The Athena Film Festival Writers Lab is a workshop for emerging writers which provides storytellers with creative guidance, writing training, industry access, and a supportive network. Applicants must submit a project that features a woman or women characters in a leadership role or position at the center of the story. For Athena, women’s leadership takes no singular perspective. Stories of women leaders, in all their forms and all their complexity, are rarely shown on the big screen. These are Athena stories.
At its core, the Athena Film Festival Writers Lab's mission is to help our writers develop the skills needed to be successful storytellers in this ever changing industry. We have updated our lab model to give writers the opportunity to further enhance their understanding of writing fundamentals and also for more feedback and for the first time a rewrite will be a part of the process.
Submissions will be open from June 3, 2024 - July 8, 2024
The Athena Film Festival Writers Lab will have three parts. All parts are virtual.
Phase One - September 17-18, 2024
Over the course of two days, participants will learn the fundamentals of writing: craft, character, plot, structure, etc. They will also learn how to give and receive feedback and notes on their projects. The writers will also have one-on-one sessions with AFF Writers Lab Directors, to receive direct feedback on their projects.
Phase Two - Rewrite Period
Following the lab, writers will have until December 1, 2024 to revise their scripts. The lab directors, in conjunction with the Athena team, will invite a group of selected writers back to participate in part three of the lab. Not all participants from part one will be accepted into part three.
Phase Three - April 2025
Over the course of two days, the participants will learn from experienced mentors, writers, and industry members. Writers will participate in one-on-one feedback sessions with mentors, who will help provide feedback on their newly revised scripts. There will be a pitch workshop where the writers will learn how to craft and present a pitch. The writers will also participate in a mock writers room, where they will learn how writers rooms operate.
The Athena Film Festival is pleased to offer the following fellowships that provide different opportunities in conjunction with the labs.
The Alfred P. Sloan Writing Fellowship
The Athena Film Festival offers fellowships to writers (both screenplay and episodic) working on a project that focuses on women’s leadership in STEM. The Alfred P. Sloan Writers Lab Fellowships allows fellows to participate in a 6-month one-on-one mentorship with a creative advisor to advance their script. The fellows are also paired with a STEM expert to ensure the STEM in their script is sound and accurate.
The Loreen Arbus Fellowship
This fellowship, in partnership with The Loreen Arbus Foundation, will provide support to two writers with disabilities to attend the Athena Writers Lab as well as to ensure all lab activities are fully accessible. The fellows will also participate in a 6-month one-on-one mentorship to strengthen and advance their projects.
The Chinonye Chukwu Emerging Writer Award
This award, in partnership with Christine A. Schantz, is a direct $10,000 grant to assist a feature writer. The grant is to assist in the ongoing development of their script. In addition to the financial grant, the writer receives a year-long intensive fellowship and is provided with a creative advisor to serve as a mentor.
The AMC Networks Athena Emerging Writers Fellowship
This fellowship, in partnership with AMC Networks, is a direct $10,000 grant given to a episodic writer. In addition, the writer will be placed for a short time as an observer in a writers room on an AMC show.
