As reported in Variety, Museum of the Moving Image and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have recently announced finalists for the 2025 Sloan Student Prizes. The prestigious awards recognize two outstanding screenplays for feature films or scripted series, written by emerging filmmakers nominated by university film programs from across the country. Each screenplay integrates science or technology themes and characters into dramatic stories.
This is the fifth year that the Sloan Student Prizes are administered by Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the Museum’s wider Sloan Science & Film initiative. Both the Sloan Student Grand Jury and Discovery Prizes come with a cash award of $20,000 and year-round, dedicated mentorship from a scientist and film industry professional.
Established in 2011, the Grand Jury Prize includes finalists from each of six universities the Sloan Foundation has a longstanding relationship with: American Film Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, New York University, University of Southern California, and UCLA. The 2024 winner Brittany Wang also earned the 2025 Sloan Commissioning Grant at Sundance.
In 2019, the Sloan film program expanded with the creation of the Discovery Prize, which recognizes finalists from six public universities not regularly affiliated with the Foundation. Once nominated, Discovery finalists work with writing mentors to refine their screenplays. This year’s mentors include filmmaker and academic Jon K. Jones (LET THERE BE LIGHT), filmmaker Shawn Snyder (TO DUST), and writer/filmmaker Drew Burnett Gregory. Snyder’s TO DUST won the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize in 2016 where it was discovered and later produced by juror Emily Mortimer.
The winners, selected by a jury of scientists and film industry professionals, will be celebrated at MoMI in 2026 with an awards ceremony and work-in-progress readings.
See below for more about the 2025 finalists and writing mentors.
The Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize 2025 finalists:
The finalists are nominated by six graduate film programs that have year-round partnerships with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to award screenplay grants for science-themed narratives.
GOD MAKERS by Quinn Spicker (Feature)
American Film Institute
SLEDHEAD by Ellie Melick (Feature)
Carnegie Mellon University
NO DAY SHALL ERASE YOU by Edy Kennedy (Series)
Columbia University
REJECTION by Gabriel Henneman (Feature)
New York University
THE INVISIBLE CITY by Matthew Evans (Feature)
University of California, Los Angeles
SEVEN MILES DOWN by Jesse Werkman (Series)
University of Southern California
The Sloan Student Discovery Prize 2025 Finalists:
The finalists are nominated by film programs without year-round screenplay development partnerships with the Sloan Foundation.
THE HEAD CASES by Nora Kaye (Feature)
Brooklyn College
AQUA VITAE by Gabriella Peters (Feature)
Florida State University
BETTER JUDGEMENT by Chelsea Hall (Feature)
Temple University
BELOVED BY GOD By Derek Swift Weinstock (Feature)
University of Michigan
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