and raised in Taiwan. She received an MFA degree in directing from Columbia University Graduate Film School in 1997. Her thesis short film Face garnered numerous awards from more than 20 film festivals worldwide. Developed into a feature film, Face debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and has received jury prizes at four film festivals. Pan, who was nominated for the prestigious Open Palm at the Gotham Awards of 2002, is currently in development with two feature projects, and is also working on three screenplays.
