Film Development The Foundation seeks to create and develop new scripts about science and technology and to see them into commercial production at the major studios and networks. It has screenplay development programs with the Tribeca , Sundance and Hamptons film festivals, Film Independent , and select independent partners. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Headlines Valley of Saints at the Mumbai International Film Festival IndiaGlitz.com "Robot & Frank" a Hit at the London Film Festival London Film Review "Future Weather" Takes Sloan Feature Film Prize at Hamptons Film Festival Deadline.com Links Museum of the Moving Image
Award-Winning Films Through its partnership with six leading film schools, the Foundation recognizes outstanding filmmakers and screenwriters who bring innovative, compelling stories about science and technology to the screen. The awards provide financial support and are part of a nationwide effort to stimulate the next generation of filmmakers to create more believable and dramatic art about science and technology and to challenge existing stereotypes of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Recent films recognized for excellence in production and screenwriting include: Film School Winners 2012 American Film Institute Production Award APP by Edouard de Lachomette, Alex Berman, R. Phillips, E dward Salerno Jr., Jeremy Lerman, Matt Novak Tuition Award Hanna Vastinsalo Carnegie Mellon University 1st Place Screenwriting Award T he Diamond in the Sky by Kate Mickere 2nd Place Screenwriting Award T o Boldly Go by Peter J. Roth Columbia University Screenwriting Award When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth by Avram Dodson Screenwriting Award Hildegard’s Heir by Jess Baclesse Production Award The King’s Pawn by Jonah Bleicher Web Series Award Mammal Drama by Jefferson Moneo and Nyssa Chow New York University Screenwriting Award The Tender Peel by Ricardo Perez-Gonzalez Screenwriting Award The Lost Coast by Kathryn Bancroft Production Award Without Fire by Eliza Mcnitt Feature Film Award Penny Stock by Grainger David University of Southern California Screenwriting Award Singularity by Alyssa Weinberg Production Award Nzara ‘76 by Jon Noble Production Award Edge of Manhattan by David Mccracken Animation Award The Nose Hair by Louis Morton University of California, Los Angeles Screenwriting Award Waking Hours by Barnett Brettler Screenwriting Award Mary and the Moon by Dawn Spinella Production Award Wild Love by Eben Portnoy View complete list of Sloan winning films Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Headlines Kate Mickere Wins Sloan Screenplay Award for "Diamonds in the Sky" Times-Tribune Computer Chess Wins Sloan Prize at Sundance Salt Lake Tribune Sundance Channel to Air Bujalski's "Computer Chess" Hollywood Reporter WIRED reviews Bujalski's "Computer Chess" WIRED New Yorker Names Sloan-Sundance winner "Computer Chess" One of Top Three Films at Sundance New Yorker Links Museum of the Moving Image
Ensemble Studio Theatre With Foundation support, the Ensemble Studio Theater (EST) has established a major program focused on science and technology plays including a national competition for new dramatic works exploring the worlds of science and technology. The annual EST/Sloan First Light Festival , a month-long festival focused on new science and technology plays, features a mainstage production and a series of staged readings, workshops, cabarets and satellite events in New York. Plays originally commissioned by the EST/Sloan project have been produced at major venues around the country, including the Black Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, The Empty Space Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Since 1998, over 100 writers, composers, choreographers, and theater companies have received EST/Sloan commissions with the resulting work presented in developmental readings and workshops engaging over a thousand artists. Le arn more about the EST/Sloan Project View EST/Sloan Productions View EST/Sloan Commissions Apply: Deadlines in Fall 2013 Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Isaac's Eye , a play about a young Isaac Newton and his nemesis Robert Hooke, is now playing at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Mainstage through February 24th. more Headlines NYTimes Magazine Interviews The Other Half's Laurie Metcalf New York Times Magazine Attend a Panel Discussion of the Science Behind Shar White's Hit Play "The Other Place" this Sun., 1/27 at MTC Broadway World Previews Begin for Isaac's Eye at NYC's Ensemble Studio Theatre Broadway World Manhattan Theatre Club Extends Run of "The Other Place" Due to Popular Demand Broadway's Best Shows Links Panel Discussion: Photograph 51 and the Race for the Double Helix of DNA, Part 1 of 2
Manhattan Theatre Club The Foundation's partnership with the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) has helped to develop new plays about science and technology and to nurture playwrights with an interest in these subjects. Beginning with its collaboration in MTC's 2000 production of David Auburn's Tony Award and Pullizer Prize-winning drama, Proof , the Foundation has expanded its partnership with MTC to include multiple annual commissions for emerging, mid-level and established writers as well as a production grant to stage Alfred P. Sloan-related works. In addition to Proof , the Foundation supported MTC's production of Charlotte Jones's Humble Boy in 2003 and has commissioned a total of 22 writers, including Craig Lucas, Shelagh Stephenson, Ron Hutchinson, Rona Munro, Itamar Moses, Bryony Lavery, Steve Belber, Eric Simonson, Dava Sobel, Liz Mierwether, Peter Morris, Kenneth Lin and Bret Neveu. Learn more about the MTC/Sloan Initiative View plays commissioned by the MTC/Sloan Initiative View productions supported by the MTC/Sloan Initiative Apply: Application deadline in March 2013 Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Isaac's Eye , a play about a young Isaac Newton and his nemesis Robert Hooke, premiered at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Mainstage. more
Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons has partnered with Sloan to commission new plays about science and technology. A founding grant has offered one major commission to an experienced playwright each year, with production support, for a new play about science and technology when a suitable project is found. To date, two commissions have been approved, one to Lisa Kron in 2006 and a second to Christopher Kyle in 2007. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Isaac's Eye , a play about a young Isaac Newton and his nemesis Robert Hooke, premiered at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Mainstage. more
Ensemble Studio Theatre Mainstage Productions Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler (2010) Sixteen London, 1953. Scientists are on the verge of discovering what they call the secret of life: the DNA double helix. Providing the key is driven young physicist Rosalind Franklin. But if the double helix was the breakthrough of the 20th century, then what kept Franklin out of the history books? Lenin's Embalmers by Vern Thiessen (2009) A dark comedy set against the backdrop of Stalin's rise to power in the Soviet Union, Lenin's Embalmers is the story of two biochemists charged with embalming, and preserving for all eternity, Lenin's body. Using new and inventive scientific techniques they succeed admirably, but will it be enough to save them from Stalin's purges? End Days by Deborah Zoe Laufer (2008) Sixteen year old Rachel Stein is having a bad year. Her father hasn’t changed out of his pajamas since 9/11. Her mother has begun a close personal relationship with Jesus. Her new neighbor, a sixteen-year-old Elvis impersonator, has fallen for her, hard. And the Apocalypse is is coming Wednesday. Her only hope is that Stephen Hawking will save them all. Lucy by Damien Atkins (2007) A play about an ambitious archeologist suddenly forced to reexamine her life when she must care for her estranged autistic daughter. Serendib by David Zelnik (2007) A Shakespearean comedy about scientists studying Macaque monkeys, and inadvertently, themselves, in Sri Lanka. Relativity by Cassandra Medley (2006) A compelling family drama about race and genetics opened in New York under Tavis Wilks direction to excellent notices. Medley subsequently won the 2006 Audelco-August Wilson Award for outstanding playwright and Relativity was published by Broadway Play Publishing. Luminescence Dating by Carey Peloff (2005) A play about a female archeologist, her obssessive search for a lost statue of Aprhodite, and her broken heart. Tooth and Claw by Michael Holinger (2004) a play about the clash between environmentalists and native fisherman on the Gallapagos Islands. String Fever by Jacquelyn Reingold (2003) Starring Cynthia Nixon, this play broke EST box office records. String Fever was later published by Samuel R. French and selected for a 2003 anthology of best plays by women playwrights. The Secret Order by Bob Clyman (2002) A play about a young scientist's breakthrough discovery in cancer research and the money and ethics involved in bio-research. Louis Slotin Sonata by Paul Mullins (2001) A play about a brilliant scientist's deterioration and descent into death caused by radiation poisoning and his ultimate redemption. Moving Bodies by Arthur Giron (2000) An inspired and totally original look at Richard Feynman's life. Tesla's Letters by Jeff Stanley (1999) A play about one American's journey to Belgrade to study the life of Nikola Tesla during the Serbian/Croatian conflict and the choices she must make. Flight by Arthur Giron (1998) A penetrating family drama about the Wright Brothers. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Photograph 51 , playwright Anna Ziegler’s story of the power and politics behind one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century, sold out its New York run at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Headlines Six Playwrights Announced as Recipients of 2012 Manhattan Theatre Club Sloan Commissions Broadway World Links Panel Discussion: Photograph 51 and the Race for the Double Helix of DNA, Part 1 of 2
EST/Sloan First Light Festival Productions Pidgeon by Tommy Smith (2010) Set in Depression-era New York City and Stalinist Russia, Pidgeon follows the exploits of Leon Theremin, Soviet inventor and father of electronic music. When Theremin marries a whipsmart black prima ballerina, their expatriate romance shocks society and attracts the looming shadow of foreign terror. Pure by Rey Pamatmat (2008) Alan Turing - inventor of the computer, war hero, and persecuted for his homosexuality - has moments to choose between living a secret life in post-WWII England or completing his life's work. By Proxy by Amy Fox (2008) A young researcher of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome struggles to maintain objectivity while investigating a mother who has lost four children. Ada by Margaret Vandenburg (2008) An opera focusing on Ada Byron, daughter of the famous poet and inventor of the world's first computer. The Flower Hunger by Romulus Linney (2008) The journey of discovery by William Bartram, America's first botanist. Bartram ventures into the uncharted South to document the region's wildlife, and on the way realizes his own life's purpose. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Photograph 51 , playwright Anna Ziegler’s story of the power and politics behind one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century, sold out its New York run at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Headlines Six Playwrights Announced as Recipients of 2012 Manhattan Theatre Club Sloan Commissions Broadway World Links Panel Discussion: Photograph 51 and the Race for the Double Helix of DNA, Part 1 of 2
Supported Productions at the Manhattan Theatre Club The Explorers Club by Nell Benjamin (2013) The Explorers Club is the world premiere of a comedy by Tony-nominated writer Nell Benjamin ( Legally Blond ), set at a mens-only science club in London which is faced with a crisis as it considers admitting a brilliant female candidate. The Other Place by Sharr White (2013) The Other Place is a contemporary play, starring three-time Emmy winner and Tony nominee Laurie Metcalf, about a successful neurologist whose life suddenly starts to unravel. An Enemy of the People a new version of Henrik Ibsen's play by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (2012) MTC presents a new production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, a classic drama that grapples with the role and responsibility of the scientist in society. Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones (2003) This award winning play starred Blair Brown and Jared Harris in its North American debut. Proof by David Auburn (2000) MTC and Sloan's first collaboration was a surprise hit that went from Off-Broadway to Broadway and won both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Proof was the longest running non-musical Broadway drama in over 30 years and continues to play at theaters across the U.S. A film version of Proof starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins was released by the Weinstein Company in 2005. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Isaac's Eye , a play about a young Isaac Newton and his nemesis Robert Hooke, premiered at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Mainstage. more
From the natural sciences to the social sciences to the humanities to the arts, the availability of more data and cheaper computing is transforming research. As costs for sensors, sequencing, and other forms of data collection decline, researchers can generate data at greater and greater scale, relying on parallel increases in computational power to make sense of it all and allowing the investigation of phenomena too large or complex for conventional observation. Grants in this sub-program aim to help researchers develop tools, establish norms, and build the institutional and social infrastructure needed to take full advantage of these important developments in data-driven, computation-intensive research. Emphasis is placed on projects that encourage access to and sharing of scholarly data, that promote the development of standards and taxonomies necessary for the interoperability of datasets, that enable the replication of computational research, and that investigate models of how researchers might deal with the increasingly central role played by data management and curation. Program Director: Joshua Greenberg Bio Apply Headlines New "Voter Atlas" Shows Where the True Electoral Battlegrounds Are Seven Pilot Sites Join National Digital Library Project with Knight Foundation Funding Webwire Registration Now Open for the Bring Your Own Data Forum on Nov 14 UMich, Sloan to Enhance Open Access to Research Data University of Michigan
The shift to digitally-mediated forms of scholarship has been characterized by a substantial growth in channels for and diversity of scholarly work. We see this in the flourishing of content in preprint servers and rapid-publication channels like arXiv, PLoS ONE, and the Social Science Research Network alongside unconventional forms of scholarly communication like research blogs and personal websites, all of which enable scholars to put their work out for broad access. Grants in this sub-program aim to ease this transition by supporting the development of new models of filtering and curating online scholarly materials and by engaging the emerging community of stakeholders and practitioners tackling similar issues in widely divergent disciplinary contexts. Program Director: Joshua Greenberg Bio Apply Headlines New "Voter Atlas" Shows Where the True Electoral Battlegrounds Are Seven Pilot Sites Join National Digital Library Project with Knight Foundation Funding Webwire Registration Now Open for the Bring Your Own Data Forum on Nov 14 UMich, Sloan to Enhance Open Access to Research Data University of Michigan
