The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Athena List Development Grant is a $20,000 award given to an Athena List winner or finalist for a screenplay that focuses on a woman in a science-themed project. This grant places emphasis on stories dedicated to showcasing the diversity and resilience of women in STEM.
In addition to the grant, the Athena Film Festival hosts a reading to help widen exposure for the award-winning script.
Alfred P. Sloan Athena List Development Grant Winner The Gatekeeper – 2022
The 2022 Alfred P. Sloan development grant was awarded to writer Jennifer Vanderbes for her script The Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper is a historical drama based on the story of Frances Kelsey, the FDA medical reviewer who in the early 1960s fought a major pharmaceutical firm to keep the drug thalidomide off the American market. The script is based on Vanderbes’ own non-fiction book, Wonder Drug, to be published by Random House in June 2023.
Previous Winners
Alfred P. Sloan Athena List Development Grant Winner What the Eyes Don’t See – 2020
The 2020 Alfred P. Sloan development grant was awarded to writer-director Cherien Dabis’ What The Eyes Don’t See. A 2020 Athena List winner, Dabis’s moving and powerful script tells the true life story of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a courageous woman in science who alerted the nation and exposed public officials when her research found dangerous blood lead levels in children from Flint, Michigan.
Inaugural Alfred P. Sloan Athena List Development Grant Winner Lucky 13 – 2019
Lucky 13 by Denise Meyers was a 2016 Athena List finalist and tells the incredible true story of the only all-female airbase in American history, powered by unforgettable women who came from all walks of life to play a significant role in the war effort, sacrificing everything to save the B-26 Marauder aircraft from the scrap heap before being unceremoniously disbanded to make room for male civilian pilots hoping to avoid the draft.
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