Science & Film is thrilled to announce that writer Nikki Palumbo has been awarded the 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant at Film Independent's Episodic Lab for their original pilot PERSONALITY HIRE. The fellowship includes a $20,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the development of the series, which explores the social implications of artificial intelligence through comedy and satire.

As recently announced by Film Independent, Palumbo is one of six writers selected for the 2026 Episodic Lab, an intensive program running August 10–21 in Los Angeles. Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Lab provides individualized story and career development for writers of original television pilots, pairing fellows with experienced showrunners, producers, and industry executives.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant is awarded annually to an Episodic Lab Fellow whose project meaningfully incorporates themes and characters related to science or technology. According to Film Independent, PERSONALITY HIRE stood out for its timely and engaging examination of artificial intelligence and the people shaping it.

PERSONALITY HIRE (Pilot)
Written by Nikki Palumbo
Logline: An unlikely working relationship develops between an overzealous tech billionaire and a reluctant writer who realizes the only way to make artificial intelligence any better is to fix the broken real world it's trained on.