Returning for a second year, the Sloan Science on Screen Programme puts science in the spotlight at TIFF and equips screen creators with industry connections and creative support to strengthen and highlight their feature-length projects about science and technology.
Funding for this programme is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Public Understanding of Science and Technology program, which supports books, radio, film, television, theatre, and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience and to bridge the two cultures of science and the humanities.
Supported by
The Sloan Science and Technology Writer Fellowship offers a project development grant and access to creative support for one emerging to mid-level feature film or episodic screenwriter whose project has science and technology themes and/or characters. The Fellowship will equip the participant with connections, insights, and resources to help develop the script and support the eventual production and theatrical release of the project.
Please note: The application will contain questions on the writer's engagement with scientific experts and research. As a component of the Sloan Writer Fellowship is participation in TIFF Writers' Studio, previous Writers' Studio participants are not eligible to apply.
The Sloan Science & Technology Writer Fellowship is designed for emerging to mid-level screenwriters and writer-directors who wish to extend their creative skills.
Applicants are required to submit the following supporting documents:
Please note: TIFF’s Industry team takes applicants’ confidentiality seriously and will ensure that submitted materials (excluding headshots and bios) are not shared with any third parties without the owner’s explicit consent. The material will be downloaded by the TIFF Industry team and the selection committee.
Questions? Contact us by email at industry@tiff.net.
The Sloan Science on Film Showcase will spotlight two science-forward feature films per year: one Official Selection title at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and one year-round programming title at TIFF Lightbox. One screening of each film will include a discussion between a member of the film team and a scientific expert.
Stay tuned for more information on this initiative in upcoming TIFF announcements regarding both Festival and year-round programming.
The Sloan Science and Technology Project Pitch provides four Canadian and international creators the opportunity to pitch their science and technology–related project at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
Participants will deliver a maximum 15-minute presentation in front of a live audience of industry experts and decision makers. In addition to the non-competitive pitch event, each creator will be awarded $15,000 CAD to help further their project.
Justine Beed is a filmmaker born in Washington, DC, and raised in Moscow, Windhoek, Ellicott City, Mexico City, Asunción, Tokyo, and Cairo. After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in Anthropology and Creative Writing, she moved to LA — the strangest and most familiar place she’s ever lived. She’s worked as a writer but made a living as an extra, script reader for the Sundance Institute, personal assistant to filmmakers Bola Ogun and Oliver Bokelberg, writer for Spotify’s Parcast, and after-school 2nd-grade teacher. Her global upbringing and love of irony inform her feminist, genre-bending, coming-of-age stories. She was recently awarded the Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize for her pilot, La Forza by the Museum of the Moving Image and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In May 2024, she graduated with an MFA in Film and TV Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Mia Mullarkey worked as a behavioural psychologist in Ireland and Sri Lanka, and as a community worker in Peru and India, before turning to filmmaking. Beginning in documentaries, Mullarkey directed successful shorts, including Mother & Baby and Throwline, receiving awards from Oscar-qualifying festivals such as Aesthetica and Galway Film Fleadh. She directed a number of TV documentary programmes, including the TG4 series Cumasc, nominated for a Royal Television Society Award 2022. Her debut short drama, The Passion, was nominated for an IFTA 2022, and her short Safe as Houses won gold for Best Short at the YDAs, Cannes Lions 2023. She is recipient of the Discovery Award from Dublin Film Critics’ Circle and was selected as one of Screen International’s 2023 Rising Stars. She directed an RTÉ Storyland pilot drama called Wrapped, which won Gold at YDA, Cannes Lions 2024, and is in pre-production on the drama series Hidden Assets.
Anton Källrot was born 1980 and graduated from the Academy of Film in Gothenburg in 2010 Bachelor and Master. He’s directed theatre and film, as well as several award-winning commercials. In 2011, he co-founded the production company ÖGAT Film with Ylva Olaison and Jonathan Silén. He wrote and directed the feature The Modern Project, which had its world premiere at the Moscow Film Festival and was nominated for a Guldbagge Award for Best Leading Male Actor in 2017 in Sweden. It won the Nöjesguiden Film Award in 2017. In 2021,he directed August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death in a unique interactive performance. The production was hailed as the Theatre event of the year by Göteborgs-Posten in 2021.
Norman Yi Li is a Chinese Canadian Film & TV writer based in Vancouver, BC. He has earned a B.Sc. in Cognitive Systems -- Computational Intelligence and Design from the University of British Columbia. His work delves into the complexities of human psychology, the evolution of cultural identity, and the societal impacts of emerging technology. Li is a semi-finalist at the Austin Film Festival - Script Competition and his short films have screened at the Whistler Film Festival and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Li is an alumnus of the Pacific Screenwriting Program, where he penned an episode for an original series by Will Pascoe, subsequently optioned by Skydance Media. In 2022, Li worked as a writers’ assistant on Netflix’s hit series The Night Agent. And recently, he has participated in the Warner Bros. Discovery/Break The Room Mid-Level Writers’ Room. Li is represented by the Independent Artist Group.