Carnegie Mellon University, one of the six film schools with whom the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has an ongoing partnership, has announced its latest crop of screenwriting grantees. These grants fund further development of each science or technology-based screenplay, two of which are features and one of which is a series pilot. The three projects, awarded sums of $5,000, $15,000, and $25,000 respectively, include a biopic, a coming-of-age story, and a small-town dramedy. Read more about these exciting new works below.

TAMARACK by Elle Thoni (Series)
When plans for the U.S.’s first “green nickel” mine threaten the heart of Minnesota’s wild rice, a returning chemist and a rebellious hydrologist must come together to protect the Northland and steer the course of America’s Clean Energy Revolution — despite their own undeniable chemistry.

THE THALLIUM MURDERS by Katie Kirk (Feature)
After a multiple-murder case rocks Depression-era New York City, it’s up to forensic toxicologist Dr. Alexander Gettler to find the cause of the deaths. Based on a true story, THE THALLIUM MURDERS stylistically dramatizes Gettler’s quest to discover scientific truth and exonerate an innocent man.

FOR SUCH A TIME by Gretchen Suárez-Peña (Feature)
In this coming-of-age story, Luz, a Latin Pentecostal preacher’s kid, earns the opportunity to research the Miyake Event, suspected to be a solar flare event that can fry all technological infrastructure. She must risk her parents’ rejection in order to become the forward-looking scientist she was meant to be.

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