I have been stockpiling this information for over a year now and thought I would share with a new weekly column entitled Opportunities for Filmmakers.
Each week I will publish a new opportunity – Grants, Labs, Programs, Artist Colonies, etc. from my database. Good luck to everyone!
1. The Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab – DEADLINE MAY 1st – Application Fee $35 – 12 Projects Selected
Every year the Sundance Institute holds its annual screenwriters lab. The lab happens every year the week before the Sundance Film Festival. Some of the major films to come out of the Screenwriter’s Labs include Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky, Hard Eight by PT Anderson, Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino, Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Cameron Mitchell and Me You and Everyone We Know by Miranda July.
The January screenwriter’s lab invites 12 participants every year from over 3,000 applicants. If accepted, participants also have the opportunity to apply for the three week director’s lab in the summer. There is an excellent webseries documenting the director’s lab on youtube. It is also good to look at the loglines and resumes of the 2010 fellows to see what kind of projects and experience levels Sundance is interested in.
The 12 accepted fellow will be flown to the Sundance Ranch in Utah where they will participate in intensive workshops with major independent and Hollywood screenwriters. About half of the participants seem to come from open application, and the other half are scouted by members of the labs. For the application for the screenwriter’s lab, Sundance requires:
- A cover letter introducing yourself and your project (e.g.: Why are you applying to the program? Are you collaborating with anyone on the project? What is the status of the project? How do you envision the realization of the script?)
- Resume/bio (including name, address, and telephone) of the writer, and anyone else involved with the project (i.e.: director, producer, etc.). It is unnecessary to have anyone other than the writer attached.
- A synopsis of the screenplay, no more than two pages, double-spaced.
- The first five pages of your script. Do not submit script pages from any other work. Do not send the screenplay or videotape.
- A $35.00 non-refundable processing fee, payable by credit card via the online application.
Finalists (I was one but I don’t know how many there are) are notified by August 15th and then asked to submit a complete screenplay for the final selection process. Finalists are generally notified the last Thursday in July.
Notification date of those accepted is no later than December 15th. I have read (I can’t find the link any more) that the rate of films produced out of the lab nears 60%.
Take heart if you don’t get in, it takes many people at least three tries. Miranda July, brilliant director of Me You and Everyone We Know, was rejected twice before she got in.
