Since its inception, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's film program has dedicated its efforts to raising the profile of compelling science and-technology themed films. In addition to direct grants for individual projects, the foundation has created an expansive film development pipeline to support its grantees through every stage of development. By forming strategic and successful partnerships with influential film institutions like the Black List, Sloan’s network of partners continues to grow and expand.
Such growth yields more opportunities for Sloan grantees to find support and recognition each year. Most recently, Sloan grantees Gerard Shaka and Tamar Feinkind earned two of ten coveted slots on the recently published 2024 GLAAD List. A collaboration with GLAAAD, the list is one of the many diversity lists published by the Black List each year. (Sloan grantee Yossera Bouchtia appeared on The 2024 Muslim List.) GLAAD and The Black List launched the first list in 2019, with an eye toward recognizing the most promising unmade LGBTQ-inclusive scripts in Hollywood. Learn more about the included Sloan grantees and their scripts below.
ACIDS by Tamar Feinkind
In 1982 New York, a closeted lesbian doctor battles her trauma and societal stigma when she invites a pregnant AIDS patient into her home, forging a powerful, transformative bond.
Tamar Feinkind, an alumnus of the Black List and Women in Film’s Feature Residency, was selected as the 2023 Sloan x Black List fellow.
WOODSIDE by Gerard Shaka
While struggling to cope with an abusive father and a conflicted mother, a queer Bahamian teen discovers self-love through his experiences replanting mangroves with a marine conservationist.
Gerard Shaka became the first student from Florida State University to win the Sloan Student Discovery Prize in 2022 . Beyond the manifest benefits of winning -– exposure, $20,000 in development funds, and year-round mentorship – Shaka credits the prizes with shaping WOODSIDE’s creative evolution, even at the finalist stage.
“Initially, I had written the project intent on expressing how I felt coming to terms with my sexuality at a young age, under the proverbial dark cloud of my father's homophobia,” Shaka says. “But when my professor Julianna Baggott, saw how much the biology of mangrove restoration paralleled Woodside's life, it challenged me to intentional about that juxtaposition going into my first big rewrite. By allowing the story’s scientific aspect to hold as much weight as the emotional aspect, I aimed to achieve something that would truly resonate with its readers.”
Shaka’s aim was true. The 2022 Sloan Student Prize jury praised the script as “an emotional story strongly rooted in place and with rich visual potential.” Despite the strength of the script, Shaka has only continued to shape the strongest version of the story.
“The network and support that came from Sloan and Museum of the Moving Image in 2022 are irreplaceable. I went on to participate in the Outfest Screenwriting Lab in 2022, where I had help sharpening certain edges in the script, and it was great networking with more queer creators.”
Flashing forward to 2024, after multiple revisions, Shaka had begun to feel defeated. Seeking the advice of the professor who nominated him for the Sloan Discovery Prize, she advised that something meant for him would come along. “I got the news about The GLAAD List a week later and I was so thrilled because I've known GLAAD all my life, and seen how they champion queer artists. I love that the Black List has created a platform to support folks like us. It amazes me how fellowships and awards like those from Sloan, Outfest, GLAAD and others can really open up doors.”
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